Annual gun deer season holds special significance for local man

by Beth Kraft

Bob Parr hasn’t gone deer hunting since he was 23 years old. He doesn’t eat venison, either, and yet he hasn’t missed opening morning of gun deer season in over 35 years.

Instead of heading out to a tree stand or joining in on a deer drive, Parr sets up camp outside Joe’s Shop Kwik, Mondovi’s designated deer registration station, and helps tag deer for hunters during the opening weekend of Wisconsin’s gun deer season.

“I’ve never missed a weekend,” says Parr, a rural Mondovi resident. “My boys were about four or five when we started.”

Now Parr’s grandsons often pitch in alongside their grandpa, crawling in and out of truck beds and trailers to tag hunters’ bucks and does.

Family friend Jenna Fink, another local resident, just spent her 21st opening weekend assisting Parr and company with deer-tagging tasks.

The group had a little more time on their hands this year, as Mondovi-area hunters saw slightly lower harvest numbers during that two-day span than in years past. Hunters tagged a total of 561 deer through the opening weekend, down 73 deer from last year.

For the nine-day season, area hunters brought a total of 1,257 deer to register in Mondovi, down nearly 160 deer from 2013, with 528 bucks and 729 antlerless deer registered through early Monday afternoon.

Hunters had until 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 1, to register deer from the gun deer season.

Based on statewide opening weekend numbers, the total season gun deer kill could be fairly anemic this year.

Wisconsin hunters harvested just over 90,000 deer on opening weekend, down 18 percent from 2013, according to a DNR preliminary harvest report. That two-day total is estimated to be the lowest in over 10 years, based on available DNR data that dates back to 2002. Hunters took just over 120,000 deer that season.

Wildlife officials have pointed to a lower deer population in northern Wisconsin, fewer available antlerless permits, and sub-par weather on opening weekend as possible factors that could explain the harvest skid.

Yet to some, the measure of success during the state’s iconic gun deer season doesn’t hinge on filling a tag.

Parr says he and Fink meet up for breakfast on opening morning every year before grabbing their lawn chairs and warm clothing to settle in for the day outside Joe’s Shop Kwik overlooking the corner of Main and Franklin.

It’s become an annual tradition—and Parr isn’t really sure how it started.

He says he was simply asked to help out one year and just kept coming back.

“It’s been ever since that,” says Parr, noting it’s fun to visit with all of the hunters, DNR officials and Shop Kwik staff on opening weekend.

“You meet the greatest people ever hunting,” he said. “They always have a story.

“Every year is different,” added Parr, recalling warm years, seasons with subzero temperatures and everything in between.

“We used to sit underneath the [awning over the gas pumps] it rained so hard,” he remembered.

There were even times when so many hunters brought in deer that he had to walk as far away as the street in front of the Mondovi Post Office or the Central Lutheran Church parking lot to tag them.

Fewer people hunt now, so those days of streets and parking lots jam-packed with vehicles waiting to register deer are probably in the past, says Parr, but even modern-day gun hunting has its busy times.

The deer-tagging crew usually sees a steady string of hunters bringing deer in around the late morning/noon hour, but nothing compares to the evening rush that hits right around 6 p.m.

“It’s just the biggest family reunion you’ve ever seen,” says Parr. 

Volunteering to tag deer is a great way for a social, non-hunter like Parr to remain a part of hunting traditions without shooting a bow or gun. However, a new proposal by the DNR could potentially curb the camaraderie with the hunting community that Parr craves.

A new pilot e-registration program kicked off in Wisconsin this year, allowing a select number of hunters to register their deer online. The DNR intends to open the online deer registration option to all hunters in 2015, meaning many local hunters may opt to skip the traditional step of in-person registration at places like Joe’s Shop Kwik.

In the meantime, Parr has no plans to alter his annual gun deer season ritual of visiting with local hunters and swapping stories.

“I get to see people I only see once a year—you meet up with all your old friends,” he said. “It’s fun to help.”