Wisconsin
After 50 years, excitement still burns for start of Wisconsin gun deer season | Paul A. Smith
Even after 50 years of participating in the Wisconsin gun deer hunt, outdoors editor Paul A. Smith still looks forward to the season’s opening. This 2025 edition runs Nov. 22 to 30.
What to know about the 2025 Wisconsin gun deer hunting season
The Wisconsin gun deer hunting season traditionally begins on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and runs for nine days. This year’s season is Nov. 22 to Nov. 30.
This year will mark my 50th gun deer hunting season in Wisconsin.
And while five decades is a substantial chuck of time, it’s a relatively small fraction of the state’s regulated deer hunting, dating to 1851, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
And it’s infinitesimal when you acknowledge Native Americans have pursued deer for thousands of years in the area we now call Wisconsin.
But my personal experience and the much longer history of deer hunting in this region have one thing in common: change.
I clearly recall my first deer hunt near my boyhood home in Racine County. The area was “shotgun only” in those days.
Racine County didn’t have many deer in that era. But no matter the low odds of success, to me the chance to hunt deer was priceless. My father answered my pleas and obtained permission for us to hunt on a farm in Yorkville.
In the days before that season we went to R&W Supply in downtown Racine and bought paper slug cartridges to shoot out of our 12-gauge shotguns. The smoothbores were primarily used for ring-necked pheasant hunting.
I could barely sleep the night before that first season and I’m sure it was one of the rare days of my youth when I was up before the rest of my family.
We set out before dawn, wearing red stocking caps and carrying a knapsack with a couple sandwiches and a thermos of hot chocolate, and set up along a fenceline. To the east was a picked corn field, to the west an oak woodlot.
As the day brightened, I watched every leaf of corn flip in a light breeze. Could it be a deer?
But by noon no whitetail had been seen.
The highlight – and believe me it was exciting – was the finding of a deer track frozen in mud along the field edge.
I would end up hunting more than 10 deer seasons before I’d put a tag on a deer.
Over 50 seasons I’ve been privileged to hunt from suburban woodlots to coulees in the Driftless Area to pine forests in Jackson County to mixed farmland areas in Marquette and Waupaca counties to the big woods of northern Wisconsin.
So many things have changed over the decades, from the deer population to the hunting regulations to hunter tactics and preferences.
Not only is the deer population higher than at any point in my life, it has substantially shifted in abundance to the south.
The Department of Natural Resources estimated Wisconsin had a record-high 1.825 million deer after the 2024 hunting seasons.
That total included record highs in the central agricultural and southern agricultural zones, as well as increasing numbers in the central and northern forest zones.
That same Racine County farm I hunted 50 years ago is now a subdivision. But it features a plentiful deer population and offers no legal hunting.
Compared to the 1970s, hunters now can pursue deer many more days of the year, essentially from mid-September until early January. Most agricultural deer management units have a firearm deer hunt from Christmas to New Year’s and an extended bow season to the end of Janauary.
But more of us now hunt on private land than when I started, too.
And hunters are pickier about what they shoot. It used to be most hunters would shoot the first legal deer that presented itself. Now many wait for a mature buck.
There are now fewer hunters than just a couple decades ago, too.
Combined with action by politicians in 2011 to prohibit the two most effective tools the DNR had to increase antlerless deer kills (Earn-A-Buck and an October gun hunt), the deer population is swelling.
Another notable issue that came on the Wisconsin deer hunting scene in recent decades is chronic wasting disease. Since it was announced in 2002, the fatal prion disease has spread in distribution and increased in prevalence. While it has not been found to affect human health or livestock, experts advise hunters to test their deer and not eat meat from a CWD-positive animal.
There was no similar disease present when I started hunting.
Taken together, that’s a lot of change in 50 years.
Am I still as excited as I was when I was 14? You betcha.
Over the years I’ve made an effort to share stories with you from deer camps throughout the state.
This year I’m privileged to be hunting with a multi-generational deer camp in Waupaca County. I bought a Stormy Kromer to fit in with their camp photo tradition.
Given the camp’s location in a deer-rich region, I expect to see more than a deer track.
What hasn’t changed over the decades are three things I cherish: the camaraderie of fellow hunters; the chance to harvest wild, nutritious, sustainable food; and the opportunity to add another chapter of experience in the great Wisconsin outdoors.
The forecast for opening weekend is good but with little to no snow on the landscape statewide.
For Tomahawk, for example, Saturday should be partly cloudy with zero chance of precipitation and a high of 42 degrees Fahrenheit.
It would be optimal for hunters to have a cover of white to help see and track deer. But the temperatures will make it relatively comfortable to spend hours in the field, if not all day, and shouldn’t pose meat spoilage problems.
I’ve killed one antlerless deer so far this year, with my bow on private land in Waukesha County. I hope to take several more before the season is over.
We’ll see what opening weekend in Waupaca County holds for me and my group.
If you are participating in the 2025 Wisconsin gun deer hunt, I wish you a safe and successful season.
If you care to share your experience, please email me at psmith@jrn.com.
Quarterback Colton Joseph is heading to Wisconsin after throwing for more than 2,500 yards and rushing for more than 1,000 yards at Old Dominion this season.
Joseph announced his decision Sunday with an X post that included the message, “On Wisconsin.”
Joseph completed 59.7% of his passes this season for 2,624 yards with 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for Old Dominion, which went 10-3. He also rushed for 1,007 yards and 13 touchdowns on 158 carries.
He didn’t play in Old Dominion’s 24-10 Cure Bowl victory over South Florida after deciding to enter the transfer portal.
Joseph completed 59.9% of his passes for 1,627 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions while making eight starts in 2024. He rushed for 647 yards and 11 touchdowns that season.
Wisconsin has gone to the transfer portal for quarterbacks every year since coach Luke Fickell arrived, though injuries have limited their production.
Tanner Mordecai came over from SMU in 2023 but missed 3 1/2 games with a broken hand that season. Tyler Van Dyke arrived from Miami the following year but tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the third game of the season. Former Mississippi State quarterback Braedyn Locke started when Mordecai and Van Dyke were injured.
Billy Edwards Jr. transferred from Maryland and opened the 2025 season as Wisconsin’s starter, but he sprained his knee in the second quarter of the Badgers’ season-opening victory over Miami (Ohio).
Edwards returned to start Wisconsin’s Sept. 20 loss to Maryland but got hurt again and didn’t play the rest of the season. San Diego State transfer Danny O’Neil, Southern Illinois transfer Hunter Simmons and freshman Carter Smith each started multiple games after Edwards’ injury.
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Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter on Braden Smith’s assist record
Hear what Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter said after beating Wisconsin Saturday, Jan. 3.
MADISON, Wisc. ― Matt Painter came to the Kohl Center armed with two different defensive strategies.
Purdue basketball opted for choice No. 2 after choice No. 1 resulted in the Badgers scoring 22 points in the first nine minutes.
A season after watching Wisconsin go 20-for-22 on two-point field goals at Mackey Arena, the Boilermakers were in the midst of seeing a repeat performance when the Badgers started 8 of 10 inside the arc Saturday, Jan 3.
“To start the game the first eight minutes, they were just living in the paint, making good decisions,” Painter said. “They got a lot of layups. Then we switched to hedging and tried to keep the ball out of there. There’s some risk either way. That seemed to help us.”
The final score ― Purdue 89, Wisconsin 73 ― would indicate as much.
When Painter sifted through a roster in the preseason he believes has more than five starters, Cox’s ability to win that gave him a nod.
Drills. Scrimmages. Whatever it was, Cox always seemed to be on the winning side.
“That matters,” Painter said prior to Purdue’s season opener in November.
Cox is a capable scorer, evidenced by his 14 points, but his main priority is defense.
In a first half where Cox watched four good looks come off the rim, the sophomore guard still maintained winning attributes that championship teams cherish. He had two steals in nine minutes, the first coming after Wisconsin scored on four straight possessions.
That allowed Purdue to counterpunch the Badger’s 9-2 run to start the game.
“When you can keep throwing those punches and keep battling back, eventually, you’re going to knock them out,” said senior guard Fletcher Loyer, who led the Boilers with 20 points.
Purdue has no shortage of offensive haymakers it can throw.
During its five-game winning streak, the Boilers have walled up opponents to match.
Purdue held four straight opponents to 60 or fewer points prior to Saturday night. Wisconsin’s strong start was a damper in that streak continuing, but Purdue was prepared.
WATCH Purdue basketball’s Braden Smith on Big Ten assist record, win streak
Hear what Purdue basketball point guard Braden Smith said after breaking Cassius Winston’s Big Ten assist record at Wisconsin Saturday, Jan 3.
The Badgers started 9 of 13 from the field and finished the night shooting 42.1% after being held to 31% in the second half. The easy twos became challenged 3s. Beyond the arc, Wisconsin went 4 of 25. Purdue finished with eight steals, three by Cox, and forced 11 turnovers.
Saturday’s game likely gets remembered at season’s end as the night Braden Smith broke the Big Ten’s career assist record.
What will get lost is a defensive adaptation that altered how the final 30-plus minutes went in a road win that can be as valuable as found gold in a Big Ten championship quest.
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
Manuel Franco claims his $768 million Powerball jackpot
Manuel Franco, 24, of West Allis was revealed Tuesday as the winner of the $768.4 million Powerball jackpot.
Mark Hoffman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Wisconsin Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Dec. 28, 2025, results for each game:
Winning Pick 3 numbers from Dec. 28 drawing
Midday: 1-5-2
Evening: 8-8-5
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from Dec. 28 drawing
Midday: 0-4-8-8
Evening: 3-8-3-4
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning All or Nothing numbers from Dec. 28 drawing
Midday: 03-04-05-06-07-09-11-13-18-19-21
Evening: 01-02-04-05-06-10-14-15-18-20-22
Check All or Nothing payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Badger 5 numbers from Dec. 28 drawing
13-16-17-21-31
Check Badger 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning SuperCash numbers from Dec. 28 drawing
01-02-17-18-21-22, Doubler: N
Check SuperCash payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
- Prizes up to $599: Can be claimed at any Wisconsin Lottery retailer.
- Prizes from $600 to $199,999: Can be claimed in person at a Lottery Office. By mail, send the signed ticket and a completed claim form available on the Wisconsin Lottery claim page to: Prizes, PO Box 777 Madison, WI 53774.
- Prizes of $200,000 or more: Must be claimed in person at the Madison Lottery office. Call the Lottery office prior to your visit: 608-261-4916.
Can Wisconsin lottery winners remain anonymous?
No, according to the Wisconsin Lottery. Due to the state’s open records laws, the lottery must, upon request, release the name and city of the winner. Other information about the winner is released only with the winner’s consent.
When are the Wisconsin Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Super Cash: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 3 (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 3 (Evening): 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 4 (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
- Pick 4 (Evening): 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
- All or Nothing (Day): 1:30 p.m. CT daily.
- All or Nothing (Evening): 9 p.m. CT daily.
- Megabucks: 9:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Badger 5: 9:00 p.m. CT daily.
That lucky feeling: Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
Feeling lucky? WI man wins $768 million Powerball jackpot **
WI Lottery history: Top 10 Powerball and Mega Million jackpots
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Wisconsin editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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