Wisconsin Opening Gun Weekend Numbers

[peteherbst]

Pretty interesting numbers from this weekend. County I gun hunted in was down a couple percent while the county I live in was up almost 20%. Overall up a couple percent.

https://widnr.widen.net/s/2llfwzxjnk

[Dewey]

Looks like the Northwoods just keeps getting worse every year. I haven’t been up the past two openers and the rest of the guys said they’re done after another dismal opener. Very sad to see after how great hunting was up there in our earlier years. Sucks to have all that great tradition gone. We need a wolf season BAD. Give out a tag with every gun or bow license.

The DNR can’t blame the weather for the drop in numbers again. Weather was pretty much perfect statewide.

[peteherbst]

The DNR can’t blame the weather for the drop in numbers again. Weather was pretty much perfect statewide.

This is exactly what our hunting camp was saying. In total, we had one fork horn seen the entire weekend. And he shot it. We’ll be taking our tradition elsewhere as he’s selling the property that boarders large public land that I’ve hunted after this year. Think we may be going to Ft. McCoy next year.

[P&YBuck1]

I hunt in Shawano county which is down over 4% but wolf pack went from one to three in pack and weather for opener was spectacular.... wonder what made difference?

[Elite]

These numbers aren't accurate due to the gun season not being over. I'm in northern forest and don't gun hunt, but weather conditions on Saturday, I believe, were terrible (no wind, crunchy snow) and the deer could hear you coming from 200 yards away. The conditions were a tad better Sunday but still not ideal for late November.

[SteveD]

To the comment about trying Ft. McCoy I would look elsewhere, its herd is low and hunter pressure is unreal.
They have hammered the herd to being non existent to what it was years back.

[Jonny]

Hunted Clark county forest. Saw 7 opening weekend, shot 2. Rest of my group (4 other guys) saw 2 deer total opening weekend. Uncle hit a doe and never found her (these guys need to work on either their shooting skills or tracking skills because it’s becoming a joke).

Seemed like a typical year. Not many shots and we normally get 1-3 opening weekend and maybe 1 later in the week.

Not many deee hanging in camps. Those that did had mostly fawns. One group had 2 nice does and 3 bucks. No idea how many guys they had though. Their wall tent was big enough to sleep 10+ easily.

Pressure didn’t seem different but when you are first in last out, you never know. If anything I’d guess it was down a bit based on what I heard from others.


It’s been awhile since I’ve heard good things about fort McCoy. The central forest as a whole should be way better than it is. Deer to be had but it’s getting tougher with less woods and more cover every year.

[Kraftd]

One thing i noticed is that the biggest increases seem to be around the more populated counties. Wondering how many guys skipped camp because of covid and hunted local?


I hunt Shawano County. Been seeing lots of deer all summer through bow season but numbers were down and everyone we talked to didn’t see much. In this case I know the deer are there. Not sure how many folks really get after it or rely on the meat any more to where if they aren’t seeing anything to try and make it happen and get the deer moving.

Definitely seems like deer numbers are an issue in many areas but other areas I think there are bigger factors. I also wonder how many fewer deer get called in now than during the tag and register days.

[justin84]

I was optimistic about this years gun season in the north considering how many deer we saw all summer. Only saw a few deer in about 30 hours of hunting. It’s fun to explore up here but a few more deer would be nice.

[Crazinamatese]

Heard alot of shots around the neighboring properties This last weekend. Compared to last season with barely any. West-central WI. . Every year it seems more people complain about seeing no deer. Even in the areas I hunt. Take drive around my parts during the spring thaw and you will see big herds of them hitting the thawing crop fields. I can’t speak for people in the northland or elsewhere but here in my part of the state I firmly believe the herd is relatively healthy in size.
I don’t like the idea of the DNR taking heat from hunters who sit in the woods one weekend out of the year either.

[fishlips]

The county I hunt for gun season was down almost 18% for opening weekend from last year. That was following a 37% dip last year from 2018. Seems like something is going on. Late start dates haven't help but also doesn't seem like many folks hunting around us to move deer.

[KLEMZ]

I don't gun hunt but I have bow hunted the northwoods for 30 years. I have hunted the week BEFORE gun hunting starts all of those years. Certainly, there are fewer deer than 15--20 years ago (based on my personal observations...I keep a journal). This year I saw fewer deer then ever while on stand. HOWEVER, I do NOT think it's because there are fewer deer on the landscape. I believe it's because of the food pattern this year. There were ZERO acorns. I scouted a ton, and the only fresh deer sign I found was in piney areas. Areas with very limited visibility.

I believe most northern Wisconsin gun hunters set up in stands where they can see a long way (open woods). I can personally attest that was not a good plan this year in my area (25 miles from lake superior). In my scouting (one week before gun season), the only obviously fresh tracks and droppings were in areas with very limited visibility. I found some massive droppings (and some doe tracks too) in one thick area and nearly killed the biggest buck of my life. I also spent a lot of time sitting the edge of thick cover in more open ares and saw nothing on those hunts.

My point is, I think the deer population is low but it's not getting worse. I think the wolves and deer populations (in the north) have found a balance point and the deer aren't going away. I think people are getting paranoid and hunting camps that have been around for 50 years are breaking up and hunters are migrating south or hunting other states. There are less hunters in the north woods than there used to be. Obviously, kill numbers will go down.

Personally, I'm not at all sad to see less hunting pressure up north. The reason I go up there is to get away from people and property boundaries. The Hunting Beast has taught me how to read the sign and still get on the deer. Thanks Dan.

[VilasCo]

My observations are in-line with KLEMZ. My four days gun hunting in Vilas County were tough, but deer can still be found. Areas I hunted the last two seasons that contained lots of deer, big buck sign, and acorns now had nothing. The deer I got on were in thick slash and jack pine plantations and away from pressure. There was plenty of pressure on both the National and State Forest. My hope is for some good tracking conditions for the muzzleloader hunt.

[venisonassassin]

We hunt NE Wisco opening weekend I think conditions were great for all day sits but not for hunting natural movement in the mornings. It was quiet as could be. Don’t get me wrong it was peaceful but you could hear every little thing, the deer new what was going on as soon as the trucks started at our camp and everyone walking to their stands.
I agree that the population seems stable. We got two 2 1/2 y/o eight points in our group. Less than average numbers but better size. The wolves have been more visible this year, I heard them howl at dusk for the first time ever. Coyotes were yipping at night which we also don’t normally hear. Predator populations seem high.
It will be interesting to see if a wolf season comes back what difference that will make.

[Buckbreath]

A wolf season would help but I think we are a long ways away from good hunting up north. The bucks up here on average are slow growers. I would be willing to bet a lot of 3 and 4 year olds here are around 100" and there isn't many of them. Who knows if it will ever recover to what it was in the late 90's?