2024 nine-day gun deer season license sales, harvest numbers up slightly from last year

WISCONSIN – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) this week provided preliminary license sales, harvest registration and hunting incident numbers for the 2024 nine-day gun deer hunting season.

Preliminary license sales data

According to a release from DNR, preliminary figures indicate the number of deer hunters in Wisconsin slightly increased compared to 2023.

As of 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 1, sales for deer hunting privileges (which include gun, archery, crossbow, conservation patron and sports licenses) reached 791,023, up from 788,697 for the same time period last year. Of those, 553,652 were for gun privileges only, up from 553,479 in 2023.

Deer hunting license and harvest authorization sales will continue throughout the remaining deer hunting seasons. Final license sales figures will be available in January, when DNR staff will perform a thorough analysis and interpretation.

Preliminary harvest totals

DNR said preliminary figures show hunters registered 189,622 deer during the 2024 gun deer season, including 89,787 antlered and 99,835 antlerless deer.

Compared to 2023, the gun season harvest total is up 5.2% statewide, with the antlered harvest up 3.6% and the antlerless harvest up 6.6%.

“Since the opening of the bow and crossbow seasons, Wisconsin hunters have registered 289,361 deer,” DNR stated. “This harvest is 8.7% ahead of the same time last year.”

Adams County in the Central Farmland Zone led the state with 12.4 deer registered per square mile. Vernon County led the Southern Farmland Zone with seven deer registered per square mile. Adams County also led the Central Forest Zone registering 4.2 deer per square mile. Florence County led the Northern Forest Zone with 2.9 deer registered per square mile.

The DNR’s Wisconsin Deer Harvest Summary webpage contains more information regarding preliminary harvest registration totals, including county-level numbers.

The regular gun deer season ran from Saturday, Nov. 23 through Sunday Dec. 1 and is followed by the statewide muzzleloader season (Monday, Dec. 2 through Wednesday, Dec. 11), the statewide antlerless-only four-day hunt (Thursday, Dec. 12 through Sunday, Dec. 15) and the antlerless-only holiday hunt in select farmland zone counties (Tuesday, Dec. 24 through Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025).

First harvest certificates available

Hunters of all ages who harvested their first deer are encouraged to highlight this significant occasion with a first harvest certificate.

2024 gun deer season hunting incidents

As of Tuesday, Dec. 3, the DNR reported only one nonfatal firearm-related hunting incident during the 2024 gun deer season, in Vernon County, Wheatland Township

According to DNR, on Friday, Nov. 29, at approximately 4 p.m., a 14-year-old male was sitting in an enclosed tower stand with his father, hunting on private property. The victim’s father heard what sounded like a gunshot in the distance. Shortly after, the victim felt pain in his feet and found that he was shot through both the left and right foot. The victim was transported privately to the hospital and received medical treatment for his injuries. The shooter has been identified, and an investigation is pending.