A survey of deer registration stations conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has yielded a preliminary tally of 218,144 for the nine-day November gun deer hunt. That’s an 11% increase over the 2009 nine-day season. Statewide, hunters registered 102,006 bucks which represents a 17% increase over 2009. Hunters took 116,138 antlerless deer, nearly 7% more than in 2009. Gun deer license sales totaled 621,094 at the close of the hunt.
The nine-day harvest numbers are preliminary and are expected to change before a final report is published in late winter. It does not include harvest information from the archery, October antlerless gun deer hunt, muzzleloader, December antlerless deer gun hunt or late archery seasons. The preliminary nine-day gun harvest count in 2009 was 196,688. The opener was highlighted by good hunting conditions on opening day and no firearm-related fatalities for only the second time on record.