Hunting

Photo courtesy of Wisconsin DNR

Facts about Deer from the Wisconsin DNR

• Adult deer can run as fast as 40 miles per hour and swim as fast as 13 miles per hour.
• Nine states, including Wisconsin, have claimed the white-tailed deer as their state animal.
• White-tailed deer are native to North and South America.
• Female white-tail deer often begin breeding before they are two years old and typically give birth to one to three fawns per year.
• The white-tailed deer fall breeding season - otherwise known as the rut - is the most likely time of year to encounter deer on the road. Dawn and dusk are the deer's most active times of the day.

Deer Hunting in Wisconsin

• Wisconsin boasts the largest single season deer harvest ever recorded: 615,293 in the year 2000.
• Deer hunting continues to grow. In 1966 517,225 deer hunting licenses were sold and 116,048 deer were harvested. In 2008, license sales were 846,094 total licenses and hunters harvested 453,480 deer.
• The 12th edition of the Boone and Crockett Club's Records of North American Big Game lists Wisconsin as the top state in terms of entries of white-tailed deer with trophy antlers with 627 entries.

In the Last Decade

• Deer hunting has contributed approximately 1 billion dollars to the state's economy annually.
• More than 700,000 deer hunters have participated in deer hunting annually and harvested an average of 482,645 deer.

Grouse of Wisconsin

Ruffed grouse are one of the most popular upland game birds to hunt. Ruffed grouse are most commonly known for their distinctive ‘drumming’ noise produced by males during the spring breeding season. Male grouse will display on drumming logs, rapidly beating their wings with the intention of attracting a female grouse.

Grouse populations are cyclic and follow an 8-10 year cycle. Exact cause of the cycle is unknown but it is believed to be the result of a number of different factors including food, cover, weather, and predation.
There are two designated ruffed grouse management zones in Wisconsin including a large zone encompassing the majority of north, central, and southwestern portions of the state and a smaller zone including the southeastern portion of the state. Grouse tend to use a variety of habitat types, but young, early successional forest types are most important when trying to find a good grouse hunting location.
Many hunters hunt ruffed grouse and woodcock at the same time. Hunters doing so should be aware that there are federal requirements that must be met to hunt woodcock. To harvest woodcock, in addition to having the appropriate license hunters must also meet HIP registration requirements and are restricted to hunting with a shotgun limited to holding 3 shells. These federal requirements are not required for ruffed grouse. However, these regulations must be followed if hunting both species at the same time.
......from the WI DNR