Landin DePas of Appleton, Wis., got this buck in the Fence area of Florence County on Nov. 23 during the Wisconsin gun season. (Courtesy photo)

Wisconsin hunters harvested fewer bucks but more antlerless deer than a year ago during the recently completed nine-day gun season, according to preliminary figures released Tuesday by the Department of Natural Resources.

Hunters registered 182,084 deer during the 2025 gun deer season, including 86,068 antlered and 96,016 antlerless deer, the DNR said. Compared to 2024, the gun season harvest total is down 0.8% statewide, with the antlered harvest down 2.6% and the antlerless harvest up 0.9%, the agency said.

In Deer Management Unit 125 in Florence and Marinette counties — north of U.S. 8 and Marinette County K and east of Highway 101 extending to the Michigan border — the DNR reported a gun season harvest of 928 antlered deer and 401 antlerless.

In DMU 124 in Florence and Forest counties — north of U.S. 8, west of Highway 101 and east of Highways 32 and 70 — the reported gun season harvest was 538 antlered and 204 antlerless.

DMUs in the Northern Forest Zone have been updated this year, converting to habitat-based units as opposed to county-based, which complicates season comparisons. The gun season harvest in the Northern Forest Zone was down 14.6% from a year ago, but the zone decreased in size by about 10%, the DNR said.

Since the opening of the bow and crossbow seasons, Wisconsin hunters have registered more deer than at this time a year ago. The harvest to date is 294,757 deer, which is 1.1% ahead of the same time last year, the DNR said.

Preliminary figures indicate the number of deer hunters is down slightly this year. As of 11:59 p.m. Nov. 30, sales for Wisconsin deer hunting privileges — which include gun, archery, crossbow, conservation patron and sports licenses — reached 790,044, down 0.12% from the same time last year. Of those, 550,611 were for gun privileges only.

Final license sales figures will be available in January, the DNR said.

The statewide muzzleloader season is now open and continues through Dec. 10.