State officials say anticipation is up for the start of gun deer hunt. DNR Big Game Ecologist Kevin Wallenfang says this follows recent policy changes that have the public feeling “like an important partner in deer management.”
Among the changes this year, elimination of the four-day October antlerless-only hunt. The controversial Earn-A-Buck rule is also gone which required hunters in the regular gun season to bag an antlerless deer before killing a buck.
Wallenfang says, in general, deer numbers are up although the agency is not giving specific figures. He adds deer are not spread evenly across the land meaning some hunters will see multiple deer; others will “struggle just to see a deer.”
The season runs Saturday and ends November 25.
