That old saying is certainly ringing true for the deer near our home offices. Here is a picture I took off the front porch of my house yesterday evening. The photo doesn't show all of them, but 15 deer in total showed up just before nightfall. What were they eating? Willow leaves and twigs. Yes, things have gotten that bad around here. We still have about a foot of really hard, crusty snow in the woods and the deer are really feeling the effects of this long winter.
--Dan Schmidt

Although the majority of white-tailed bucks have shed their antlers from last year, I am still receiving reports of deer still holding on to one side and, in rare cases, both sides. The following photo was taken by a good friend of mine (and loyal D&DH reader) from Waupaca, Wis., which is just south of our editorial offices here in northeast WI. This photo was taken Sunday, March 16. We are keeping track of dates for sightings across the country, so please add your notes to this post.
--D.E.S.

I've suffered from a selective memory these past few years. It seems that I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday, yet I can nearly recite all of Robin Yount's offensive statistics from his MVP season in 1982. A coworker says I have "stress-induced ADD." Maybe he's right!

In any event, I do vividly recall a conversation I had with another D&DH fanatic in 1995 when I was compiling the state-by-state deer hunting statistics for our Deer Hunters' Almanac. We were talking about our home state of Wisconsin's then-impressive annual archery harvest of 69,158 whitetails. This number was almost unheard of at the time. "Nearly 70,000 deer taken with bow and arrow?" my friend said. "Amazing, but that will likely never happen again. Once we get this herd down, we bow-hunters will be back to the days of killing 40,000 to 50,000 deer a year...and liking it."

Not quite.

Wisconsin's bow harvest has not only increased expotentially since then (our five-year average is 101,000 deer per year), there are no signs of it ever going back to those averages of the "old days."

The numbers from this past season were released yesterday. Brace yourself. In 2007/08, Wisconsin bow-hunters established a new season record of 116,042, eclipsing the previous record of 113,918 that was only one year old. Gun deer hunters brought in 402,531 deer, their third best season ever.

The overall harvest of 518,573 deer is the second highest in state history and sixth highest in U.S. history.

--Dan Schmidt D&DH Editor

Here are some snapshots of the state's amazing run:

It seems that all of the news these days during the upcoming election is all about poll results. Well, here are some great facts concerning hunting that I ran across this morning from the National Shooting Sports Foundation...

Surveys show nearly 80 percent of Americans support hunting, although less than 10 percent actually participate. These 18.5 million hunters contribute more than $30 billion annually to the U.S. economy and support more than 986,000 jobs. They are the primary financiers (more than $1.5 billion per year) of conservation programs that benefit all Americans who appreciate wildlife and wild places. As the trade association for the firearms, hunting and recreational shooting industry, the National Shooting Sports Foundation supports programs designed to ensure the future of hunting.

Should we rest easier? No, but we should rest assured that we are still relevant.

Dan Schmidt, D&DH Editor