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Mild Weather, More Deer
A mild-by-mid-November weekend is getting credit for a slight jump in Wisconsin’s deer numbers.
The Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday announced the harvest numbers from the first weekend of gun deer season.
“In total, hunters registered 90,671 deer statewide during the opening weekend of the 2025 gun deer hunt, compared to 87,248 registered for the same period in 2024. This is a 3.9% increase from a year ago and 1.1% below the 5-year average,” DNR said in its announcement.
That includes 48,748 antlered deer, and 41,923 antlerless deer.
DNR said the weather helped.
"Conditions for the opening weekend were pretty favorable for hunters. Mornings were cool and quiet, with gusty winds reported in the afternoon in some areas of western Wisconsin. The only factors that might have impacted deer sightings were a lack of snow cover and warmer temperatures in the afternoons across the southern half of the state," the DNR added.
Weather could, similarly, play a role in the second weekend for hunters after Thanksgiving.
Snow is in the forecast for northern Wisconsin this week, along with some very high winds. Colder temperatures will keep snow cover in place, which could set things up for a very good second weekend.
The DNR is also reporting two hunting accidents this year.
One in Grant County saw a 57-year-old hunter shot in the butt while walking through a field.
The other was in Fond du Lac County, where the DNR says a 24-year-old hunter died from what the local sheriff is calling an "unintentional discharge" from a shotgun. That hunter was found with a shotgun wound to the chest, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
There was only one firearm related accident during last year's gun deer season.
The gun season runs until just before midnight on Sunday, November 30.
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