Deer hunting means big bucks for sporting goods business

For Tom Schaal, this is the calm before the storm.

It was relatively quiet in his store — Northwoods Sporting Goods — on a Thursday afternoon in late September, but that won’t be the case in late November before and during Wisconsin’s gun deer season, which kicks off Nov. 21 and runs through Nov. 29.

Schaal has owned the Lena store, located at 410 E. Main St., for 12 years and is prepared for what is easily his busiest time of the year, as the gun deer season is important for his bottom line.

“It’s the best week or two weeks that we get,” he said. “It’s our bread and butter. You’d be surprised how many licenses we sell the Friday before (the season begins). People wait until the last minute. It picks up with (the archery season), but Wisconsin’s rifle season is almost a religion.”

The day before the season begins is typically one of the busiest of the day at Schaal’s store.

“I’ve got to have one extra person just at the license machine,” he said. “It runs nonstop, and sometimes, it’s a dozen deep. The only ones that get upset are the ones that are buying a gun that day and it gets delayed or something. They get mad at me, but it’s not our fault. The government tells me whether I can give you the gun.”

Schaal is looking for a deer season in 2026 comparable to the last five years.

“It stays pretty steady,” he said. “I’d say it’s down from 12 years ago. COVID changed a lot of things and trained people to shop online. You can buy your license online from home and that changed license sales.”

While some wait until the last minute, serious hunters are prepared for the season well before it arrives, Schaal said.

“They’ve been prepared for a month or two,” he said. “The ones that are leaving in late October or November for out West for elk, mule deer or whatever, they’ve been shooting awhile already.”

Schaal said deer hunters head to the Lena area from southern Wisconsin and Illinois.

“We have one of the cheapest nonresident licenses in the country,” he said. “We get some from Indiana, Missouri.”

Most deer hunters in the Lena area hunt private land, Schaal said.

“There is a lot of public land, it’s just not hunted as much,” he said. “You don’t get the privacy you get on private land. On opening morning, you could have a guy 50 yards from you. On public land, the further in you go, the less people you’ll see. Most people don’t go far from the road.”

Area hunters on private land will find plenty of deer, Schaal said.

“We have a lot of deer on private land, almost too many,” he said. “We had a huge herd in the early or mid ’80s. It went down and was growing again through the late ’90s. Mother Nature takes care of itself, and we have a really strong herd right now.”

That’s not always good news for hunters, Schaal said.

“In some spots, the does aren’t getting bred,” he said. “We have fawns with spots on them this time of year. That means that the does aren’t getting bred until the second or third heat. There aren’t enough bucks to breed them all. On our home property where I hunt, we’ve never shot a doe, but recently, we started letting people in to shoot, because we have that problem.”

Trail cameras have become a popular tool for hunters, according to Schaal.

“The last study I read said only about 5% of deer get their picture taken, so you can’t live by it,” he said. “It’s hard to believe. I quit running cameras 25 years ago, but it’s a tool that is helpful, especially if you’re on public ground.”

Schaal’s advice to hunters is to be prepared and not wait until the last minute.

“Be proactive, that’s about the best advice I can give,” he said. “Stands should be ready. Scouting, absolutely. Put some cameras out if you want. You should be sighting their rifles in and making sure they’re ready for that. Make sure that’s done ahead of time because you have to find the ammo that works for you.

“I can’t stress enough how important it is to shoot your gun and shoot it a lot. Time behind the gun is key, especially if you’re shooting from a distance. The average kill shot in Wisconsin — rifle and archery — is 17 yards. Most people don’t shoot that far, but if you’re hunting private land, you have to know what your gun shoots at.”