(Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources photo) Cubs cannot yet regulate their temperature and have delicate immune systems, so researchers wear protective gear and keep them warm while staff members fit a GPS collar on the mother bear during Wisconsin den surveys.

IRON MOUNTAIN — Archery hunters in Dickinson and Menominee counties harvested significantly more deer than a year ago during the early segment of the season that ended Nov. 14, according to data on the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ online dashboard.

The 2024 harvest summary shows 495 deer, including 341 bucks, taken during the Oct. 1 through Nov. 14 early archery season in Dickinson County. That compares with 396 deer, including 243 antlered, harvested during the same archery period in 2023.

For Menominee County, the dashboard shows 1,108 reported harvests for the early archery segment in 2024, including 731 bucks. That’s up from 960 in 2023, which including 622 antlered.

In total, the early archery harvest in the two counties this year was up by 247 deer, of which 207 were antlered.

Whether that rate of success continues in the firearm season that opened Nov. 15 remains to be seen. Reported harvests numbers to date are below the 2023 totals, but another week of the season remains. Hunters also have 72 hours to report.

As of 4 p.m. Friday, Menominee County showed a firearm harvest of 2,439, including 1,922 bucks. For the entire 2023 firearm season, the county’s total was 3,037, of which 2,172 were antlered.

Dickinson County’s firearm harvest total to date was 806, including 676 bucks. The 2023 total was 994, of which 730 were antlered.

Iron County’s 2024 early archery harvest numbers were only slightly above 2023. The dashboard shows a count of 346 deer this year, including 225 antlered. The 2023 numbers were 332 deer, of which 204 were bucks.

Iron County’s firearm harvest to date was reported at 775, including 596 antlered. The 2023 count for the firearm hunt was 958, of which 681 were bucks.

With Wisconsin’s nine-day gun deer season opening today, hunters are reminded that they can submit a sample from their deer for chronic wasting disease testing. Testing through the DNR is free for deer harvested in Wisconsin. In Florence, a CWD sampling self-service kiosk is available at the Wild Rivers Interpretive Center.

Details on Wisconsin CWD testing can be found at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/registersample.

Hunters in Wisconsin are encouraged to report any black bear den locations to help the DNR with an ongoing study on reproduction. The study will be entering its fourth year of surveying occupied dens in the Wisconsin bear range.

“It is important for the study that we get collars out in each of the bear management zones,” said Dr. Jennifer Price Tack, DNR large carnivore and elk research scientist. “This will allow us to better inform bear population estimates for each zone, which in turn support management decision making.”

Bear dens aren’t frequently found, so it’s helpful that people report them to the DNR when they do.

The public is encouraged to report as much information as possible about occupied black bear dens without approaching or disturbing them.

Information to report to the bear research team includes:

— GPS coordinates.

— Photo of the den, ideally showing it in relation to its surroundings, from a safe distance — about 30 yards.

— Description of the site and surrounding area.

— Any information on the bear(s) and bear activity near the site.

For more, including a link to a reporting form, go to https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/newsroom/release/100266.