Early data shows that hunters registered 173,942 deer during the 2023 gun deer season, including 85,390 antlered and 88,552 antlerless deer.
Compared to 2022, the total firearm deer harvest was down 17.6 percent statewide, with the antlered harvest down 14.7 percent and the antlerless harvest down 20.3 percent. However, Deer Program Specialist Jeff Pritzl says 2022 and 2023 are not an "apples to apples" comparison.
"This year is more of an equalizer," he says, noting that 2022's gun deer hunt harvest numbers were a double-digit increase from the year before.
Photo by: iStock/FRANKHILDEBRAND