Fewer Hunters, But More Deer Harvested During Safest Gun Deer Hunt on Record
Wednesday, November 28th, 2018 -- 8:56 AM
(WRN) -Fewer hunters were in the woods harvesting more deer during this year's gun deer season.Fewer hunters were in the woods harvesting more deer during this year's gun deer season. That report from the DNR on Tuesday. Ecologist Kevin Wallenfang says the decline in hunting sales for the gun hunt doesn't concern them so much, because totals from the other seasons make up for it.
As crossbows and as the archery season and some of the added seasons out there such as holiday hunt and the antlerless hunt have been added on, we see more of the harvest getting taken outside of the regular gun deer seasons."
The total deer harvest was up about 7 percent. State officials also said the latest gun season is the safest on record. That's despite three hunters getting shot. Jon King with the Department of Natural Resources says three hunters were treated for non-fatal gunshots wounds this season, but there have been no fatalities.
Last year, King says, six hunters were shot and none of them died. The last time a Wisconsin hunter died in the field was 2015. D-N-R doesn't have a final count of deer permits for this year, but says as many as 570-thousand hunters in the state could have taken to the field during the 2018 deer season.
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