January 11, 2019 at 4:39 p.m.
2018 final deer season numbers are in
2018 final deer season numbers are in
The Southern Farmland had the biggest improvement, with numbers up 17.1 percent over last year. The Northern Forest Zone, which encompasses much of the Northwoods, wound up 1.4 percent better than in the 2017 gun hunt. In total, the 211,430 animals registered as harvested during the nine-day gun deer hunt brought the state's total to 6.9 percent higher than last year.
In the Northern Zone, only Forest and Iron counties reported fewer animals harvested during this year's gun deer hunt than last year. The 27.8 percent drop in antlerless tags in Forest County may seem extreme, but it amounted to only 101 animals, down to 262 from 363 last year.
Iron County saw fewer deer registered in both the antlered and antlerless categories. Again, the 31.4 percent drop in antlerless deer harvested must be tempered with the fact this accounted for only 11 animals. This year's antlerless harvest was 24, with last year being 36. The 12.9 percent drop in antlered animals was a bigger contributor to the overall 19.3 percent drop in numbers in the county, with only 390 antlered deer taken during the season this year as opposed to 448 last year.
Oneida County found itself up by 8.4 percent over last year at the end of the gun deer season. A total of 2,386 animals were registered as being harvested during that season in 2018, versus 2,201 last year. The total was up 8.2 percent for antlered animals and 8.8 for antlerless harvests.
In the case of Vilas County, where antlerless tags were issued for the first time in a few years, the antlerless harvest more than doubled. The 133.8 percent increase saw 447 antlerless deer being registered as compared to the 204 last year.
Last year's numbers would have been comprised of youth hunters, disabled hunters, and active military hunters home on leave, all classes of hunters allowed by the state to harvest antlerless deer regardless of quotas. While that category saw a huge increase, for obvious reasons, antlered harvests were down slightly from 1083 in 2017 to 983 in 2018.
During the archery season, 38,235 total animals were harvested; 5,255 of those were registered in the Northern Forest Zone. Breaking it down further, Oneida County hunters harvested 275 animals, Vilas County hunters 194 and Iron County Hunters 40. Lincoln and Langlade County, as is normal, saw more harvests with Lincoln County hunters accounting for 331 animals and Langlade County hunters 282.
Crossbow season harvests were higher than vertical bow season, with a state total of 44,442. In both Oneida County, with 629 harvests, and Vilas County, with 381 animals registered, the number of deer harvested with a crossbow was more than double that of vertical bow season. A good deal of this difference can be accounted for through an increase in crossbow license sales, with some hunters moving to crossbow and leaving the vertical bow at home. Results for crossbow season in Iron, Lincoln and Langlade counties mirrored those in the rest of the Zone, with double the number of animals being harvested with a crossbow. Iron County hunters registered 100 deer with a crossbow. Langlade hunters registered 599 deer and Lincoln County hunters reported harvesting 651.
In the youth hunt category, again Lincoln and Langlade counties reported more youth harvests than other counties in the Northwoods. The Northern Forest Zone counties reported 1,618 total animals harvested, with 762 of those being antlered deer and 856 antlerless. Oneida County youth hunters registered 67 deer and Vilas County hunters 75.
As usual, muzzleloader season saw the fewest deer registered, with only 1,552 for the entire Northern Forest Zone. The Southern Farmland Zone, as expected, saw the most harvests, with 6,899 deer registered during that season and weapon type. Lincoln and Langlade County hunters accounted for just over 100 of those in each county. Oneida County just missed the century mark with 96 animals registered, split almost evenly between antlered and antlerless animals.
Vilas County hunters registered 45 deer during the muzzleloader season, with slightly more antlered deer than antlerless.
Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at bgaskill@lakelandtimes.
com.
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