Wisconsin Archery Season is Upon Us

Hunters have been taking to the Wisconsin woods with bows for over 75 years. In the early days you bought a deer license and if you shot one with a bow, you were done for the season and couldn’t hunt during the gun season. That changed in 1966 with a separate license and over 85,000 archers hunted that year. They harvested a bit over 6,000 deer.

Last year 260,000 archers bought licenses in Wisconsin and harvested 87,000 deer…..quite a jump from the early days. Of course gun hunting still is much more popular with over 630,000 gun hunters harvesting over 242,000 deer last year.

Archers have a chance to scout and learn the habits of the deer they’re after and if they do their homework they usually can get that big buck they’re watched for weeks. It’s a more solitary hunt and requires the hunter and deer to be much closer together than with a long range rifle.

Bows have evolved from a simple stick bow to compound machines that are very lethal and efficient. But either way, the hunter has to be skilled and do a lot of practicing to place that shot where it needs to be. Good luck in the woods this weekend. Have fun and be safe.

by: Dan Bomkamp
author & host of "How's Fishing?"