Wisconsin estimates deer herd at 1 million

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin wildlife officials have compiled their final post-hunt deer population figures.

The Department of Natural Resources now estimates about 1 million deer were left after the close of all hunting seasons in January. The agency released preliminary numbers earlier this week, but had been waiting for estimates from chronic wasting disease zones.

Last April, the agency estimated the population would be between 1.5 million and 1.7 million when the fall hunting season began. The DNR now believes it underestimated the winter die-off and the pre-hunt population was closer to 1.5 million.

DNR big game expert Keith Warnke estimates hunters killed 453,000 deer last fall, down 13 percent from 2007, and didn’t recover about 68,000 wounded deer.