Boots & Sabers

The blogging will continue until morale improves...

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Author: Owen

Biden Proposes Destroying Patent Protections

by | 1026, 7 Dec 2323 | , | 4 Comments

This will gut a good chunk of the innovation in the American economy in all sectors. If people do not have confidence that their patents will be protected, they will decline to make nig investments in creating new things. The profits reaped by people who invent new important things is the price of getting new important things.

The Biden administration on Thursday opened the door to seizing the patents of certain costly medications from drugmakers in a new push to slash high drug prices and promote more pharmaceutical competition.

 

The administration unveiled a framework outlining the factors federal agencies should consider in deciding whether to use a controversial policy, known as march-in rights, to take patents for drugs developed with taxpayer funds and share them with other pharmaceutical companies if the public cannot “reasonably” access the medications. Doing so could lead to the development of lower-priced generic alternatives, which could cut into key drug companies’ profits and reduce costs for patients.

For the first time, officials can now factor in a medication’s price in deciding to break a patent.

Republicans Willing to Trade Border Security for More Ukraine Funding

by | 0750, 7 Dec 2323 | , | 0 Comments

This is a positive development. Even the squishy Republican Senators are drawing a hard line here.

Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked the advance of a $110 billion (£87 billion) package of wartime funding for Ukraine and Israel as they pressed their demands for tougher immigration measures at the Mexico border.

 

The vote, a 49-51 tally that fell short of the Senate’s 60-vote threshold for moving ahead, came just hours after President Joe Biden said it was “stunning” that Congress has not yet approved tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance for Ukraine.

 

His administration warned of dire consequences for Kyiv – and a “gift” to Russia’s Vladimir Putin – if lawmakers don’t act.

 

The vote was along party lines, with every Senate Republican voting “no” along with Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who generally votes with Democrats but had expressed concerns about funding Israel’s “current inhumane military strategy” against Palestinians.

The bleating from Biden that the war in Ukraine is a “battle for freedom,” or something, has worn thin. He has not articulated what our pressing national interest is, and he has not articulated what the out strategy is. Meanwhile, Ukraine has suspended elections, suppressed speech, and generally turned into yet another dictatorship. Do we really care if a Ukrainian dictator or a Russian dictator lords over that part of the world? How much more American treasure and, potentially, American lives are worth it?

Furthermore, it is clear that the Ukrainian War has ground to a stalemate. Lines have not moved substantially for most of the year despite the big Ukrainian summer offensive. Russia will continue to push and has more resources than Ukraine. The only thing that will change the dynamic is a massive influx of arms and, probably, foreign soldiers to change the power balance. But there is no appetite in Europe or America to spend more, risk their lives, or widen the war with Russia.

Given that’s the case, America would best serve the world by using our power to bring the war to a close as quickly as possible in a negotiated settlement. It will mean that Russia “won” the war by seizing several large parts of Ukraine by force of arms. But Ukraine will survive as a smaller country. And the bloodletting of a generation of Ukrainians and Russians will stop. At this point, that is the best foreseeable outcome for Ukraine and the longer they wait, the less likely it will be.

Biden Delays Ban of Menthol Cigarettes Under Political Pressure

by | 0729, 7 Dec 2323 | | 0 Comments

I guess Black lives don’t matter to Biden when it comes to allowing Menthols.

The Biden administration is delaying a decision on whether to ban menthol flavored cigarettes amid intense lobbying from critics including the tobacco industry, industry-backed groups and some Black criminal justice advocates.

 

The delay is alarming public health groups, which fear that the White House could cave to pressure and delay the rule indefinitely, especially against the backdrop of President Biden’s reelection bid.

 

The target date for releasing the rule was initially August, which was then pushed back to the end of the year. The White House in its regulatory agenda released Wednesday set a new target for March 2024.

“Any delay in finalizing the FDA’s [Food and Drug Administration’s] menthol rule would be a gift to the tobacco industry at the expense of Black lives,” said Yolanda Richardson, CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “We urge the administration to keep its promise and issue a final rule by the end of this year.”

Evers’ Office Violates Standard Anti-Discrimination Practices

by | 2045, 6 Dec 2323 | , | 0 Comments

Another gem from Wisconsin Right Now. This wouldn’t fly in any professional private sector business in the country. It’s an office culture that breeds discrimination and discontent.

Gov. Tony Evers’ top Comms director did not receive any written performance evaluations despite her $112,008 taxpayer-funded salary, Wisconsin Right Now has learned through an open records request.

 

Evers chose her as his spokesperson with no other applications and no job posting, we’ve learned, although state law allows governors to forgo the civil service process when picking their office staff.

 

“Performance of all Governor’s Office employees is evaluated on an ongoing basis and is typically provided verbally,” the governor’s legal counsel wrote WRN in a letter.

 

We asked Evers’ office for “any documents indicating who conducted the evaluations of Britt Cudaback from 2019 to present” and for the “personnel evaluations/performance evaluations of Britt Cudaback from 2019 to present.”

 

By using passive voice (“is evaluated”), Evers’ legal counsel wrote around WHO evaluated Cudaback verbally, if at all.

Evers Signs Brewers Bill

by | 0737, 6 Dec 2323 | | 1 Comment

I wrote about this multiple times. This is a great package for the Brewers. It’s terrible for the taxpayers. One thing it confirmed for me was that there are no, or very few, small government Republicans left in Wisconsin. The fact that there was so little opposition to this spending package is ample evidence of that fact.

The package went through multiple revisions as lawmakers worked to find ways to reduce the public subsidy. The bill Evers finally signed calls for a state contribution of $365.8 million doled out in annual payments through 2050. The city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County will contribute a combined $135 million.

 

The legislation also imposes surcharges on tickets to nonbaseball events at the stadium such as rock concerts or monster truck rallies. The surcharges are expected to generate $20.7 million.

 

The Brewers, for their part, will spend $110 million and extend their lease at the stadium through 2050, keeping Major League Baseball in its smallest market for another 27 years.

 

The bill easily passed the Legislature last month, with the Assembly approving it on a 72-26 vote and the Senate following suit 19-14. Attanasio said during the signing that the Brewers have received inquiries from other cities about relocating but moving was never an option. He said he understands how painful it was for the community when the Milwaukee Braves left for Atlanta in 1966. He did not name the cities inquiring about hosting the Brewers.

Unions sue to overturn Wisconsin’s 2011 Act 10

by | 0738, 5 Dec 2323 | , | 0 Comments

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. I thought we were done debating Act 10, but here we are…

A group of unions have filed suit demanding that Wisconsin’s 2011 Act 10 be thrown out. They argue that the law is unconstitutional because it discriminates between public safety government employees and general government employees. Given that neither public safety government employees nor general government employees constitute a protected class in the state Constitution or in law, the case should be thrown out on its face, but it is probable that this is the beginning of the end of Act 10.

 

Since it has been well over a decade since Act 10 was passed, it is worth refreshing our collective memories about it. In 2010, Democrat Gov. Jim Doyle had declined to run for reelection after a series of scandals and gross mismanagement of the budget. The state was facing a massive $3.6 billion structural deficit. When Gov. Scott Walker and his fellow legislative Republicans were swept into office on a wave of discontent, they were immediately confronted with fixing the deficit. Act 10 began in a special session in early 2011 to fix the Democrats’ budget deficit. A structural budget deficit required a structural repair. At the time, roughly half of the $28.3 billion general fund budget (it was $44.4 billion in the most recent budget — up 57% — but that is for another column) was entitlements. Pension costs ate up 13%, shared revenue and K-12 spending was 15%, and all other state needs (universities, prisons, natural resources, etc.) were squeezed into the remaining 22%. Act 10 was designed to address the structural budget by restructuring the pension and local government parts of the state budget.

 

The problem was that government unions had a stranglehold on that spending. In the days before Act 10, the powerful government unions organized to elect local school board members and other local elected officials. When it came to bargain for government employees, everything was on the table and the union officials were usually negotiating with people they helped elect. The taxpayers were not represented.

 

[…]

 

It worked. The budget was repaired and the tremendous budgeting that Republicans did throughout the 2010s led to the $7 billion budget surplus that politicians are arguing about today. It all started with Act 10.

 

Act 10 has also led to incredible savings for Wisconsin’s taxpayers. According to the MacIver Institute, which has been tracking the impact of Act 10 since it was passed, the cumulative savings stemming from Act 10 for Wisconsin’s taxpayers as of March of this year is $16.8 billion. Put another way, Wisconsin’s high cost of government would have been $16.8 billion more taxing had Act 10 never been passed.

 

Furthermore, the government employees who most opposed Act 10 have been voting with their feet. According to the Wisconsin Policy Institute, of the 983 public-sector unions in Wisconsin at the time of Act 10’s passage, only 318 successfully recertified and were still bargaining for employees as of 2021. Teachers unions are still the most active with 56.2% of them still active. At the other end of the spectrum, only 3.4% of county employee unions are still active. Government employees have been clear. The vast majority of them reject unionization just as most other Wisconsin workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 9.3% of Wisconsin’s workers — including government workers — were unionized in 2021.

 

That’s the rub.

 

Follow the money.

 

The unions suing over Act 10 have been decimated by the law because it allows workers to choose. The unions want to return to the bad old days when unions existed in perpetuity and government workers were forced to be members and pay dues. The unions were also able to shake down taxpayers for even more money like when the state teachers union founded a health insurance company and forced school districts to use it. All of that stopped with Act 10 and the river of taxpayer money that flowed into union coffers slowed to a babbling brook.

 

Despite the fact that Act 10 was litigated multiple times and ruled legal and constitutional every single time, the unions are suing again 12 years after Act 10 passed into law. Why? Because they and their Democrat vassals managed to elect a leftist activist majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The unions and the Democrats are looking to get a return on their investment and reinvigorate the government unions by turning the taxpayer spigot back on full.

Democratic Governors Advise Biden

by | 1955, 4 Dec 2323 | | 0 Comments

Get ready for more groaner photo ops with doddering Biden.

Increasing the in-your-face representations of things like a new battery manufacturing plant opening or the beginning of bridge construction — the fruits of the Inflation Reduction Act, the bipartisan infrastructure deal or the CHIPS and Science Act, all of which were championed by the White House — are how a group of generally popular Democratic governors think unpopular President Joe Biden can help improve his standing with the public ahead of a cutthroat election year.

 

After all, these governors said, that strategy has helped some of them win their own tough reelection fights.

 

“People love the announcement and love the groundbreaking, but the ribbon cutting is reality. Sometimes people talk down about when we present big checks. Well, that’s when the funding comes,” Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters at the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) winter meeting on Saturday, fresh off his 5% victory in ruby red Kentucky last month.

Politicians Won’t Write Blank Check to Israel

by | 1939, 4 Dec 2323 | | 2 Comments

Awesome. Now do Ukraine.

Lawmakers warned President Joe Biden’s national security team that planned U.S. aid to Israel must be met with assurances of concrete steps from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government.

 

“The truth is that if asking nicely worked, we wouldn’t be in the position we are today,” Sanders said in a floor speech. It was time for the United States to use its “substantial leverage” with its ally, the Vermont senator said.

“And we all know what that leverage is,” he said, adding, “the blank-check approach must end.”

Evers’ Office Tries to Squash Story About Workplace Sexual Favoritism

by | 2121, 3 Dec 2323 | | 1 Comment

This story is amazing. Hat tip to Wisconsin Right Now for digging this up.

In an epic 1,312-word email to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Dan Bice, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ Communications Director Britt Cudaback demanded that the state’s largest newspaper censor information about her alleged romantic relationship with Evers’ powerful Chief of Staff Maggie Gau, arguing that publishing the information could lead to anti-LGBTQ violence.

 

[…]

 

The central argument in Cudaback’s email to Bice was that the newspaper should not write about an alleged supervisor-subordinate romantic relationship between public employees if those people are not heterosexual, as if a person’s sexual orientation renders them immune from any questions about their public roles.

 

“We decline to comply with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s demands that we take the extraordinary and unprecedented step of answering questions that could disclose staff members’ potential LGBTQ status and identity for publication in the state’s newspaper of largest readership,” Cudaback wrote Bice in August 2023.

 

[…]

 

Cudaback even claimed publishing the abuse of power allegations could lead to Evers’ staffers being stalked, as she fielded Bice’s questions, which he was trying to direct to Gau. The email implied there was “no journalistic value or legitimate public interest” to whether Gau and Cudaback were dating.

 

That’s even though Cudaback admitted, “The communications director (Britt Cudaback) has reported directly to the chief of staff (Maggie Gau), and that continues to be the case.”

It does seem that many gay folks have long since moved passed wanting equal treatment to wanting special treatment – including being immune from public scrutiny that would have any heterosexual couple facing job or legal action.

I would note that despite this story being out for weeks, neither Governor Evers nor Maggie Gau have taken any action to rectify it. Were I another employee in that office, I would be suing the state for workplace discrimination and a hostile work environment… and I’d win.

Israel Continues on the Offensive

by | 1234, 2 Dec 2323 | , | 4 Comments

Some running thoughts...

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel pounded targets in the crowded southern half of the Gaza Strip on Saturday and ordered more neighborhoods designated for attack to evacuate, driving up the death toll even as the United States and others urged it to do more to protect Gaza civilians a day after a truce collapsed.

The truce didn’t “collapse.” It’s not something that just happened. Hamas broke the truce.

Also, notice how Israel continues to try to protect civilians by announcing where they are going next despite the increased risk to their soldiers. Hamas does not do that.

At least 200 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting resumed Friday morning following the weeklong truce with the territory’s ruling militant group Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. Several homes were hit across Gaza on Saturday, with multiple casualties reported in a strike that flattened a multi-story building on the outskirts of Gaza City.

The Health Ministry in Gaza is Hamas and they have been proven habitual liars. Yet, this reporter takes their statements at face value.

The appeal from the United States, Israel’s closest ally, to do more to protect civilians came after an air and ground offensive in the first weeks of the war devastated large areas of northern Gaza.

The Biden Administration has abandoned Israel and is lobbying on behalf of Hamas.

Meanwhile, Palestinian militant groups in Gaza said they fired a barrage of rockets on southern Israel. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli army spokesperson, said Hamas had launched more than 250 rockets at Israel since the cease-fire ended.

Put another way, “Hamas terrorists continue to target Israeli civilians with indiscriminate rocket attacks.” Notice how Israel is intentionally warning civilians to protect them while Hamas is targeting civilians. There is not a moral equivalence here.

The maps and leaflets generated panic and confusion, especially in the crowded south. Unable to go to northern Gaza or neighboring Egypt, their only escape is to move around within the 220-square-kilometer (85-square-mile) area.

Remember that Egypt could – at any time – open their border with Gaza and offer their fellow Muslims sanctuary. Egypt is not willing to welcome the terrorists into their country for good reason.

Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, in Dubai on Saturday for the COP28 climate conference, said in a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi that “under no circumstances” would the United States permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, the besiegement of Gaza or redrawing of its borders, according to a U.S. summary.

 

Harris was expected to outline proposals with regional leaders to “put Palestinian voices at the center” of planning the next steps for Gaza after the conflict, according to the White House. President Joe Biden’s administration has emphasized the need for an eventual two-state solution, with Israel and a Palestinian state coexisting.

Again, the Biden Administration is firmly on the side of the terrorists now.

Ukranian War in Stalemate

by | 1959, 1 Dec 2323 | | 1 Comment

The war is frozen. The only thing that will change it at this point is a massive influx of money, men, and munitions from one side or the other. America does not have an interest in perpetuating the bleeding of people and American taxpayers.

Russia said on Friday its troops were advancing in every section of the Ukrainian front, despite observers seeing little movement.

 

The front lines have barely shifted in 2023 but fighting has remained intense. The latest major flashpoint is the nearly encircled industrial town of Avdiivka, where Ukraine said it was fending off assaults.

 

“Our servicemen are acting competently and decisively, occupying a more favourable position and expanding their zones of control in all directions,” Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday.

 

In a briefing with Russia’s top military brass, Shoigu said his men were “effectively and firmly inflicting fire damage on the Ukrainian armed forces, significantly reducing their combat capabilities”.

 

[…]

 

Ukraine has struggled to claw back territory from Russia this year, despite launching a counter-offensive in June after stocking up on Western weapons.

 

Last month Kyiv said it had pushed Russian forces back a few kilometres (miles) from the banks of Dnipro river, which if confirmed would be its first meaningful advance in more than 12 months.

 

Ahead of expectations for another tough winter, Ukraine is trying to stave off talk of fatigue among its Western partners, fearing that aid may dry up in the case of a prolonged stalemate.

 

Russia Joins Hamas in Condemning LGBTQ+ Movement

by | 0809, 30 Nov 2323 | | 2 Comments

Solidarity, or something. 

Russia’s Supreme Court has declared what it calls “the international LGBT public movement” an extremist organisation and banned its activities across the country.

The ruling was prompted by a motion from the justice ministry, even though no such organisation exists as a legal entity.

The hearing was held behind closed doors, but reporters were allowed in to hear the court’s decision. Nobody from “the defendant’s side” had been present, the court said.

Republicans pass massive tax and regulatory relief bill

by | 0706, 28 Nov 2323 | | 0 Comments

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a part:

Overall, the Republicans bill is a meaningful effort to reduce taxes for working Wisconsinites, make it easier for Wisconsinites to work, and target assistance for needed professions like nursing, child care, counseling, and commercial driving. It not only puts billions of dollars into the economy, it makes it easier to for more Wisconsinites to earn a living.

 

Unfortunately for Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers vetoed everything. Wisconsinites will not get tax relief. Professionals moving to Wisconsin will still have to go through a laborious, expensive, and unnecessary credentialing process. Wisconsinites will not get financial help for expensive child care expensive. None of this is happening because Evers is pouting about not getting his way.

 

In his veto message, he repeatedly whines about wanting more government spending to expand the bureaucracy. He also contradicts himself saying that Wisconsin cannot afford a tax cut while simultaneously bragging about the massive budget surplus. Governor Evers called this thoughtful, comprehensive, compassionate Republican bill “completely unserious.” Sadly, it is completely serious that Wisconsinites are not going to get the tax and regulatory relief that they need because Evers and the legislative Democrats will not let it happen.

 

Wisconsin’s state government is bigger, more expensive, and more intrusive than it has ever been and Governor Evers and state Democrats want is to be even bigger, even more expensive, and even more intrusive. No wonder the state’s population is shrinking.

Illegal Aliens Getting Hurt at Border

by | 1855, 27 Nov 2323 | | 0 Comments

Why is this my problem? They are breaking into my fortified home and hurt themselves doing it. FAFO. They are lucky that we are spending untold thousands of dollars treating their injuries instead of just shoving them back over the border to find care in Mexico.

My colleague Miriam Jordan was reporting at the border this year when she noticed an unusual number of migrants in wheelchairs, bandages and casts at shelters. Jordan learned that while there was no comprehensive accounting of wall-related injuries and deaths, doctors at U.S. hospitals along the border have noticed a definite increase.

 

“Desperate people try to jump over, and they suffer much more severe traumatic injuries to the head,” Jordan said. “The falls also shatter their extremities, because of greater impact from falling farther.”

 

Problems continue even after they receive treatment. “Many migrants do not receive the follow-up care that they need after being released from the hospital,” she said, “and they may never regain the ability to work at physically arduous jobs, which they came to America to do, or lead a normal life.”

 

[…]

 

Last year, UC San Diego Health converted a postpartum unit into a ward for border-wall casualties. The sheer number has affected care for local people, too; waiting time for spinal procedures at the hospital has risen to nearly two weeks, from three days.

Tony Evers Denies Lawful Open Records Disclosures with Secret Email

by | 0805, 27 Nov 2323 | | 44 Comments

From Wisconsin Right Now

Tony Evers has a secret state email account appropriating the name of a dead baseball legend, but he doesn’t think the public has a right to know about it.

 

Gov. Tony Evers has been communicating with state workers about public business using a secret government email account in the name of a deceased Milwaukee Braves baseball legend, and over 17,000 emails sent to and from the account exist, Wisconsin Right Now has exclusively documented.

 

But the governor’s office thinks the public has no right to know the account’s name and won’t provide most of the emails. We verified Evers is using the account, first through a source who saw communications between Evers and a state worker, and then through the open records request. The response provided other details that verified it, even though the address was blacked out.

 

We can reveal: Gov. Evers writes various state workers and cabinet secretaries using the account “warren.spahn@wisconsin.gov,” a state email account in the name of the Braves’ legend.

 

The state Department of Administration explained it was blacking out the email account name, writing of the redactions, “The Governor’s non-public official direct email address. Making this email address available would significantly hinder the Governor’s ability to communicate and work efficiently. There is minimal harm to the public interest, given that there are numerous public means to communicate with the Office of the Governor.”

There are two transgressions here. First, the governor is using a secret email account to conduct public business. This practice intentionally makes it more difficult for people to find them when conducting open records requests. You can’t ask for something you don’t know about.

The greater transgression is that even after WRN discovered the email, the DOA is still refusing to disclose the emails in response to a lawful open records request. Wisconsin’s government is required by law to provide any information for the asking. It is a cornerstone of transparency that promotes good government. There are few – very few – reasons that the government is allowed to redact requested information. “Evers doesn’t want to because it might embarrass him” is not a lawful reason to deny an open records request.

Evers has a history of thwarting the public’s legal responsibility and right to see what his office is doing. What is he hiding?

Terrorists Launch Missiles at U.S. Warship

by | 2138, 26 Nov 2323 | , , | 0 Comments

Nothing to see here, I guess.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels allegedly fired missiles at a US Navy destroyer off the coast of Yemen in a ‘significant escalation’ – after American troops freed an Israeli-linked chemical tanker from them.

 

The USS Mason warship responded to a distress call on Sunday from the commercial tanker, named Central Park, in the Gulf of Aden that had been seized by armed rebels. 

 

The rebels, from Yemen’s Houthis, were officially recognized as a terrorist organization in the US under the Trump administration – until Biden removed the militants from the list in 2021.

 

[…]

 

According to Fox News citing two senior U.S. officials, the Houthi forces fired two ballistic missiles at the USS Mason after the Navy arrested the armed hijackers.

 

USS Mason tracked the missiles – which both fell short and landed in the water.

 

Asian-Americans Continue to Face Discrimination from Ivy Schools

by | 2125, 26 Nov 2323 | , | 1 Comment

Disgraceful. Given what we have seen from the Ivy schools lately, I would serious question hiring any of them. They are not admitting the best of the best and they are putting out a bunch of radicalized bigots.

The admissions consultant described what it takes to get into an elite college: Take 10 to 20 Advanced Placement courses. Create a “showstopper project.”

 

Asian American students need to be extremely strategic in how they present themselves, “to avoid anti-Asian discrimination,” the consultant, Sasha Chada of Ivy Scholars, said at the October webinar to an audience of mostly Asian parents and students.

 

[…]

 

In the first college application season since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action, Asian American students are more stressed out than ever. Race-conscious admissions were widely seen to have disadvantaged them, as borne out by disparities in the test scores of admitted students — but many feel that race will still be a hidden factor and that standards are even more opaque than before.

 

[…]

 

At seminars like Chada’s around Southern California this fall, some held in Korean or Mandarin for immigrant parents, consultants reinforced the message — even students with superhuman qualifications are regularly rejected from Harvard and UC Berkeley.

China Fading

by | 0855, 24 Nov 2323 | , | 1 Comment

While it is good that China’s economic prowess may be waning, it is also destabilizing if Communist China seek to replace their economic might with military might.

The Chinese economy’s decades-long run of tremendous growth has finally found its end, Ruchir Sharma wrote in the Financial Times.

 

Wisconsin Deer Harvest Way Down

by | 1950, 22 Nov 2323 | | 1 Comment

We’re going to be closing in on two million deer pretty fast.

MADISON (AP) — A lack of snow and warm temperatures that suppressed deer movement led to a lackluster opening weekend of Wisconsin’s nine-day gun season, with hunters killing thousands fewer deer than last year.

 

The state Department of Natural Resources released preliminary data Tuesday that showed hunters registered 92,050 deer compared with 103,623 deer last year.

 

That’s a 16% drop-off from 2022 and 10% fewer deer than the five-year average for opening weekend. Hunters also registered 51,870 bucks, down 13% from 56,638 over opening weekend in 2022.

 

The number of potential hunters didn’t vary much from last year, however. The DNR reported that sales of all deer licenses stood at 774,369 as of midnight Sunday, with 421,525 of those licenses exclusively for gun use. Overall, sales of all deer licenses were down 0.61% from the same time last year.

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