Hunters register more than 171,000 deer over opening weekend
MADISON – In what were mixed but generally good hunting conditions across the state, hunters registered a preliminary tally of 171,584 deer over the first two days of the 2007 gun deer hunting season. This compares to an opening weekend preliminary count of 167,573 in 2006.
“From field reports we’ve received, there appeared to be a little bit of everything in terms of weather for the opener,” said Matthew J. Frank, DNR Secretary. “The hunters I talked to at various registration stations over the weekend were in high spirits and happy. We’re glad the cooler temperatures and the early opening date seemed to favor hunters.”
Keith Warnke, DNR’s top deer and bear biologist, noted, “I heard a lot of shooting from my stand Saturday morning and the biologists I’ve talked to say the rut was still on in most places with bucks actively pursuing does and paying less attention to hunters.”
Hunters found conditions ranging from light snow either on the ground or falling, to drizzle depending on where they were in the state. Most areas reported light to moderate winds. In general, visibility was good in most areas and mild enough that hunters stayed out yet cool enough to safely to hang meat without fear of spoilage.
Hunters brought in 70,021 bucks and 101,563 antlerless deer over the two day period that started 30 minutes before sunrise on Saturday the 17th and ended 20 minutes past sunset on Sunday the 18th.
A license sales update on Monday morning showed that approximately an additional 4,900 licenses had been sold after the season started in addition to the 629,752 sold prior to the opener. In past years, 9,000 to 10,000 licenses have been purchased after the start of the season.
As of the close of hunting hours on Monday, November19, two gunshot fatalities have been reported. In Waushara County on Sunday an 18-year old male was shot by a member of his hunting group and on Monday a 29-year old Illinois man was killed in Burnett County, also by a member of his hunting party.
Prior to 1967, the year hunter education began in Wisconsin, the hunting incident rate was 44 per 100,000 participants. Today the rate is fewer than 4 per 100,000 participants.
“We’ve reduced hunting incidents by more than 90 percent since the days before hunter education,” said Tim Lawhern, DNR hunter safety administrator. “This was the safest opening weekend in the history of gun deer hunting in Wisconsin and I encourage all hunters to remain vigilant and safety conscious for the remainder of the hunting season. Let’s make it not only the safest opening weekend ever, let’s make it the safest deer hunt ever.
“The key is to keep practicing safety for the balance of the season.”
Lawhern advises hunters to always remember TAB-K:
T - Treat every firearm as if it’s loaded.
A - Always point your muzzle in a safe direction.
B - Be certain of your target and what lies beyond.
K - Keep your finger out of the trigger guard until you are ready to shoot.
2007 Opening Weekend Wisconsin Gun Deer Season Preliminary Call-in Totals
(By DNR Region)
DNR Northeast Region
Bucks Antlerless Total
BROWN 120 341 461
CALUMET 263 517 780
DOOR 626 985 1611
FOND DU LAC 601 790 1391
GREEN LAKE 821 1435 2256
KEWAUNEE 444 926 1370
MANITOWOC 416 864 1280
MARINETTE 2241 1597 3838
MARQUETTE 1380 2568 3948
OCONTO 1682 1624 3306
OUTAGAMIE 973 1525 2498
SHAWANO 1483 2428 3911
WAUPACA 2618 4403 7021
WAUSHARA 1192 2075 3267
WINNEBAGO 315 539 854
Total 15175 22617 37792
DNR Northern Region
2007
COUNTY BUCKS ANTLERLESS TOTAL
ASHLAND 621 386 1007
BARRON 1825 2524 4349
BAYFIELD 1567 1610 3177
BURNETT 1156 1412 2568
DOUGLAS 1452 1274 2726
FLORENCE 632 572 1204
FOREST 573 352 925
IRON 290 161 451
LANGLADE 992 1081 2073
LINCOLN 975 1047 2022
ONEIDA 1205 1188 2393
POLK 2007 2665 2672
PRICE 1023 886 1909
RUSK 1046 1444 2490
SAWYER 1043 995 2038
TAYLOR 1099 1567 2666
VILAS 776 904 1680
WASHBURN1114 1345 2459
Total 19396 21413 40809
DNR South Central Region
2007
COUNTY BUCKS ANTLERLESS TOTAL
COLUMBIA 1387 2353 3740
DANE 463 726 1189
DODGE 725 1326 2051
GRANT 1564 2195 3759
GREEN 361 847 1208
IOWA 819 1382 2201
JEFFERSON 324 819 1143
LAFAYETTE 651 930 1581
RICHLAND 1080 1898 2978
ROCK 191 436 627
SAUK 1725 2887 4612
Total 9290 15799 25089
DNR Southeast Region
2007
COUNTY BUCKS ANTLERLESS TOTAL
KENOSHA 42 52 94
*OZAUKEE 99 113 212
RACINE 37 122 159
SHEBOYGAN 247 344 591
WALWORTH 63 135 198
WASHINGTON 318 441 759
*WAUKESHA 166 311 477
Total 972 1518 2490
DNR West Central Region
2007
COUNTY BUCKS ANTLERLESS TOTAL
ADAMS 1123 1864 2987
BUFFALO 1023 2109 3132
CHIPPEWA 1401 2229 3630
CLARK 2025 3417 5442
CRAWFORD 1118 1516 2634
DUNN 1150 2424 3574
EAU CLAIRE 882 1396 2278
JACKSON 1894 3278 5172
JUNEAU 1296 2060 3356
LA CROSSE 996 1216 2212
MARATHON 2273 3139 5412
MONROE 1532 1910 3442
PEPIN 387 787 1174
PIERCE 865 1475 2340
PORTAGE 1436 2302 3738
ST. CROIX 566 851 1417
TREMPE 1750 3600 5350
VERNON 1775 2372 4147
WOOD 1696 2271 3967
Total 25188 40216 65404
2007
BUCKS ANTLERLESS TOTAL
Grand total 70,021 101,563 171,584
