Wisconsin Hunters Stay Busy on Opening Weekend of Rifle Season

SUPERIOR, Wis.– One of the busiest weekends in Wisconsin is here. While hunters might be having a different approach this year due to COVID-19, it’s not keeping them out of the woods.

Rifle season opened in Wisconsin over the weekend. The Wisconsin DNR says the opener is happening a little later than normal but it was still a busy weekend.

Wisconsin hunters are staying busing this hunting season. This follows the increasing trend of people participating in outdoor activities in the state.

While some hunters come from across the state or hunt in big groups, the DNR is advising people to hunt close to home and avoid big hunting parties where everyone stays in one spot.

“Usually Friday traditionally was a fairly big day for license sales as people are coming in from out of state and hunting,” said Greg Kessler of the Wisconsin DNR.

The new approach isn’t keeping hunters out of the stand. The DNR is reporting a nearly 6 percent increase in license sales as of earlier this week.

“If you’re doing a group deer hunt, which we have a lot of in Wisconsin, you can still do that very safely by gathering on site and staying socially distant while you’re doing the hunt,” said Kessler.

Superior Meats has been noticing the increase for venison processing. People are coming in every day with boxes of their deer to be made into classics like sticks and brats.

Those at the store say this year is already looking to be busier than the year before. The shop is already booked for almost the next two months with hunters looking for a chance to fill their freezer with some meat for the winter.

“Oh man, we’ve already been taking venison in for the past few months,” said Damian Khane, Human Resources for Superior Meats. “Every day people are coming in. I know people that have shot deer as recent as yesterday and they’re already calling to see if we can have them processed and all that good stuff.”

Superior Meats says they’re availability is filling up and are encouraging people to bring in deer as soon as they can to be in line for processing. You can either call or bring the mean in pre-packed and frozen.