Deer Media Kit

Fast Facts

White-tail Deer

• 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 all three American continents and occupy suitable habitat from Alaska all the way to the Amazon River in South America.
• In velvet, a white-tail deer's antlers can grow as much as ½ inch per day.
• Female white-tail deer often begin breeding before they are two years old and typically give birth to one to three fawns per year.
• Wisconsin is home to more than 1.5 million wild white-tail deer.

Deer Hunting in Wisconsin

• Wisconsin boasts the largest single season deer harvest ever recorded: 615,293 in the year 2000.
• Between 1966 and 2006, license sales grew from 517,225 to 904,003 and deer harvested grew from 116,048 to 507,224.
• 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.

Video and Photos

Video

• Deer Hunt 2007 [VIDEO Length 56:22] Broadcast on Wisconsin Public Television
• 4 Rules of Firearm Safety Video [VIDEO Length 0:33]
• Tree Stand Safety Video [VIDEO Length 0:31]
• Camouflage Blinds Hunter Safety Video [VIDEO Length 0:33]
• Sex Age Kill Population Estimation Review [VIDEO Length 50:16]

Photos

• Wisconsin White-tailed Deer and Deer Hunter Images

Chronic Wasting Disease

What's new in 2008:

The changes in deer season framework for this fall reflect a blending of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Stakeholder Advisory Group recommendations, feedback from public hearings held in spring of 2008 and the Department's recommendations to manage the disease.

Combined Management Zone
The geographic areas formerly designated as the Disease Eradication Zone (DEZ) and the Herd Reduction Zone (HRZ) have been combined into a single zone called the CWD Management Zone (CWD-MZ) This was done to help reduce confusion over hunting season dates and simplify communication with the public.

Expansion of Rifle Use in CWD Management Zone
Hunters can use rifles throughout the entire CWD Management Zone, with the exception of Deer Management Unit 76M, which is a metro unit in Dane County.

Testing
This fall DNR will conduct a second round of disease testing in the Northern Region and will continue to test adult deer within the CWD Management Zone.

Season Structure
The CWD Management Zone is very similar to the season structure used elsewhere in the state for units that are over goal. The one season that is unique to the CWD-MZ is the holiday firearm season from December 24 to January 4.

Discounted permits no longer offered to landowners
It is no longer fiscally feasible to offer the $2.00 DEZ landowner and hunter permits. With the combined CWD zones, the estimated loss in license revenue would be more than $850,000.

Related Links

• CWD in Wisconsin Web Pages
• CWD News Page
• CWD Test Results

More Resources

• Deer hunting in Wisconsin
• A chronology of Wisconsin deer hunting from closed seasons to antlerless permits
• Sex Age Kill population estimation audit report
• Chronic Wasting Disease in Wisconsin
• Deer Donation Program information

• Sex Age Kill Population Estimation Review [VIDEO Length 50:16]

Related News

Deer

• DNR Southeast Region Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone: Early gun deer season registration/sampling stations
  Issued by DNR Central Office on Friday, October 10, 2008 at 12:56:17 PM
• Kettle Moraine State Forest users urged to wear blaze orange clothing during firearm deer seasons
  Issued by DNR Southeast Region on Friday, October 10, 2008 at 12:48:57 PM
• Letter from DNR Secretary Matt Frank to hunters
  Issued by DNR Central Office on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 at 2:24:28 PM
• October gun deer hunt set to run October 16-19
  Issued by DNR Central Office on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 at 2:00:24 PM
• October antlerless deer hunt good time to “earn-a-buck”
  Issued by DNR Central Office on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 at 1:51:39 PM

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CWD

• DNR Southeast Region Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone: Early gun deer season registration/sampling stations
  Issued by DNR Central Office on Friday, October 10, 2008 at 12:56:17 PM
• Kettle Moraine State Forest users urged to wear blaze orange clothing during firearm deer seasons
  Issued by DNR Southeast Region on Friday, October 10, 2008 at 12:48:57 PM
• October gun deer hunt set to run October 16-19
  Issued by DNR Central Office on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 at 2:00:24 PM
• October antlerless deer hunt good time to “earn-a-buck”
  Issued by DNR Central Office on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 at 1:51:39 PM
• Hunters in northern Wisconsin being asked to help check deer herd health
  Issued by DNR Central Office on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 at 1:27:11 PM

Search News