MANITOWOC — Before the final weekend of Gun Deer Season 2024, numbers are down on the Lakeshore.
- Entering the final weekend of gun deer season, DNR reports show deer yields down arond 2% in Manitowoc County.
- Dan Cichantek, or Trapper Dan, says it may be due to the rough weather.
- After this weekend, there will still be opportunities to hunt throughout 2024.
For outdoorsmen in Wisconsin, not much tops gun deer season. Here’s a recap before the last weekend of the short season
To get a feel for how the season has gone, I caught up with Manitowoc man Dan Cichantek or ‘Trapper Dan’.
"It's just been a slow season,” Trapper Dan said. "I think a lot of it too is the weather change after Tuesday put a lot of people not hunting."
Sure enough, Trapper Dan's feeling is backed up by the DNR.
Preliminary harvest numbers show the 2024 season in Manitowoc County yielded around 2 percent less deer to this point than the 2019 through 2023 average.
"Not a good year,” said Dan. “No snow cover, the second latest opening we possibly could have."
A local venison processor told me that their numbers are holding steady, but it is tough for them to say because they're at capacity every year.
But, a lower number didn't stop Trapper Dan.
"I only saw one deer and that was this bigger buck that I shot",” Dan said.
There's still more hunting left, according to the DNR's schedule, there is still muzzleloader season, a few days hunt for antlerless deer and extended gun seasons in parts of the Lakeshore.
"They always say, 'if you only shoot little deer, you're never going to shoot a big deer',” Dan joked. “I guess it shows."
With some more opportunities for hunting, Trapper Dan hopes all hunters keep in mind,
"Don't give up and stay safe!”
