MADISON, WI (AP)-- Wisconsin wildlife officials say hunters killed 7 percent fewer deer during the 2013 nine-day gun season than last year.
The Department of Natural Resources released preliminary data Tuesday that shows hunters killed 226,582 deer, down from 243,739 deer last year. They took 15 percent fewer bucks but almost the same number of antlerless deer – 128,817 compared with 128,917 last year.
DNR officials say cold weather during the first part of the season kept hunters from spending long hours in the woods. Hunters indicated in an agency survey they felt the weather was the worst they'd seen in the five years the agency has done the survey.
The DNR reported a total of eight shooting-related incidents. No one was killed.