The 9-day gun deer hunt is wrapped up. DNR finds that license sales are down from last year, along with harvest numbers. This is following a trend that's been going on for a decade. DNR Wildlife Management Director Eric Lobner says license sales saw a 1.5 percent decline from 2020. And deer harvest was down 7.9 percent from the 2020 gun deer hunt. 

But Jeffrey Pritzl, DNR Deer Program Specialist, says it's too early to compare total deer harvest data. Deer season is not yet over. There’s still the muzzleloader season, more bow hunting opportunities and the holiday hunt to look forward to. He says more hunters are focusing their harvest outside of the gun deer hunt. DNR does not yet know why there have been such sharp hunting declines in the central and southern parts of the state.