Increases in deer registrations are rarely triggered by a single factor. Ample sighting and safety snow in most locations were likely responsible for fewer-than-average accidents and increased deer registrations opening weekend.

Other factors adding to the formula, in spite of fewer license sales, could have been an overlap of the season with deer mating mood and the absence of a usual Sunday afternoon Packer’s game. The rut overlap in the past has increased the buck kill by 10-15 percent, biologists suggested prior to the season.

Statewide gun hunters registered 118,670 deer, compared to 105,216 in 2017, which is a 12.8 percent increase and an 18.8 percent increase in bucks registered.

Actual numbers showed 53,382 bucks e-registered compared to 44,836 in 2017. Antlerless registrations were up 8.3 percent, with 65,388 compared to 60,380 registrations in 2017,

All these figures are only for opening weekend, Saturday and Sunday.

Specific deer management units (DMU) recorded a 31 percent increase in La Crosse County, with antlerless increasing 33.4 percent and bucks were up 28.7 percent compared to 2017.

Portage County recorded an overall 20 percent increase in deer and bucks, with a 19.9 percent increase for antlerless deer.

Adams County had 10 percent deer increase, 3.8 percent for bucks, and 17 percent for antlerless deer.

Bayfield County dropped back 10.6 percent overall, and a 4.7 percent and 13.8 percent drop in bucks and antlerless deer respectively.

Dane and Green counties recorded two of the higher increases, both at 49 percent. Green County had a 40.2 percent buck increase; Dane a 38.8 percent buck jump.

Iowa County jumped 30.8 percent overall and 32 percent in bucks, while Lafayette gained 31.9 over 2017, 25.7 in bucks, and 38.2 in antlerless deer.

All management units, other season registrations, and comparisons with last year can be viewed at http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/wildlifehabitat/harvest/deerharvest.html

Final gun deer season totals will be posted in the weeks ahead, with muzzleloader, antlerless, and Holiday hunts appearing after seasons close.

To date, archers have registered 36,601 deer, 20,625 of which were bucks. Crossbowers reported 41,781 deer, 24,314 of which were bucks. These totals continue to be posted weekly until the seasons end.

One Iowa County hunter tallied 46 deer Saturday morning, but let them pass.

Two men from Alaska targeted antlerless deer to airlift the meat back to Wasilla, simply because they prefer their meat over buck muscles. They had a herd of 30 deer pass by their positions at one time in Iowa County.

In spite of weather fluctuations, bird feeders are reporting crowds and frequently empty feeders. Suet works for more than just woodpeckers, too. Robins have about cleaned off the crabapples and late migrants are either booking flights south or looking for spring holes to drink from and hackberries to feed upon throughout the winter.

Before sharpening the auger or spud send off a note to a landowner or stop by with a favorite pie and a package of venison.

Compared to 2017, most deciduous trees have dropped their leaves, including many more of the red oaks. The forests seem particularly open this year, maybe another factor in increased deer registrations.

Chipmunks and even ground squirrels continue to venture back out to check the weather. Opossums, too, have been looking for spilled bird feed below feeders.

Freshly cut evergreen trees and boughs remain green longer than earlier cuts, every those provided water in stands.

If it’s over, put the hunting equipment away, but not before a thorough cleaning. 

— Jerry Davis is an Argyle native and a freelance writer who lives in Barneveld. He can be reached at sivadjam@mhtc.net or at 608-924-1112.