Region
The total gun harvest of deer in the Northern Forest Region has been up two years in a row. In 2005, the gun harvest was 74,670 animals, 47 percent being antlered deer. In 2006, the gun harvest went up to 88,941. Of that total, only 36,289 were antlered deer, or about 41 percent of the total. Some hunters say the reason for fewer bucks and more does can be attributed to the Herd Control measures.

But the Northern Forest deer numbers are up. Herd Control continues to lead the region's deer management regime in the western half, and hunts in most DMUs in the eastern half fall under regular deer unit regulations, so it's clear many deer still roam the landscape. The region is home to last season's No. 1 and No. 2 DMUs -- Unit 15, where hunters bagged 2,207 antlered deer and 4,354 antlerless deer, for a total of 6,598 deer harvested; and Unit 16, where hunters harvested 1,783 antlered deer and 3,656 antlerless, for a total of 5,457.

Among the total harvest of the Northern Forest Region, including gun and archery hunts, yearling bucks comprised 58 percent of the total buck harvest. This was higher than the five-year average of 49 percent and matched the long-term average. The increase may have been associated with the mild winters of 2004-05 and 2005-06.

Increased buck recruitment also suggests that effects of predation on yearling buck recruitment are minimal, according to information distributed by the WDNR. All of this points to another good year for hunters in this region.

Eastern Farmland
Region
According to last year's deer harvest, some of the best deer hunting in Wisconsin still is found in the Eastern Farmland Region. In 2006, this was borne out by the region producing six -- 51B, 62A, 62B, 63A, 65B and 64 -- of the top 20 units in the state. Both hunters and wildlife biologists agree it's the region's habitat that carries the deer herd, thus the outstanding harvest numbers. A mix of hardwoods and farms, they argue, allows the deer plenty of food and cover.

In 2006, the region's total gun harvest was 90,454 animals, of which 28,295 were antlered deer. The region's top DMU -- 62B -- ranks No. 4 in the statewide harvest, with a total deer kill of 7,976 animals. This is up almost 1,000 animals from the 2005 season. Among these, hunters bagged 5,431 antlerless deer, while 2,517 had some kind of horns on their heads.

The No. 2 DMU in the region last year was 62A, recording a total harvest of 6,830, down from 7,027 animals taken in the 2005 season. Of these, 2,001 were antlered deer, and 4,821 were antlerless.

Hunters in search of horns may find the 2007 Wisconsin deer-hunting season will prove to be a very good year.

The Eastern Farmland Region continues to carry an extremely high-density deer herd. According to the WDNR, the large numbers of yearling bucks in the population carryover across hunting seasons allow Wisconsin whitetails to reach older age-classes. It seems the region's hunters know they hold good odds for getting a trophy buck and may be passing on smaller bucks, awaiting that monster. So, while the antlered-deer harvest may look small, individual animals are generally older.

West-Central
Region
In Wisconsin's West-Central Region, gun deer-harvest numbers were again impressive in 2006, when 82,990 animals were registered -- 25,242 were antlered deer, while 57,275 carried no horns. These numbers earned the region the rank of the best deer-hunting region in the Badger State.

Found here are the state's top three DMUs of 2006 -- units 61, 59C and 58 -- along with units 22A, 59B, 57B, 55 and 72 that fall among the top 20 units statewide.

In 2006, Wisconsin deer hunters killed a whopping 13,800 deer in Unit 61, up from 2005 when 10,656 whitetails were killed. Hunters in Unit 59C killed 12,156 deer, among which 3,309 were antlered deer and 8,803 were antlerless. This is an increase of more than 2,000 animals over 2005. Moreover, hunters in Unit 58 collectively accounted for 9,009 whitetails -- 2,873 antlered deer and 6,104 without antlers.