Preliminary results show slight decrease in deer harvest during gun season

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has released preliminary license sales, harvest registration and hunting incident numbers for this year’s nine-day gun-deer hunt.

Preliminary figures indicate the number of deer hunters in Wisconsin slightly decreased compared to 2024. As of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 30, sales for deer hunting privileges — which include gun, archery, crossbow, conservation patron and sports licenses — reached 790,044, down 0.12% from the same time last year. Of those, 550,611 were for gun privileges only, which include gun, conservation patron and sports licenses.

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 figures show hunters registered 182,084 deer during the gun-deer season, including 86,068 antlered and 96,016 antlerless deer. Compared to 2024, the gun season harvest total is down 0.8% statewide, with the antlered harvest down 2.6% and the antlerless harvest up 0.9%.

Since the opening of the bow and crossbow seasons, Wisconsin hunters have registered 294,757 deer. This harvest is 1.1% ahead of the same time last year.

Marquette County in the Central Farmland Zone led the state with 7.9 deer registered per square mile. Vernon County led the Southern Farmland Zone with 6.5 deer registered per square mile. Deer Management Zone 201 led the Central Forest Zone registering 3.8 deer per square mile. Deer Management Zone 108 led the Northern Forest Zone with 2.7 deer registered per square mile.

The DNR’s Wisconsin Deer Harvest Summary webpage has more information regarding preliminary harvest registration totals, including county-level numbers. It can be found at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/harvest/deerharvest.

The regular gun deer season ran from Nov. 22 through Nov. 30 and is followed by the statewide muzzleloader season (Dec. 1-Dec. 10), the statewide antlerless-only four-day hunt (Dec. 11-Dec. 14) and the antlerless-only holiday hunt in select farmland zone counties (Dec. 24-Jan. 1, 2026). 

The DNR reports the following firearm-involved hunting incidents from the gun-deer season. 

Grant County, North Lancaster Township: During the afternoon of Nov. 22, a 57-year-old male was a victim of a gunshot to his buttock while walking to a field to go deer hunting. The victim was transported to the hospital and treated for injury. An investigation is pending.

Fond du Lac County, Oakfield Township: During the evening of Nov. 22, a 24-year-old male deer hunter was a victim of a self-inflicted gunshot to the chest. The victim was found dead several hours after the close of hunting hours by family on private property. A preliminary investigation reflects the victim was in a tree, gun deer hunting from a saddle stand, when the unintentional discharge of their firearm occurred. An investigation is pending.

During the 2024-gun deer season, the DNR reported one firearm-involved hunting incident resulting in injury.