8 Things Wisconsinites Do to Get Ready for Gun Deer Season

Nov. 21 is opening day for gun deer season, and the work starts long before you’re in the stand.

Wisconsinites who hunt have a long list to get through before opening morning.

Here’s what to get done before the season arrives.

Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Hunting rules, license requirements and season dates are subject to change, so confirm the current requirements with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

1. Blaze Orange or Pink

Blaze orange (or pink) is the dress code for gun deer season.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) requires at least 50% of your clothing above the waist to be blaze orange or pink during any firearm deer season.

Hats count.

Any head covering you wear has to be at least 50% blaze orange or pink too.

The DNR says to replace faded or stained clothing, so check yours before opening day.

2. Hunter Education Certificates

Before you buy a license for gun deer season, you need a hunter education certificate if you were born on or after Jan. 1, 1973.

Hunters can use the certificate in every U.S. state, Canada and Mexico.

Adults 18 and older can take the online-only course.

A field day course is highly recommended if you’re new to hunting or firearms.

Anyone under 18 has to finish the online portion and then attend an in-person field day.

3. Deer Management Units

Gun deer hunters each hunt in a deer management unit (DMU), and Wisconsin sets antlerless harvest permits and season dates at the unit level.

In the Northern and Central Forest zones, units are habitat-based, while in the Central and Southern Farmland zones they mirror county boundaries.

To find yours, zoom in on the area you plan to hunt in the DNR’s mapping application.

Antlerless harvest authorizations are valid within the entire DMU, including any metro sub-unit within it.

4. Sight-In Days

Sight-in days give many hunters a place to test their rifles before gun deer season opens.

In 2025, the Dane County Sheriff’s Office held its Hunter’s Sight-In from Nov. 14 to 21 at the Dane County Law Enforcement Training Center.

It hasn’t posted 2026 dates yet.

The cost was $10 for one gun, and a second rifle added $5.

The sight-in took cash or check only.

State land has hosted sight-ins too.

The Peshtigo Harbor Wildlife Area range in Marinette County opened for them on select days in November 2020.

Ranges set different days, so call yours before you drive out.

5. Deer Camp

Deer camp starts before opening day, and a 2020 story from Wisconsin Life about a cabin on Lake Namakagon in Bayfield County shows you how.

At the cabin in the story, you’d find hunters checking and rechecking knives, flashlights, ropes and compasses.

The story’s author likes to get there Thursday or early Friday before opening day to watch the cabin transform.

6. Tree Stand Checks

If you hunt from a tree stand, your gun deer season starts with an inspection.

The DNR says stand-related incidents are one of the leading causes of injury to hunters.

Look over the straps holding the stand to the tree for wear or tears.

Every time.

On the climb, keep three points of contact.

Keep your lifeline clipped in while you climb up, sit and climb down.

Any elevated stand calls for a safety harness, whatever type it is.

7. Chronic Wasting Disease Testing

Before the season starts, find your chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing kiosk.

Testing through the DNR is free for deer harvested in Wisconsin.

Locations change throughout the season, and many are added ahead of the nine-day gun deer season, so check the CWD sampling page before your hunt.

Self-service kiosks are open 24/7, and you can drop off a deer’s head with 5 inches of neck attached.

Clear space in a fridge or freezer ahead of time.

A head can wait up to five days after harvest when kept refrigerated between 35°F and 45°F, or longer if frozen.

Learn the order, too: Register the deer in GameReg, the DNR’s online registration system, first, then fill out the deer’s details at the sampling location.

Registering a deer is a separate process from the online form for CWD testing.

In an average year, results take 10 to 14 days after you drop the deer off.

8. Deer Donations

Before opening day, line up a processor if you plan to donate a deer, and call ahead because processors need space to accept it.

Gun deer hunters can donate the entire deer free of charge through the DNR’s Deer Donation Program.

You can still keep the head and antlers for a mount.

Participating processors across the state handle the venison.

Local food pantries receive the processed venison.

In areas without a nearby processor, volunteers host drop-off sites through the Deer Donation Partners Program.

More processors may be added later in the season, so check back if you don’t see one in your area.

You can give $1 or more toward processing fees at a DNR license sales location or through your Go Wild account.

Thanksgiving Inside the Season

The 2026 gun deer season runs Nov. 21 through 29, so Thanksgiving on Nov. 26 falls on day six.

A 2021 UpNorthNews essay says many Wisconsin families plan Thanksgiving around the hunting plans of their extended family.

If you’re hosting, you’ll want to know who’s heading to camp before you set the dinner time.

Hunting once drew even more people: In 1990, a record 699,275 people bought gun deer licenses, and some factories closed during the season.

Opening Weekend Numbers

In 2025, hunters registered 90,671 deer statewide over the opening weekend of the gun deer hunt.

If you’re curious how that stacked up, it was 3.9% above the 87,248 deer registered the same weekend in 2024.

You can see the split by antler status: Hunters registered 48,748 antlered deer and 41,923 antlerless deer.

After the Nine Days

Firearm deer hunting doesn’t stop when the nine-day gun deer season does.

Your next window is the muzzleloader season, which runs Nov. 30 through Dec. 9 statewide.

Metro sub-units keep the gun deer season going through Dec. 9 as well.