The number of deer harvested during the opening weekend of the 2022 gun-deer season was up compared to last year. According to preliminary numbers released by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, hunters bagged 103,623 deer on Saturday and Sunday. That was 13,600 more than the first two days of the 2021 hunt.
The total number of bucks taken over the weekend was also up by just over 6,900 from a year earlier at 56,638.
Wildlife officials say hunters saw good deer movement overall, with some evidence of bucks still showing breeding behavior. However, some snow cover and cold winds did suppress hunter activity.
DNR officials say more than 779,123 hunters had purchased their license and headed into the outdoors for the annual nine-day gun deer hunt in Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, the DNR's Bureau of Law Enforcement reported six hunting incidents during the gun-deer opener. In Sauk County, a 22-year-old man was the victim of a gunshot wound to the thigh, and a 69-year-old woman was also the victim of a thigh wound in Marquette County. Separate incidents in Oneida and Iowa Counties involved hunters shooting themselves in the foot, while a man in Forest County shot part of his little finger. The only fatality occurred in Green Lake County where an 11-year-old boy died after being shot in the chest by another member of his hunting party.
Categories: Wisconsin, Rural Lifestyle