State, county deer harvests down substantially
by Steve Ottman Review Correspondent
Preliminary figures released late Tuesday showed that the nine-day gun deer season registrations were down 28 percent in Sheboygan County.
Deer hunters registered a total of 1,069 deer, including 418 bucks and 651 does during the season in county. These totals are down from the 1,495 deer registered in 2008.
Hunters registered the fewest deer in 27 years in the Wisconsin gun deer season that ended Sunday, according to preliminary data from the Department of Natural Resources.
The 2009 harvest of 195,647 deer (86,251 bucks and 109,396 antlerless deer) represents a 29-percent drop from 2008. The 2009 buck kill is the lowest since 1980.
Statewide preliminary totals of 195,647 deer were taken – down 29 percent from last year’s 276,895.
The DNR cited several reasons. There were lower fawn production in the last two springs, due to longer winters and tough weather.
A late corn harvest this year has left many fields with standing corn. An unusual wet and warm season, coupled with foggy conditions, made for poor deer movement.
