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Board approves 2025 deer season recommendations but accepts Grant County's local decision on holiday hunt
Summary
After months of public input and county deer advisory council deliberations, the Natural Resources Board approved the department's 2025 deer season recommendations with one board amendment to honor Grant County's CDAC decision not to include the holiday hunt and January extension this year.
The Natural Resources Board on June 25 approved the Department of Natural Resources' recommendations for the 2025 deer seasons, following public input through online questionnaires and county deer advisory council (CDAC) processes. The board approved the package but made a specific exception to accept Grant County CDAC's recommendation to omit the holiday hunt and extended January archery season in that county.
Jeff Pritzl, state deer program specialist, said the department received more than 6,000 responses to an online public input questionnaire and held CDAC meetings across the state. The department described how it recalculated permit levels for newly formed northern forest deer management units using a five-year weighted average permit calculator and said CDACs recommended varied permit availabilities: six units recommended more conservative availability, eight at historic average, and 10 above the five-year average.
The department supported all CDAC recommendations except Grant County, where the department's advisory committee recommended including the holiday hunt and January extension because of chronic wasting disease (CWD) management priorities in southwest Wisconsin. The Grant County CDAC had voted 5-4 to forgo the holiday and January extensions.
Board member Rachel Barressa moved a motion to approve the department's recommendation statewide but to accept Grant County's CDAC recommendation (no holiday hunt and no January extension in Grant County). Patty Schachner seconded. After discussion, the board voted in favor of Rachel Barressa's motion.
The board discussed the conservation and CWD management rationale, historic permit numbers and the modest harvest changes associated with the holiday hunt (department staff said these hunts typically add a few hundred antlerless deer per county). The department estimated roughly 260,000 antlerless bonus permits would be available across the state under the recommended configuration.
The board asked the department to continue monitoring harvest and CWD data and report back on outcomes of the differing county approaches.
