Waupaca County led the way in 2006 with 5,096 deer arrowed. Of these, 1,278 were antlered and 3,792 were antlerless. Second was Marathon County with 4,869 deer taken, 1,501 of which were antlered. Next was Shawano County with a total early archery harvest of 3,672, with 1,171 being bucks. The fourth-best county was Buffalo, where 3,212 deer were killed by bow, and 826 were bucks. In fifth place was Marinette with 3,086 deer taken, and about a third of them were bucks. Rounding out the second half of the top 10, Clark County registered 2,927 deer and 1,221 were antlered, while Jackson County had 2,877 deer, with 877 of them being bucks. Next was Oconto with 2,713 deer and 669 antlered, followed by Oneida with 2,515, of which 860 were antlered deer.

Most of the counties across the central region of the state have produced large harvest numbers year after year.

Top Units of 2006 The top 10 early-archery season DMUs last year were 61, 62B, 63A, 59C, 65B, 59B, 58, 53, 63B and 51B. Four of these units -- 61, 62B, 63A and 65B -- have been in the top 10 for the past three years, while 59C, 58 and 59B were also in the top 10 last year. Many units continue to be top producers every bow season, and it should come as no surprise that many of these units are located within our top-ranked counties.

DMU 61 along the Mississippi River was the top unit again in 2006, when hunters registered 4,634 deer in the early-archery season, and 1,213 were antlered. In second place was DMU 62B where 3,836 were harvested, and 949 had "horns." Third place was DMU 63A with 3,497 whitetails, and 867 of them were bucks. Fourth place was 59C with a total harvest of 3,354, including 787 bucks. Fifth place was 65B with 2,856 deer, and 688 bucks. In sixth was DMU 59B with 2,679 deer, and 550 of them being bucks. Seventh was DMU 58 with 2,019 deer and 777 bucks, followed by DMU 53 with 1,927 total deer and 717 bucks, DMU 63B with 1,909 deer and 402 bucks, and DMU 51B with 1,804 deer and 338 that had racks.

CWD Units
Bowhunters bagged 7,575 whitetails in the 22 chronic wasting disease (CWD) units last year. This number is down slightly from 2005. The CWD Eradication Zone and Herd-Reduction Zones have larger bag limits this year to encourage hunters to kill more deer.

The top CWD unit was 76A with 924 deer registered by bowhunters, 504 being bucks. Next was 71C with 833 harvested, 478 with antlers, 76C with 615 deer, 348 of which wore racks.

Northwest DMUs
Bowhunters in northwestern Wisconsin did much better last year than in 2005. In 2006, they arrowed 13,081 whitetails, an amazing increase of 4,678 deer. Of the total early-season kill, 5,400 were bucks.

The top unit for bucks in the northwest was DMU 15 with 583 bucks killed and 1,489 total deer harvested. DMU 16 was a close second with 563 bucks adding to the unit total of 1,407 animals. Third was DMU 2 with 1,049 deer, including 434 bucks.

North-Central DMUs
The north-central units of 28, 29A, 29B, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39 also saw good harvest totals in 2006. Total early-archery season kill was 5,542, up by 1,844 critters.

DMU 36 saw the largest harvest again with a total of 1,095 deer, of which 311 were bucks. DMUs 38, 35 and 31 all came in a close second with total numbers just over 700 each. Of the three, DMU 38 had the highest buck kill with 286.

Northeast DMUs
The northeast units consist of 40, 41, 45, 49A, 49B, 50, 51A and 51B. The total harvest for this area nearly doubled last year. In 2005, the total kill was 2,824, while in 2006 it jumped up to 5,418. The best unit was 51B with a total of 1,804 deer, 338 of which were bucks. A close second was DMU 51A at 1,040, but with only 172 bucks. These two units were also the top producers in 2005 as well. As mentioned in the list of top-producing counties, Oneida, Marinette and Oconto had fantastic deer kill numbers last year.

Central DMUs
These central units and counties are consistently top producers. Marathon, Waupaca, Clark and Shawano have been in the top 10 for at least the past three years, so it is no surprise that almost all of the units in these areas were EAB last year.

However, despite EAB and increased harvest numbers, the deer population is still above goal in this part of the Badger State.

West-Central DMUs
In the west-central part of the state, bowhunters saw good numbers of deer, including many trophy bucks. This area has a history of strong, healthy deer populations.

DMU 61 was the No. 1 unit in the state last year with 4,634 deer arrowed, including 1,213 bucks. And again, three of the top units -- 59B, 59C and 61 -- plus three top counties -- Jackson, Buffalo and Polk -- were in the top 10 list for the past three years.