Smith: Anticipation builds among hunters as the 9-day Wisconsin gun deer season approaches

A seasonal migration has begun in Wisconsin.

This one is of the human variety but linked to our state's official wildlife species, the white-tailed deer.

Hunters have started moving to cabins, hotels and campsites across the state in preparation for the 2023 Wisconsin gun deer hunting season.

The annual nine-day event, the state's biggest hunting season in terms of participation, runs Saturday through Nov. 26.

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About 550,000 hunters are expected to buy licenses for the season, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

Jim Smukowski of Oconomowoc was part of the advance guard of the migration. On Wednesday he had the truck loaded with blaze orange and other necessities, including food and his precious, pregnant golden retriever, and pointed west.

Smukowski was headed to The Roost, a Richland County hunting camp owned by Lloyd Purnell Jr. of Pewaukee and Mike Purnell of Oconomowoc.

The Purnell brothers are among the most generous hosts you'll ever find. This year 20 hunters spanning three generations will fill the cabin for the gun deer hunt.

And they will see deer. As has become the norm in this era, Richland County is holding a very high number of whitetails.

Smukowski's excitement ratcheted up Tuesday when he viewed trail cam images of bucks moving in daylight on property around The Roost.

Since Wisconsin's gun deer season traditionally starts on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, this year the opener is the second-earliest possible. The timing is expected to include more deer activity related to the rut, or mating season, which peaks in early November but lingers later in the month, too.

"It's definitely happening," Smukowski said. "The rut is still on."

The gang at the Roost will include a first-timer, Michael Zuniga of Oconomowoc, who will be hunting with his father Gilbert, his uncle Jim Smukowski and his grandfather Jerry Smukowski.

"I am excited for (Michael)," Jim Smukowski said. "It will be new and I like his chances to get a deer."

There is also the chance the camp will have added excitement from Brandy, the retriever. She's expected to whelp on Thanksgiving but it could come earlier. Either way, Smukowski said he's ready.

He's also well equipped for the camp's mess hall. He prepared chicken marsala for 20.

Jim Henning of Grafton will head Friday to his traditional hunting spot in Marquette County.

It's the area he and his father learned to deer hunt 40 years ago under the tutelage of Reinhold Eckleberg of Montello.

He will be reunited with friends and fellow hunters, including Reinold's son-in-law Joe Zauner of Montello.

"It's a reunion," Henning said. "I'm not an overly serious deer hunter but I enjoy seeing the people."

This year the Montello deer camp will be toasting its founder. Eckleberg, a U.S. Marine veteran who served in World War II, died Nov. 1; he was 98.

"We're going to keep the tradition going to honor him, that's for sure," Henning said.

Last year Henning tagged a deer before he even got to hunting camp. He struck and killed a 10-point buck with his pickup while making a pizza run Friday night before the opener. The meat, he said, was just fine.

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No matter where hunters are headed for Saturday's opener, they are likely to have something in common: no snow.

Warmer-than-average temperatures this week have melted what little snow remained in the state, and the forecast didn't include any new deposits of the white stuff through the weekend.

That, and the effects of a tough winter on deer in a portion of northern Wisconsin, will likely reduce the deer kill this year, according to DNR deer program specialist Jeff Pritzl.

"I think it's safe to kind of couch expectations this year that harvest numbers are going to be similar in some parts of the state and possibly running a little bit behind last year (in the north)," Pritzl said.

As of Nov. 7, 70,027 deer (41,337 bucks and 28,690 antlerless) had been registered by hunters in the 2023 seasons to date (mostly in the bow and youth hunts), about 5% less than the five-year average at this date, according to preliminary DNR data.

I'll be heading farther north than I've ever hunted in Wisconsin, the Apostle Islands.

I'm joining Thor Stolen of Milwaukee in his deer camp on Madeline Island and will share the experience with you in a story next week.

If you're participating in the season, remember the only successful hunt is one with no accidents. Hunt and travel safe and I look forward to sharing tales with you down the trail.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Anticipation grows for 2023 Wisconsin gun deer season November 18-26