By DERYK WEDDE

The Mirror reporter

One of the most popular hunting seasons throughout the country commenced on the 19th of November. Little did the whitetail deer know their chances of surviving to next year were reduced by a huge margin.

Wisconsin is one of the most productive states in terms of total deer population and animals harvested each year. A trend has shown that deer populations have been dropping from year to year. Harvest numbers have been the lowest they’ve been 34 years showing the struggle of this year’s hunters.

Current harvest maps show a tendency of lower deer kill in the southwestern part of the state and along the southern border. The only counties which reported higher harvest number were northern counties. The 2016 buck harvest is similar, even increasing, compared to previous years. People are wondering what is the cause of this phenomenon.  The downfall of the deer population is on account of the antlerless deer numbers.

On a yearly basis, the state of Wisconsin has had one of the highest hunter populations in history. There is a common legend saying that Wisconsin creates one of the largest armies in the world. This year there were nearly 600,000 hunters throughout the state, creating the eighth largest standing army in current time.

According to the previous stats, the ratio of hunters to harvested deer lies at 598,867:196,785. That statistic alone shows that less than one-third of the hunter population was successful.

I think the cause lies in the awkward above average temperatures throughout November. The deer tend to be more grouped throughout the summer and the rut then spread out during the late fall and winter.

But the main concern is the falling doe population. Does may not be valued as much a buck, but they have their purposes and we need to figure out what is happening.

If we can prevent the cause of this trend we need to take immediate action, otherwise the most popular hunting season in the state may not continue much further into the future.