WI opening weekend gun deer kill down 27% from last year.

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matt1336
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Re: WI opening weekend gun deer kill down 27% from last year.

Unread postby matt1336 » Thu Nov 28, 2019 1:59 am

I know where deer aren’t....


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James
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Re: WI opening weekend gun deer kill down 27% from last year.

Unread postby James » Thu Nov 28, 2019 2:07 am

Pretty much similar sentiment in my neck of the woods. My son saw a LOT of deer on opening day. He figures 30-40 but not even a 2yo buck to be had. I saw about 8-10 Neighbors shot a few doe and one neighbor was fortune to shoot a booner but overall shooting was down and bucks were way down.

We decided to shoot doe on Sunday but of course once you make that decision it is a sure bet that you won’t see a mature doe and that is what happened.

Hoping for a little better action after Thanksgiving with all this fresh snow. A lot of farmers raced to get crops out early this week too.
P&YBuck1
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Re: WI opening weekend gun deer kill down 27% from last year.

Unread postby P&YBuck1 » Thu Nov 28, 2019 2:43 am

We had slow opener but then it picked up slightly Sunday but still another quieter year, even quitter then last year. Big change this year by us is that we now have wolves staying around which we did not have in the past, as you might catch one on camera every other year but now seeing them while hunting. Definitely feel this alters the landscape by us along with 6-doe tags... We are in southern Shawano county so appear wolvers are expanding south at a good clip.
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Lockdown
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Re: WI opening weekend gun deer kill down 27% from last year.

Unread postby Lockdown » Thu Nov 28, 2019 3:22 am

I know numbers in a lot of WI aren’t what they once were, but it sounds like a lot of the deer were laying low. Should make for a good 2020 season.
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Dewey
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Re: WI opening weekend gun deer kill down 27% from last year.

Unread postby Dewey » Thu Nov 28, 2019 11:03 am

Just read an article where the DNR claims we currently have 2 million deer in the state and likely a record high. :?

https://amp.jsonline.com/amp/4192231002

There is no way that can be correct. I remember back in the 90’s when we had less deer than that and seemed no matter where I hunted it was common to see 5-10 deer a day even in the northwoods. Now it’s much more common to have zero sightings than multiple sightings. I realize there are pockets in the state that have huge numbers and others that have very few but it’s always been that way. Talking to hunters who hunt in all corners of the state it’s pretty obvious the deer kill keeps dropping only because nobody is seeing enough to shoot. I think they use the wrong formula for counting deer. The one they use should be applied towards counting wolves instead since everyone knows there are way more than the DNR claims.
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Jackson Marsh
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Re: WI opening weekend gun deer kill down 27% from last year.

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Thu Nov 28, 2019 11:31 am

I don't know about those numbers, hard to say. I've hunted 4 counties in Wisconsin this year and seen deer in all of them.....which proves nothing :lol:

In my primary county I hunted I did see deer, but I wouldn't say I saw a ton of does, usually one or two here and there....when I hunt Iowa there are deer in general and does all over.
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Dewey
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Re: WI opening weekend gun deer kill down 27% from last year.

Unread postby Dewey » Thu Nov 28, 2019 11:34 am

Jackson Marsh wrote:I don't know about those numbers, hard to say. I've hunted 4 counties in Wisconsin this year and seen deer in all of them.....which proves nothing :lol:

In my primary county I hunted I did see deer, but I wouldn't say I saw a ton of does, usually one or two here and there....when I hunt Iowa there are deer in general and does all over.

I want a herd like Iowa has. :mrgreen:

Good thing that’s where I’m headed next year. :dance:
GranLightning16
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Re: WI opening weekend gun deer kill down 27% from last year.

Unread postby GranLightning16 » Fri Nov 29, 2019 4:44 am

I think a lot of the change is the fact that very few drive deer anymore. And new clothing technology keeps people warmer longer, and fewer actual hunters, so there's not as many cold hunters up and bumping around anymore.

This is how it is on the public we hunt in Marinette County. I saw one other hunter the first four days of the season in the woods. Lots of area for deer to be without anyone else bumping into them and making them move to where you may be sitting and they currently are not located.
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stash59
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Re: WI opening weekend gun deer kill down 27% from last year.

Unread postby stash59 » Fri Nov 29, 2019 4:48 am

GranLightning16 wrote:I think a lot of the change is the fact that very few drive deer anymore. And new clothing technology keeps people warmer longer, and fewer actual hunters, so there's not as many cold hunters up and bumping around anymore.

This is how it is on the public we hunt in Marinette County. I saw one other hunter the first four days of the season in the woods. Lots of area for deer to be without anyone else bumping into them and making them move to where you may be sitting and they currently are not located.


And this sort of thing is even more amplified on private. Closed in blinds with heaters, radios and even TV's. Nobody pushes anything until they have to go collect what they shot!!!
Happiness is a large gutpile!!!!!!!


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