Wisconsin's Southern Farmland zone is among the state's highest for harvest-registration rates and has its worst disease problem. The two may be linked. In the leading counties, farmland harvest-registration rates run as high as roughly four times the northern forest rate (12.4 compared with 2.9 registered deer per square mile). Wisconsin responds by allowing its most permissive antlerless harvest, but it still cannot reduce the herd fast enough to keep ahead of the compounding disease.
KEY FINDINGS
- Across Wisconsin, deer harvest registrations differ widely by habitat zone. For 2024, farmland's upper rate was 12.4 deer registrations per square mile (Central Farmland, Adams County), while Northern Forest's lower rate was 2.9 (Florence County). The rates differed by more than 4×.
- Antlerless deer led Wisconsin's 2024 gun-season harvest of 189,622: 99,835 antlerless deer, compared with 89,787 antlered deer. In farmland zones, each license includes antlerless harvest authorizations at no charge.
- Wisconsin's CWD outbreak is centered in that Southern Farmland zone, which accounts for about 87% of reported positive CWD test results. Reported prevalence among bucks exceeds 30% (Working Paper 07). The supplied notes leave out the testing window, the area where bucks were sampled, and their age group.
- High registration rates for harvested deer coincide with Wisconsin's CWD epicenter in Southern Farmland. A harvest total by itself cannot tell us whether deer numbers or CWD transmission have changed.
IThe density gradient
Roughly four to one: central farmland compared with northern forest
From north to south, Wisconsin looks like two different deer states. Central Farmland and Southern Farmland, with their corn, soybeans, and alfalfa, have the highest rates of harvest registration per square mile in their leading counties (12.4 and 7.0). Leaders in Central Forest and Northern Forest post much lower rates (4.2 and 2.9). The registrations recorded in 2024 put numbers to that contrast. Adams, the Central Farmland leader, exceeded 12 deer registrations per square mile at 12.4. The Southern Farmland leader recorded 7.0. Florence led Northern Forest but fell below 3, at 2.9, while the Central Forest leader recorded 4.2. Across those leading counties, the harvest-registration difference reaches roughly fourfold.
IIThe state hunts the does hard
More antlerless deer harvested than antlered, as intended
Wisconsin's harvest mix reflects its response to plentiful farmland deer. Hunters took 189,622 deer in the 2024 gun season, with antlerless deer (99,835) outnumbering antlered deer (89,787). Every license includes antlerless harvest authorizations at no cost for use in the farmland zones. Working with county advisory councils, Wisconsin sets antlerless quotas and authorizations for each deer management unit. It provides free antlerless authorizations in farmland zones to increase the harvest. Even so, these measures fall short.
Some of the most productive places to hunt deer in Wisconsin also carry the state's heaviest reported CWD burden. Their overlap does not establish that plentiful deer cause CWD to persist.
IIIWhy the harvest can't win the race
When CWD prevalence is high, deaths can outnumber newly recruited deer
CWD passes between animals through contact and through environmental prions deposited when infected deer shed infectious material. Researchers disagree about how closely transmission tracks deer density. Wisconsin has a highly productive herd. DNR research finds that when prevalence is high, deaths from CWD can outnumber the new deer recruited annually. In Southern Farmland, reported prevalence among bucks exceeds 30% (Working Paper 07). DNR research from southwest Wisconsin estimates that deer populations begin declining when prevalence among females exceeds roughly 29%. Harvest totals by themselves cannot show whether hunting reduced CWD transmission.
IVWhat it means
Top deer hunting shares ground with the toughest problem
For deer hunters, Southern Farmland offers truly excellent hunting and a reason to treat Wisconsin's rules for testing and carcasses seriously. Hunting quality and disease risk coincide there, but the harvest numbers do not prove that both have the same cause. Even if voluntary hunter harvest reaches its maximum, it may give the state too little ability to manage CWD. Wisconsin's farmland illustrates how difficult controlling CWD through hunting alone may be.
NOTES AND SOURCES
- Registered deer from the 2024 gun season totaled 189,622: 89,787 antlered and 99,835 antlerless. That total rose 5.2% from 2023. Highest registration densities by zone were Adams in Central Farmland at 12.4/sq mi; Vernon in Southern Farmland at 7.0; Adams in Central Forest at 4.2; and Florence in Northern Forest at 2.9. Source: Wisconsin DNR's gun deer harvest report for 2024, dnr.wisconsin.gov.
- The concentration of CWD (~87% of positive results coming from Southern Farmland; prevalence among bucks >30%) is described in Working Paper 07. The density figures count gun-season deer registrations per square mile and provide a relative comparison.
Fully Drawn Research is an independent data analysis desk, not affiliated with any state wildlife agency, transportation agency, mapping provider or outfitter. Fully Drawn Research is independent and not affiliated with the Wisconsin DNR. This paper reports harvest and surveillance data and is not medical, food-safety, or wildlife-management advice; follow Wisconsin DNR and public-health guidance on CWD. Current to 2024 Wisconsin DNR reporting.
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