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Great Lakes, fee hikes, and turkey/bear deadlines
Story of the week: Gun deer season recap
Forrest Koslowski
December 04, 2025
This Week’s Wiscampsin Weekly brought to you by:
Mornin’ to everyone feeling nostalgic over this 1986 deer hunting special on YouTube. This is the Wiscampsin Weekly, the email that gets you in the know on the Wisconsin outdoors in 5 minutes or less. New reader? Subscribe here.
This week’s weekly:
🧊 New study challenges idea that Great Lakes ice prevents evaporation
🐻 2026 Bear and Turkey Harvest Authorization Applications deadline
🥾 New fees for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing proposed for state-owned land
🦌 STORY OF THE WEEK: 2025 gun deer season recap
🧊 New study challenges idea that Great Lakes ice prevents evaporation LINK
A new 50-year Great Lakes study says ice isn’t the evaporation “lid” we thought it was. Turns out winter wind, humidity and temperature do most of the slurping, not the ice cover.
Even in “icy” months, the lakes are basically Swiss cheese, not sealed coolers: unless more than 90% freezes (rare), losing ice doesn’t dramatically change evaporation.
As warmer, wetter air becomes the new norm, expect bigger evaporation swings, wilder lake levels and moodier lake-effect snow, reminding us that the Great Lakes’ true boss isn’t ice (it’s the atmosphere above it).
Bear and turkey hunters have until Dec. 10 to throw their hat in the ring for 2026 tags (or at least bank a preference point so they don’t get tossed back to “zero”).
Bear demand is booming: 146,000+ applicants chased 13,110 tags, making this year a record-breaker and a reminder that patience in the point game is basically its own endurance sport.
Turkey hopefuls can boost their odds with multiple season/zone picks, but submitting that third choice means no preference point—a strategic gamble worthy of any spring woods tactician.
🥾 New fees for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing proposed for state-owned land LINK
New GOP bills would introduce fees for nearly all non-motorized recreation on state land—including a $20 hiking permit and $40 annual permits for cross-country skiing, mountain biking, and foraging. This is part of an effort to close a $16 million DNR budget shortfall.
Supporters say the plan spreads costs beyond hunters and anglers, but critics warn the fees could discourage access to public lands, especially for families, new hikers, and groups like the 220-mile North Country Trail community that relies on low-barrier entry.
The package also proposes ending Wisconsin’s exemption for non-motorized boat registration, potentially adding costs for paddlers, though the fee amount hasn’t yet been specified, prompting questions about impact and transparency.
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Let’s be real: There’s only 1 thing that could make ice cream better. Booze.
That’s the idea behind the Ice Cream Drink Card from Venture Wisconsin. It gives you $2 off delicious ice cream drinks from 40 of the best supper clubs and bars in the state.
Pink Squirrels, Grasshopper, Mudslides… This is your motivation to explore and find a new favorite drink purveyor in our dairy lovin’ state.
Give it as a gift or buy one for your yourself (they make perfect stocking stuffers).
🦌 STORY OF THE WEEK: 2025 gun deer season recap LINK
This week’s STORY OF THE WEEK is unlocked for everyone thanks to Venture Wisconsin - PLEASE SUPPORT THEM WITH A CLICK!
Wisconsin’s nine-day gun deer season wrapped up with the usual mix of blaze orange, frosty mornings, brat-fueled optimism and, of course, a fresh batch of numbers for hunters to argue about over coffee. The DNR’s preliminary report shows a season that was… well, pretty darn typical for Wisconsin: steady participation, solid harvest totals and the annual reminder that deer hunting is basically the state’s unofficial November holiday.
First, licenses. Wisconsin sold 790,044 deer hunting privileges, down just 0.12% from last year—basically the hunting world’s equivalent of maintaining your pace while climbing a hill. About 550,611 of those were gun licenses. So yes, the woods were full, even if a few longtime hunters stayed home to finally fix that leaky garage roof.
Harvest-wise, hunters registered 182,084 deer during gun season: 86,068 bucks and 96,016 antlerless deer. That’s a slight 0.8% dip from 2024, with the buck harvest down a smidge and the antlerless up a hair—statistically insignificant, but excellent fodder for post-hunt debate. When you include archery and crossbow, the statewide harvest since September hits 294,757 deer, actually 1.1% ahead of last year. So if your group’s buck pool fizzled, blame luck, not the herd.
A few counties strutted their stuff: Marquette County topped the state with 7.9 deer per square mile, while Vernon County led the southern farmland zone with 6.5. Up north, rugged territory kept numbers leaner but steady, with DMU 108 logging 2.7 per square mile.
While most hunters came home with nothing more than stories and sore quads, the DNR reported two firearm incidents—one nonfatal and one tragic—both still under investigation. Compared to the last decade’s average of five incidents per season, Wisconsin continues trending toward safer hunts, a testament to TAB-K and the collective refusal to treat a safety course like optional reading.
With muzzleloader, antlerless-only, and holiday hunts still ahead, the season isn’t over—just the loud part. And for those who tagged their very first deer, the DNR is offering commemorative certificates, because your first buck or doe deserves to live on somewhere other than your friend’s group chat.
In short: Wisconsin’s deer season delivered classic late-fall magic, with steady harvests, safe woods, and thousands of hunters reminding us why November is best spent outside.
Now send this email to a friend and get out ‘der!
WISCAMPSIN WEEKLY POLL
38% of poll voters got last weeks trivia right! It was a tough cookie!
The correct answer is B) We shipped 135 Ruffed Grouse to the Coulee Region of Missouri in exchange for 45 wild turkeys!
The exchange rate was steep! The deal was set at three grouse for every one turkey. Wisconsin biologists trapped 135 Ruffed Grouse in the driftless area (where populations were high) and trucked them to Missouri. In exchange, Missouri sent 45 wild turkeys north. Those 45 birds were the "seed" for a population that now exceeds 350,000 birds.
This weeks trivia: As we hang reindeer ornaments this week, it's worth noting that "Rudolph's cousins" (Woodland Caribou) were once native to Wisconsin. While they are now extirpated (locally extinct), reports of stragglers continued long after the main herds vanished.
According to most records, when was the last verified population of Woodland Caribou extirpated from the state of Wisconsin?Give it a gut check and click a response below to see results! |
Well, how'd we do this week? |
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