The DNR's deer specialist, Jeff Pritzl, speculated during a news conference that the lack of snow across the state likely helped deer blend into the landscape, making them harder to spot and trail. Overall, sales of all deer licenses were down 0.61% from the same time last year. The DNR reported that sales of all deer licenses stood at 774,369 as of midnight Sunday, with 421,525 of those licenses exclusively for gun use.

The number of potential hunters didn't vary much from last year, however. Hunters also registered 51,870 bucks, down 13% from 56,638 over opening weekend in 2022. That's a 16% drop-off from 2022 and 10% fewer deer than the five-year average for opening weekend.

The state Department of Natural Resources released preliminary data Tuesday that showed hunters registered 92,050 deer compared with 103,623 deer last year. (AP) - A lack of snow and warm temperatures that suppressed deer movement led to a lackluster opening weekend of Wisconsin's nine-day gun season, with hunters killing thousands fewer deer than last year.

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