Working Paper 104 · Herd & HarvestWisconsin · 72 counties · Provisional FDR Index · October 2026 snapshot
Wisconsin Deer Counties Ranked: Adams Leads, Buffalo Is Forty-Fifth
FDR Research Desk · Published FDR county analysis · Agency sources and methods linked below
Buffalo County is second in Wisconsin's Trophy Index order at a displayed 99. It is forty-fifth in the provisional FDR composite at 43.9. Adams reverses that pattern: first in the composite at 72.4 and thirty-seventh in trophy order at 91. Wisconsin's rankings disagree enough that a hunter needs to see both. Waukesha and Manitowoc are the only counties in the first ten of both lists.
KEY FINDINGS
- Adams leads the provisional composite at 72.4. Walworth is second at 68.1 and Shawano third at 66.7.
- Buffalo's Trophy Index is 99. Its composite rank is forty-fifth, so a single label of best would conceal a large difference between measures.
- Waukesha places fourth in the composite. It leads Wisconsin's separate Trophy Index at 100, which is a relative score rather than a success rate.
- Composite scores are available for 61 of 72 counties. The search includes all counties and marks missing scores as not rated; no missing result is treated as zero.
Wisconsin county finder
Where does your county rank?
Derived FDR scores captured October 5, 2026. Both indices use a 0 to 100 scale. Equal displayed composite scores keep the published model order. Zero is a valid score; unavailable scores are marked Not rated.
10 of 72 entries shown
| State rank | County | Provisional FDR Index | Trophy Index |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adams | 72.4 | 91 |
| 2 | Walworth | 68.1 | 93 |
| 3 | Shawano | 66.7 | 91 |
| 4 | Waukesha | 65.5 | 100 |
| 5 | Fond du Lac | 64.4 | 93 |
| 6 | Manitowoc | 64.4 | 97 |
| 7 | Jefferson | 63.1 | 96 |
| 8 | Columbia | 62.8 | 96 |
| 9 | Dodge | 62.6 | 88 |
| 10 | Waupaca | 62.3 | 95 |
01County comparison
Adams leads the broader county comparison
Adams leads Walworth by 4.3 displayed composite points, 72.4 to 68.1. Shawano follows at 66.7 and Waukesha at 65.5. The gap at the top is larger than any later step within the first ten, but it is still a difference in model score rather than a measured advantage on a hunting property.
Fond du Lac and Manitowoc share 64.4 at ranks five and six. Their Trophy Index scores are 93 and 97. Another composite tie appears at ranks thirteen and fourteen, where Marquette and Winnebago share 61.1 but display Trophy Index scores of 99 and 94. The published order remains intact; a displayed tie should not be presented as a precise separation.
02County comparison
Why Buffalo stays in the conversation
Buffalo, Richland and Marquette all display a Trophy Index of 99. Their underlying trophy ranks are second, third and fourth, while their composite ranks are forty-fifth, seventeenth and thirteenth. Those three counties would land in a very different order of priority depending on which column drove your search.
Waukesha leads the trophy order at 100 and places fourth in the composite. Manitowoc is tenth in trophy order at 97 and sixth in the composite. They are the only counties in Wisconsin's first ten under both measures. The overlap gives a hunter a useful pair to compare with Buffalo, although the two measures share some input information and are not independent tests.
03County comparison
Wisconsin's boundaries are part of the data
Wisconsin DNR identifies mandatory registration as a foundation of its Deer Metrics system. But the geography attached to a registration still matters. DNR's 2025 season release explains that Northern Forest management boundaries changed from county lines to habitat-based units.
This report uses the published FDR county model captured October 5, 2026. It is not a newly reconstructed 2025 county harvest table. Only 61 counties have composite scores in this version; the other eleven remain visible as not rated. A county and a newly drawn management unit cannot be spliced together as if their boundaries had stayed fixed.
04County comparison
Adams and Buffalo deserve different follow-up questions
Adams's lead sends you toward the broader collection of county signals. Buffalo's position sends you toward the trophy history. Neither result cancels the other, and neither tells you which parcel is available. Search both, then your own county, to see whether the measure changes the comparison enough to matter.
Milwaukee makes the missing-value distinction explicit. It has a composite score of 33.8 at rank fifty-five, but its Trophy Index is not rated because the habitat model maps no qualifying bow-huntable acreage. The county finder shows the score and the missing rating separately. A valid zero elsewhere remains a score.
05Basis of this report
Sources and method
The Wisconsin composite draws on herd and harvest measures, trophy history, historical change and roadway evidence; its habitat component is unavailable. Scores are derived from FDR's published county model as captured October 5, 2026; the composite is provisional. The Trophy Index covers 2011 through 2025, uses modeled bow-huntable acreage and is scaled against a national group. A score of 100 is the top of that display, not a percentage. Habitat mapping is separate from legal access. Composite scores are available for 61 of the 72 counties; the remaining counties are kept in the table without an invented score.
Compare the other states in the FDR county report series.
NOTES AND SOURCES
- Derived FDR scores captured October 5, 2026. Both indices use a 0 to 100 scale. Equal displayed composite scores keep the published model order. Zero is a valid score; unavailable scores are marked Not rated.
Fully Drawn Research is an independent data analysis desk, not affiliated with any state wildlife agency, transportation agency, mapping provider or outfitter. FDR county scores and interpretations are independent analysis. A county ranking does not evaluate an individual property.
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