PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
(WTAQ-WLUK) — Preliminary data released from the Wisconsin DNR Tuesday showed a slight decrease in deer harvest this season.
For the 2025 gun deer season, which ended Sunday, hunters registered 182,084 deer, including 86,068 antlered and 96,016 antlerless deer. Compared to 2024, the gun season harvest total is down 0.8% statewide, with the antlered harvest down 2.6% and the antlerless harvest up 0.9%.
Since the opening of the bow and crossbow seasons, Wisconsin hunters have registered 294,757 deer. This harvest is 1.1% ahead of the same time last year.
Marquette County in the Central Farmland Zone led the state with 7.9 deer registered per square mile. Vernon County led the Southern Farmland Zone with 6.5 deer registered per square mile. DMU 201 led the Central Forest Zone registering 3.8 deer per square mile. Finally, DMU 108 led the Northern Forest Zone with 2.7 deer registered per square mile.
The regular gun deer season ran from Nov. 22 through Nov. 30 and is followed by the statewide muzzleloader season (Dec. 1-Dec. 10), the statewide antlerless-only four-day hunt (Dec. 11-Dec. 14) and the antlerless-only holiday hunt in select farmland zone counties (Dec. 24-Jan. 1, 2026).
As of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 30, sales for deer hunting privileges (which include gun, archery, crossbow, conservation patron and sports licenses) reached 790,044, down 0.12% from the same time last year. Of those, 550,611 were for gun privileges only (which include gun, conservation patron and sports licenses).
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.
2025 Gun Deer Season Hunting Incidents
At the time of this release, the DNR reports the following firearm-involved hunting incidents from the 2025 nine-day gun deer season.
- Grant County, North Lancaster Township: On Nov. 22, 2025, in the afternoon hours, a 57-year-old male was a victim of a gunshot to his buttock while walking to a field to go deer hunting. The victim was transported to the hospital and treated for injury. Investigation pending.
- Fond du Lac County, Oakfield Township: On Nov. 22, 2025, in the evening hours, a 24-year-old male deer hunter was a victim of a self-inflicted gunshot to the chest. The victim was found deceased several hours after the close of hunting hours by family on private property. Preliminary investigation reflects the victim was in a tree, gun deer hunting from a saddle stand, when the unintentional discharge of their firearm occurred. Investigation pending.
Comparatively, during the 2024-gun deer season, the DNR reported one firearm-involved hunting incident resulting in injury.
For the past 10 nine-day gun deer seasons (2016-2025), the incident trend reflects an average of five hunting incidents per year. In addition, Wisconsin has had six fatality free seasons, and all 10 years reflect single digit incidents.
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