The 2022 Wisconsin deer season will feature slightly more late hunts and a small drop in antlerless permits

Paul A. Smith
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Hunters in Wisconsin registered 9% fewer deer last season, and a mild winter is expected to buoy this fall's deer numbers.

Hunters in Wisconsin will be offered white-tailed deer seasons and opportunities this fall and winter that are little changed from last year, according to rules approved by the Natural Resources Board on Wednesday in Madison.

The board, the seven-member citizen body that sets policy for the DNR, made only two changes – to reduce antlerless deer permits in two northern counties – to the hundreds of recommendations presented by the Department of Natural Resources and County Deer Advisory Councils.

Once again hunters statewide will receive a "buck plus antlerless by permit" privilege with each gun and bow deer license.

Each license will come with from one to four free antlerless permits (numbers vary by county) in the farmland zones. 

The statewide regular seasons include archery, crossbow, muzzleloader, nine-day gun deer and a four-day antlerless-only hunt in December.

In addition, 37 counties (up from 36 in 2021-22) will offer a firearm Holiday Hunt from Dec. 24 to Jan. 1, and 29 counties (up from 27) will hold an extended bow season through January.

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The bow deer season opens Sept. 17, a youth deer hunt will be held Oct. 7 and 8 and the nine-day gun deer season is Nov. 19 to 27.

The rules reflect the state's large deer population and the general inability for regulations and hunter effort to meet harvest goals in the farmland zones.

The County Deer Advisory Councils, made up of local residents and representing hunters, agriculture, tourism and other stakeholder groups, have increasingly added hunting opportunity since they were formed in 2014.

Also indicative of the status of the deer herd: No county will have "buck only" hunting this year, a rarity over the last nine years. The regulation is implemented to protect antlerless deer and intended to help increase deer numbers.

This year, the CDACs, DNR and board agreed no forest zone county required the rule.

The 2022-23 regulations were set coming off a year in which hunters registered 9% fewer deer but also a mild winter which is expected to buoy this fall's deer numbers.

The 2021-22 Wisconsin deer kill was reported at 308,429, down from 338,839 the previous year, according to DNR data.

Reported statewide deer kills over the last nine years have ranged from a low of 290,220 to a high of 342,632 in 2013.

Reflective of last year's drop in kill, the statewide antlerless quota is 4% lower than last year.

The total includes a 22% decrease In the Northern Forest Zone, coming off a 49% increase in 2020.

The northern forest, large in size and with a deer population more influenced by winter weather than any other region, has shown the greatest swings in deer numbers from year to year.

"There's a fair amount of variability of approach in the northern forest units," said Jeff Pritzl, DNR deer specialist. "And I think that simply reflects that it's a big zone. It's capturing diversity and variability in culture, so we do see some different approaches."

The two changes made by the board were to decrease antlerless permits in Bayfield and Florence counties.

In the Bayfield County case, the board made the change to a recommendation that had been forwarded by both the CDAC and DNR. In Florence County it restored the CDAC recommendation after the DNR pushed for a higher number.

The changes were outliers amid the hundreds of recommendations in the package.

The slate includes antlerless tags on public land in all counties statewide, including in Ashland County for the first time since the private and public tag system was originated in 2014.

The DNR received 10,291 comments in its online input process this year, up from 8,728 in 2021.

The agency said a growing number of people are expressing a desire to have the opportunity to obtain an antlerless permit for public land.

As a result, some CDACs recommended small increases in public land permit availability in northern counties, according to the DNR.

A primary reason cited by CDACs was a matter of equity in access to a public resource.

The 2022-23 Wisconsin bow deer season open Sept. 17, a youth deer hunt will be held Oct. 7 and 8 and the nine-day gun deer season is Nov. 19 to 27.

To purchase a deer license, visit a license sales vendor or visit gowild.wi.gov.