Hunters kill 22% fewer deer on opening weekend – JSOnline

By Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel

Hunters killed 22% fewer deer during the opening weekend of the nine-day gun deer season, the Department of Natural Resources reported Monday.

The number of hunters injured in shootings increased to four, in addition to the single fatality on Sunday that had been previously reported.

A preliminary count of the first two days of the season showed that hunters killed 133,828 deer.

The buck harvest was down 25%, and antlerless harvest fell 20%.

Last year, the preliminary count totaled 171,584.

The DNR said several factors have contributed to a lower harvest.

They included a smaller deer population after several years of regulations to drive down the population, cold hunting conditions in northern Wisconsin, a late opening weekend that missed the peak of the rutting season and hard 2007-’08 winter conditions after a string of mild winters.  Click Link Below for full story!

Hunters kill 22% fewer deer on opening weekend – JSOnline.