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W inter weather killed so many Wisconsin deer over the last two years that state officials plan to take the unusual step of recommending that no antlerless deer licenses be issued in the northern third of the state for the upcoming hunt.

A year without antlerless tags should help deer numbers build back up, said Kevin Wallenfang, the state Department of Natural Resources big game ecologist.

“It’s going to be a regrowth period,” Wallenfang said. “We’ve had two bad back-to-back winters.”

Wallenfang said he couldn’t remember a year when no antlerless tags were issued for such a large area.

DNR staff will make the recommendation to the Natural Resources Board at its May 28 meeting, Wallenfang said.

He said the recommendation would cover firearms and archery seasons over most of the 17-county Northern Forest Zone. Hunters with children, disabled and military-on-leave licenses, as well as tribal members still would be able to hunt antlerless deer, he said.