Archers and crossbowers will not have to put away their camouflage until January 5, 2025, even later in some metro subunits. Hunters were gifted 114 days, almost statewide, and 140 days in some metro subunits.
This is the first deer hunt to open and will be the last to close, with the nine day gun hunt beginning at the latest possible calendar date, November 23, 2024. While deer seasons offer a plethora of opportunities these are not likely to be enough to properly manage the deer herd in some Southern Farmland Units.
In reality hunters have probably reached their saturation point of how many deer they will take during the seasons. New and returning hunters would help but actual numbers, albeit slowly, continue to fall.
Another problem with falling license sales, because of loss of hunters, is deer hunting is the State’s “cash cow” in terms of income for all wildlife programs, not just deer.
About half of the 600,000 deer hunters are archers, according to Jeff Pritzl, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources deer specialist.
Pritzl said deer sighting by hunters may be on the increase this fall due to more fawns being born this past spring but that won’t necessarily result in more deer being registered throughout the eight seasons. Fawns are not targeted by most hunters. Many fawn recruits will have more impact on 2025 hunts.
Last year’s bumper oak nut crop is not being repeated this fall so hunters may have a tougher time establishing where and when deer are feeding during early weeks of hunting. The warm fall will likely keep most deer from feeding much before legal shooting close each day. Cooler temperatures would moderate those trends.
Monitoring and testing deer for chronic wasting disease will continue statewide, with an added emphasis in Northern and Central Wisconsin this year.
While there is no new data on COVID-type disease of deer, Wisconsin is cooperating with federal agencies on testing deer for these issues. Health recommendations for venison consumption relative to CWD remain the same and in place for 2024. Check statements in the Wisconsin Hunting Regulations Fall 2024-Spring 2025 pamphlet, now available and on the DNR website.
Safety should continue to be of utmost concern during hunting seasons and using tree stands, hunting near populated areas, and dealing with slippery surfaces and low light situations. Hunters and others who recreate during seasons should be alert; non-hunters have a right to be out recreating, too but should wear colorful clothing.
Things such as naming a State Deer Day recognizing these important benefits and problems could help ignite a trend. While the WDNR does a good job informing hunters about deer hunting and seasons, more needs to be directed toward other users and potential users.
Many in the media are idle in reporting to the public, particularly during the nine day gun-deer season. This reporting should be directed at non-hunters as well as those dressed in camouflage or blaze orange. A Deer Day could be a wakeup call.
Autumn outlook tabloids should also include sections on the quiet crowd who view wildlife, pick wild edibles, observe birds, and admire autumn’s colors and weather. This would show those users that they are recognized and may help bring voluntary donations into the wildlife budget until something more formal is approved.
Deer hunting supply shops are feeling the interest hunters have for turkey, deer, grouse and pheasant seasons.
“Many of the guns I get in are in need of a good cleaning,” said Don Martin at Martin;s in Monroe, Wisconsin. “Hunters are talking about the rafts of wild turkeys this fall.”
Doug Williams, at D W Sports Center in Portage, Wisconsin said that harvesting silage corn (chopping and removing ears and stalks) has begun and doves, turkeys, geese and deer are then using these harvested fields in search of waste kernels.
Martin said the acorn crop is spotty this fall.
Wilderness Fish and Game in Sauk City registered a few sturgeon that were caught in the Wisconsin River behind the shop. The hook and line season closes September 30, 2024.
