It was a warmer than average weekend for opening gun deer season in Wisconsin. But, that weather didn’t stop hunters from heading to the woods.
Some, like Justin Vee, had better luck than others. Vee says he saw his deer first thing Sunday morning. "It just came right up to me it was nice weather. I shot it right in the chest and in the back and it dropped right away."
Hunters like Justin flowed into the Sunset Country Store just outside of Wausau to check in their take.
The store’s staff says they have seen a lot of action the past two days.
Jordan Baumann, who has been registering deer for the store, says this weekend has been very busy. "So far it’s been pretty good. The bucks have been pretty good."
Baumann says that the warmer weather probably had an impact on overall numbers. So far, staff says there have been more bigger buck taken than last year. Baumann says a lot of the hunters are saying the same things. "Alot of people are saying they are not seeing as many as they used to, but when they do see one, its usually pretty good."
That’s why getting a deer can be such a challenge for hunters. It is too early to tell whether overall numbers for are up or down for this year’s hunt. The hunters we spoke with say they knew they had to take advantage of opening weekend, even if the shot they took was not ideal.
Justin Vee said his shot was not perfect, but it did the job. “I took a shot at it and I think I clipped off his antler and it was lying right next to him. Kind of a unique shot, but these things will happen, I guess." Justin says he plans to glue the antler back on the buck, making it the eight pointer he originally spotted.
The Sunset Country Store employees we spoke with say that as of Sunday afternoon, they had already registered around 320 deer. They say they expect this year's total numbers to surpass last year's total by a hundred or so.
