2024 Deer Hunting Season recap

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) last week provided preliminary license sales, harvest registration, and hunting incident numbers for the 2024 nine-day gun deer hunting season.

Preliminary license sales data

According to a release from the DNR, preliminary figures indicate the number of deer hunters in Wisconsin slightly increased compared to 2023.
As of 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, sales for deer hunting privileges (which include gun, archery, crossbow, conservation patron, and sports licenses) reached 791,023, up from 788,697 for the same time period last year. Of those, 553,652 were for gun privileges only, up from 553,479 in 2023.
Deer hunting license and harvest authorization sales will continue throughout the remaining deer hunting seasons. Final license sales figures will be available in January, when DNR staff will perform a thorough analysis and interpretation.

Preliminary harvest totals

DNR said preliminary figures show hunters registered 189,622 deer during the 2024 gun deer season, including 89,787 antlered and 99,835 antlerless deer.
Compared to 2023, the gun season harvest total is up 5.2% statewide, with the antlered harvest up 3.6% and the antlerless harvest up 6.6%.
“Since the opening of the bow and crossbow seasons, Wisconsin hunters have registered 289,361 deer,” DNR stated. “This harvest is 8.7% ahead of the same time last year.”
Adams County in the Central Farmland Zone led the state with 12.4 deer registered per square mile. Vernon County led the Southern Farmland Zone with seven deer registered per square mile. Adams County also led the Central Forest Zone registering 4.2 deer per square mile. Florence County led the Northern Forest Zone with 2.9 deer registered per square mile.

The DNR’s Wisconsin Deer Harvest Summary webpage (tinyurl.com/42emd3wx) contains more information regarding preliminary harvest registration totals, including county-level numbers.

Local harvest numbers

Locally, for the 2024 traditional nine-day gun season, in Lincoln County [in the Northern Forest Zone], hunters registered 981 antlered and 664 antlerless deer, for a total of 1,645 deer harvested, and in Marathon County [in the Central Farmland Zone], hunters registered 3,218 antlered and 3,519 antlerless deer, for a total harvest of 6,737 deer.
For the entire 2024 deer season, including bow/crossbow season, as of Dec. 3 at 6:03 a.m. in Lincoln County, hunters registered 1,824 antlered and 1,019 antlerless deer, for a total of 2,843, and in Marathon County, hunters registered 5,676 antlered and 5,019 antlerless deer, for a total harvest of 10,695 deer. In Lincoln County, more than half of the harvest of antlered deer occurred during the bow/crossbow season, prior to the gun deering hunting season.

Deer hunting seasons continue

The regular gun deer season ran from Saturday, Nov. 23 through Sunday Dec. 1, followed by the statewide muzzleloader season from Monday, Dec. 2 through Wednesday, Dec. 11. The statewide antlerless-only four-day hunt follows Thursday, Dec. 12, through Sunday, Dec. 15, and the antlerless-only holiday hunt in select farmland zone counties runs Tuesday, Dec. 24. through Wednesday, Jan. 1. 2025.

First harvest certificates available

Hunters of all ages who harvested their first deer are encouraged to highlight this significant occasion with a first harvest certificate (tinyurl.com/yc4dv3yk).

2024 gun deer season hunting incidents

As of Tuesday, Dec. 3, the DNR reported only one nonfatal firearm-related hunting incident during the 2024 gun deer season, in Vernon County, Wheatland Township.

According to the DNR, on Friday, Nov. 29, at approximately 4 p.m., a 14-year-old male was sitting in an enclosed tower stand with his father, hunting on private property. The victim’s father heard what sounded like a gunshot in the distance. Shortly after, the victim felt pain in his feet and found that he was shot through both the left and right foot. The victim was transported privately to the hospital and received medical treatment for his injuries. The shooter has been identified, and an investigation is pending.

Safety reminders

With various hunting seasons continuing through January of next year, the DNR reminds hunters to always practice the four primary rules of firearm safety, known as TAB-K:
T – Treat every firearm as if it is loaded.
A – Always point the muzzle in a safe direction.

B – Be certain of your target, what’s before it and what’s beyond it.
K – Keep your finger outside your trigger guard until you are safe to shoot.