Bonus antlerless deer harvest authorizations available for purchase starting Aug. 19

Bonus antlerless deer harvest authorizations available for purchase starting Aug. 19

Contact(s): Bob Nack, DNR big game section chief, 608-264-6137

MADISON – Bonus harvest authorizations (formerly known as tags) for antlerless deer during the 2019 Wisconsin deer hunting seasons will be available for purchase starting Monday, Aug. 19 at 10 a.m. through the Go Wild website and license sales locations.

The fall deer hunt is just around the corner. Hunters can search the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website, dnr.wi.gov, for keyword “deer” to prepare for another season in the woods.

Antlerless deer harvest authorizations for the 2019 season will go on sale Monday, August 19 at 10 a.m.Photo credit: Linda Freshwaters Arndt

Bonus antlerless harvest authorizations will be sold at a rate of one per person per day until sold out or until the 2019 deer hunting season ends. The cost is $12 each for Wisconsin residents, $20 each for non-residents and $5 each for youth ages 11 and under.

For a list of units with bonus antlerless harvest authorizations available for purchase, search for keywords “bonus availability.” These and all other deer hunting licenses and harvest authorizations are available online through the Go Wild website or at any of more than 1,000 license sales locations.

To prepare for the sale, each day at 9:45 a.m., an online queuing system will be put in place to manage volume in the Go Wild system. At 10 a.m., all online users that are on the site will be randomly assigned a number and staged into a “virtual” line regardless of the actual time you entered into the system. There is no advantage for customers who enter the site before 9:45 a.m. Please note that customers who enter the site after the randomization that occurs at 10 a.m. will move to the end of the “virtual” line in the order in which they arrive. All visitors to the site during this time will go into the queuing system.

When hunters access the Go Wild site, they should follow the prompts until they reach their personalized dashboard. To purchase a bonus antlerless harvest authorization, click the “Buy Licenses” button from the dashboard to open the sales catalog. From there, look for Bonus Antlerless Harvest Authorization at the very top of the list. People who haven’t had the chance to get a license in advance will be able to purchase one through Go Wild after selecting the Bonus Antlerless Harvest Authorization.

Hunters will need to know the deer management zone and unit in which they intend to hunt. They will also need to determine whether they will hunt on public or private land to make their purchase.

The first three days of bonus sales are management zone-specific and will be available as follows:

• Aug. 19, 10 a.m. – Northern and Central Forest (Zone 1);
• Aug. 20, 10 a.m.– Central Farmland (Zone 2);
• Aug. 21, 10 a.m.– Southern Farmland (Zone 2); and
• Aug. 22, 10 a.m. – remaining bonus harvest authorizations (all zones).

As a reminder, Farmland (Zone 2) antlerless harvest authorizations are now available for distribution. A Farmland (Zone 2) antlerless harvest authorization is included with the purchase of each deer hunting license in units that offer them. Some units will offer more than one antlerless deer harvest authorization with each deer license.

GovDelivery

Anyone interested in receiving occasional email reminders can sign up to receive messages about season dates, license and harvest authorization types and other useful information. Visit dnr.wi.gov and click on the email icon near the bottom of the page for “subscribe for updates for DNR topics.” Then follow the prompts and select a list of your choice.

For more information regarding deer hunting in Wisconsin, visit dnr.wi.gov and search keyword “deer.”