BRAD RICHTIG, OF Aurora, Wis., shot a 10-point buck at 2:30 p.m. opening day of the Wisconsin gun season in Florence County. Successful hunters may submit photos to The Daily News by emailing news@ironmountaindailynews.com. Along with information on the hunt, please include where the hunter is from and the county of harvest. (Submitted photo)

Wisconsin hunters registered 1.8% fewer deer than a year ago during the opening weekend of the 2024 gun season, with the northern forest zone showing the biggest drop at 14.1%, according to preliminary data from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Reports from the field varied widely from good deer activity to little or no daytime deer movement, the DNR said.

Some breeding activity was still observed. Overall, however, deer sightings and harvests were down as expected, given the late opening date relative to the peak of the breeding season.

Snow fell across parts of the state Monday and a forecasted drop in temperatures may provide a white backdrop during the second half of the season for many hunters. Better deer visibility and tracking snow could mean good conditions for those who try to make the most out of the full nine days, the DNR said.

“As I recall from a couple of years ago, we might actually see numbers pick up at a better pace, where hunters were fortunate to get some snow on the ground,” DNR Deer Program Specialist Jeff Pritzl told Wisconsin Public Radio on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday morning, the DNR had no firearm-involved hunting incidents to report from the opening weekend. During the first two days of the 2023 season, the agency reported two firearm-involved hunting incidents.

In total, hunters registered 89,203 deer statewide during opening weekend, compared with 90,831 registered for the same period in 2023. In addition to being down from a year ago, the total was 4.7% below the five-year average.

Hunters registered a total of 49,038 antlered deer, compared with 51,261 in 2023, a 4.3% decrease. The antlerless harvest was 40,165, which was up 1.5% from last year.

The antlered total of 8,483 on opening weekend in the northern forest zone was down 17.4% from a year ago, while the antlerless total of 4,016 was down 6.4%. Compared with the five-year average, the antlered total was down 19.4% and the antlerless total was down 20.1%.

In Florence County, 596 deer were taken during opening weekend, which was down 10% from a year ago. The antlered harvest of 401 was down 12.3% and the antlerless harvest of 195 was down 4.9%. In comparison with the five-year average, the antlered harvest was down 9.3% and the antlerless harvest was up 56%.

Also in the northern forest zone, northern Marinette County showed a harvest total of 837 on opening weekend, which was 9.3% lower than a year ago. The buck harvest of 682 was down 5.8% while the antlerless harvest of 155 was down 22.1%. Compared with the five-year average, the antlered harvest was down 8.5% and the antlerless take was down 2.5%.

Forest County went against the trend with a total opening weekend harvest of 533, which was 1.7% higher than a year ago. The buck harvest of 379, however, was down 5.2% while the antlerless harvest of 154 was up 24.2%. The antlered total was 0.5% below the five-year average but the antlerless count was up 92.5%.

Southern Marinette County, which is in the central farmland zone, showed a harvest total of 1,750 on opening weekend, which was down 6.2% from 2023. The antlered count of 1,110 was down 8.1% from a year ago and down 2.5% from the five-year average. The antlerless total of 640 was down 2.7% from 2023 and down 9.5% from the five-year average.

Pritzl said hunters saw better success than a year ago on opening weekend in Waushara, Winnebago, Dodge, Adams and Marquette counties.

Preliminary figures indicate the number of deer hunters in Wisconsin slightly increased compared with 2023. As of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, sales for deer hunting privileges — which include gun, archery, crossbow, conservation patron and sports licenses — reached 778,111, up 0.48% from the same time last year. Of those, 541,258 of those were for gun privileges only.