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)

Preliminary figures show hunters registered 189,622 deer during the 2024 gun deer season in Wisconsin, which was up 5.2% statewide from 2023, although the harvest in northern counties was down slightly, the Department of Natural Resources said.

The harvest included 89,787 antlered and 99,835 antlerless deer. Compared with 2023, the buck harvest was up 3.6% and the antlerless harvest was up 6.6%.

Adams County in the Central Farmland Zone led the state with 12.4 deer registered per square mile during the gun season. Vernon County led the Southern Farmland Zone with seven deer registered per square mile. Adams County also led the Central Forest Zone registering 4.2 deer per square mile. Finally, Florence County led the Northern Forest Zone with 2.9 deer registered per square mile.

The Northern Forest Zone showed 17,591 antlered deer harvested during the gun season, which was down 1.8% from a year ago and down 7.9% from the five-year average. The antlerless harvest of 11,909 was up 8.7% from 2023 but down 7.2% from the five-year average. Florence County’s gun season harvest was 1,355 deer, including 767 antlered and 588 antlerless.

The DNR reported only one nonfatal firearm-related hunting incident during the 2024 gun deer season.

On Friday at about 4 p.m., a 14-year-old male was sitting in an enclosed tower stand with his father, hunting on private property in Vernon County’s Wheatland Township, when the victim’s father heard what sounded like a gunshot in the distance. Shortly after, the victim felt pain in his feet and found he’d been shot through both of them.

The victim was transported privately to the hospital and received medical treatment for his injuries. The shooter has been identified, and an investigation is pending, the DNR said.

Preliminary figures indicate the number of deer hunters in Wisconsin slightly increased. As of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 1, sales for deer hunting privileges — which include gun, archery, crossbow, conservation patron and sports licenses — reached 791,023, up from 788,697 for the same time period last year. Of those, 553,652 were for gun privileges only, up from 553,479 in 2023.

Since the opening of the bow and crossbow seasons, Wisconsin hunters have registered 289,361 deer. This harvest is 8.7% ahead of the same time last year.

The regular gun deer season ran from Nov. 23 through Sunday and is followed by the 10-day statewide muzzleloader season, which opened Monday.

Jim Anderson can be reached at 906-774-3500, ext. 226, or janderson@ironmountaindailynews.com.