The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is gearing up to release additional hunting opportunities for this year's deer season. Starting at 10 a.m. on August 18, bonus antlerless deer harvest authorizations will be available for purchase through the Go Wild license portal and various license sales locations. According to an announcement on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources newsroom page, these authorizations will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, one per person per day, until they are sold out or the hunting season concludes.
In preparing to secure one of these coveted bonus authorizations, potential buyers should be prepared to quickly move through the online purchasing system. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has planned to implement an online queue, which will randomly assign a number to users who log on between 9:45 a.m. and 10 a.m. on the sale days. However, those who try to jump the virtual queue by logging on before 9:45 a.m. won't get any advantage for their efforts. Once the clock strikes 10 a.m., anyone logging in will simply be added to queue up at the end of the line based on their order of arrival.
Hunters looking to make their purchase need to be up-to-date on several details. They need to know their intended deer management zone and unit, whether they'll be hunting on public or private land, and they must already have a deer hunting license approval in hand. It's important to note the changes made to some boundaries of the Northern and Central Forest Zones for the 2025 season; the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources recommends reviewing new maps before buying licenses to avoid any election-day confusion.
The first three days of sales will be dedicated exclusively to specific management zones, allowing hunters to better focus on where they plan to hunt. The schedule starts with the Forest Zones on August 18, followed by the Central Farmland Zone on August 19, and the Southern Farmland Zone on August 20. Come August 21, all remaining authorizations will become available across all zones. Hunters should note that the number of available bonus authorizations will vary by unit, designed to align closer with the local deer populations, as reported by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
For those looking for details on the bonus antlerless harvest authorizations available in each specific unit, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources directs them to their Antlerless Deer Harvest Authorization webpage. Hunters are reminded as well that with every deer license purchase in Farmland Zone units, at least one Farmland Zone antlerless harvest authorization is included, with some units providing more than one per license.
