Wisconsin Deerhunting Statistics

[Waveski]

The preliminary numbers are in for the 2018 9 day gun deer hunt here in Wisconsin. The numbers are worth our consideration.

A little over 547,000 hunters took to the field for this year's hunt. Some carried shotguns , many took advantage of a law change of a few years back which allows the use of rifles. Over a half million heavily armed hunters. The deer take (various catagories combined) came in at 211,430. Wisconsin has a lot of deer. We can speculate as to how many rounds were discharged ... many deer were taken by means of multiple shots ; there had to be a fair number of misses ... 500,000 perhaps? Of all of those armed hunters marching thru woods and uneven terrain in good weather and bad , all those shots fired , the total of gunshot injuries sustained was 3. Fatalities , 0.

There is an image of deer hunters that is promoted by people of a certain persuasion , an image of fat , drunken men shooting at cows , each other , anything that moves. The truth of the matter is , given these striking statistics , that the half million+ army of men , women and youths who recently took to the field in Wisconsin is a remarkably disciplined and responsible group of people.

I offer this good news about gun owner responsibility here because you will certainly not be seeing or hearing about it in the mainstream media.

Edit/addendum : To fair , the Milwaukee paper did run this - https://www.jsonline.com/story/spor...deer-hunting-season-safest-record/2118774002/

 

[GAF]

I was out there on opening day in the Clark county forest. Did not hear a lot of shooting. By last light I had counted only 12 shots for the whole day. Did not see many people opening day either. It was a nice mostly quiet pleasant day sitting in the woods.

 

[buck460XVR]

There is an image of deer hunters that is promoted by people of a certain persuasion , an image of fat , drunken men shooting at cows , each other , anything that moves. The truth of the matter is , given these striking statistics , that the half million+ army of men , women and youths who recently took to the field in Wisconsin is a remarkably disciplined and responsible group of people.

^^^I hafta agree. I think the excellent state hunter safety programs have help hunters come a long way when it comes to safety and being responsible in the field. I also think the snow cover in most of the state helped folk distinguish deer and spot blaze orange at a much longer distance. It was also these same excellent hunting conditions that contributed to the high harvest. I saw more deer than in a long while, had many opportunities to take deer and let some nice bucks walk(thanks to a good archery season). Only thing that disturbed me about this years season was the shooting of two elk. One hunter shot a cow and left it to rot. At least the guy who shot the bull turned himself in. That happened about 10 miles from me. Still hard to believe anyone could mistake this for a whitetail......
.

 

[IdaD]

"Waveski, post: 10979198, member: 215685" There is an image of deer hunters that is promoted by people of a certain persuasion , an image of fat , drunken men shooting at cows , each other , anything that moves.

Now hold on just a minute...I'm not fat.

 

[Wishoot]

I hunt right on the edge of Door County and Kewaunee County. Lot's of shooting going on opening morning and one of the guys I hunt with managed to get a big buck and two big does within 24 hours.

My streak continued this year and nothing came within my firing lanes.

 

[FL-NC]

I imagine the numbers don't support the following: How many people got a license and didn't hunt due to illness, work, or whatever other reasons, and how many killed deer and didn't record the kills with the FWC. Also, the reasons behind the 3 GSW injuries. Mistaken identity (human VS deer)? Self-inflicted AD? A deer missed and someone randomly hit due to bad luck 200 yards away? Is there an option in that state for hunters to choose to hunt with archery, crossbow, or black powder during the gun season? I just have an active mind for quantifying data and picking it apart.

 

[Kabic]

Results by county can be found at the link below.

https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/harvest/deerharvest.html

The kill was 195,738 last year so this year was an increase.

I will agree that Hunter Safety courses is responsible for increased safety. As the old guard is retiring from hunting the percentage of hunters who have completed the coarse is increasing.

 

[entropy]

Is there an option in that state for hunters to choose to hunt with archery, crossbow, or black powder during the gun season?

Yes, there is, but since the change adding rifle statewide was implemented, many choose a rifle. If you hunt with a bow or crossbow during the gun season, you still have to wear orange, so few do. I did use my BP Hawken during the season before rifle was legal, and backed it up with a shotgun.
There are, of course separate seasons for Archery and Muzzleloader. You can shoot deer from Sept 1st to January 6th statewide if you hunt bow, gun, and M/L, and up to the 31st in some Deer Management Units.

 

[Duster340]

Yep, very nice to see a safe season. I hunt Door County (Egg Harbor). The local press/news did note the safe season. Heard a fair amount of shooting on day 1. Mostly single shots. Was fortunate enough to bag two really nice does, Sunday and Tuesday. Left Wednesday to do Thanksgiving with the family. The freezer is full and I'm shifting gears for spring Turkey season