BONDUEL, WI -- The latest numbers on Wisconsin's gun deer season are in, and they show more people are getting out in the woods this year than in 2014 in the pursuit of the the next trophy.
As of this morning the DNR reports that more than 828,000 people have purchased a deer hunting license in Wisconsin.
That's 12,000 more licenses sold by opening weekend than the same time last year.
Of that figure, resident license sales are up 1,200, while non-resident sales are up nearly 750.
For hunters Zeremy Weiss and Matt Wells, the drive north from the Milwaukee suburbs was worth it this weekend.
"We saw a bunch of deer and shot one of them," smiled Wells.
"I didn't shoot it til four PM, and we were out there at about six in the morning," adds Weiss.
Some hunters we spoke with also scoping hunting grounds in Oconto County said they didn't see the herd numbers they were hoping for.
But experts say conservative antlerless harvests in 2014, coupled with a mild winter, is helping the herd rebound.
"We passed up some does, and some other bucks, and.. there's a lot of deer running around," says Wells, "but we just took one of them."
But unofficial reports from the DNR put the number of harvested deer at 18,000.
Hunters now need a daily total average of 29,000 deer to beat last year's harvest total of more than 222,500.
That state harvest total of 222,500 deer in 2014 was still a 13 percent drop in 2013's total harvest.
Hunters still have until next Sunday to finish the season on top.
