Wisconsin hunters harvest more deer than in 2021 despite fewer hunters
LA CROSSE (WKBT) — Wisconsin hunters harvested more deer than last year, even though fewer hunters were in the woods.
Hunters killed 203,295 deer according to preliminary numbers from Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources.
That number is 14.4% higher than last year, and 8% above the 5-year average.
The number of hunting licenses was down 1.6%.
DNR officials say the high kill count is thanks to snow on the ground and good weather.
“Overall, the hunting conditions were good,” said Jeff Pritzl, the deer program specialist for the DNR. “The snow on the ground on opening weekend which persisted into the week helped as well. We didn’t have any real major negative weather events other than maybe high wind on opening weekend.”
About 75% of the state’s corn is harvested, so that also left deer without much cover.
Vernon County led the state, with seven kills per square mile.
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