Wisconsin antlerless deer hunt, bonus authorizations available
The number of antlerless harvest opportunities will vary by deer management unit in accordance with local deer population levels. (Credit: Wisconsin DNR)
MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources on Thursday announced bonus antlerless harvest authorizations – formerly known as tags – will be available for the 2024 gun deer season.
Authoritizations can be bought through the Go Wild license portal and at license sales locations starting at 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 12.
Bonus authorizations are sold at a rate of one per person per day until sold out or until the 2024 deer hunting season ends, the DNR said. They are $12 each for Wisconsin residents, $20 each for non-residents and $5 each for kids ages 11 and under.
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The DNR said an online queuing system will be used to manage volume in Go Wild. All users entering the site between 9:45 a.m. and 10 a.m. will be randomly assigned a number and staged in a virtual queue. They will then be arranged randomly regardless of the actual time they enter the system. There is no advantage for customers who enter the site before 9:45 a.m. Users who log on after 10 a.m. will be added to the end of the existing queue in the order of arrival.
To complete their purchase, the DNR said hunters will need to know the deer management zone and unit in which they intend to hunt, determine whether they will hunt on public or private land and have a deer hunting license approval.
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The first three days of bonus sales are management zone-specific, and the fourth day is open to all zones:
- Aug. 12, 10 a.m. – Forest Zones (Northern and Central)
- Aug. 13, 10 a.m. – Central Farmland Zone
- Aug. 14, 10 a.m. – Southern Farmland Zone
- Aug. 15, 10 a.m. – All zones available
The DNR said the number of antlerless harvest opportunities will vary by deer management unit in accordance with local deer population levels. This allows for greater harvest opportunities where deer are abundant and a more conservative harvest where deer are fewer in number. Bonus antlerless harvest authorizations are available for purchase for the 2024 season in all deer management units except Ashland and Iron counties.
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A listing of bonus antlerless harvest authorizations available for purchase in each deer management unit can be found on the DNR’s Antlerless Deer Harvest Authorization webpage.
As a reminder, the DNR said a minimum of one Farmland Zone antlerless harvest authorization is included with each deer hunting license purchase in all Farmland Zone units. Some units will offer more than one antlerless deer harvest authorization with each deer license.
For more information regarding deer hunting in Wisconsin, visit the DNR’s Deer Hunting webpage.