Door County, Wisconsin: deer harvest and public hunting land
Door County is its own deer management unit, 488 square miles around Sturgeon Bay. Hunters registered 4,302 deer here in 2025, 1,979 of them bucks, by the DNR's Deer Metrics. That is up 2% from 2024. 6.6% of Door County is public land open to the public, the largest share state wildlife areas, forests and other DNR land (17,240 acres), by USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee land open to the public).
Data updated October 2026. Harvest: DNR Deer Metrics. Land: PAD-US 4.1, the DNR's managed lands and VPA layers.
State wildlife areas, forests and other DNR landCounty forestNational wildlife refuges and waterfowl production areasOther county, city and regional landLand trusts and other open landDoor CountyNeighboring deer management unitsLakeHighway
| Counties | Door County |
|---|---|
| Size | 312,403 acres (488 square miles) |
| Deer registered, 2025 | 4,302 (1,979 bucks, 2,323 antlerless) |
| Yearly average, 2016 to 2025 | 4,270 deer |
| Public land | 6.6% (20,728 acres) |
| Properties | 20 (14,935 acres inside Door County) |
| Voluntary Public Access land | None mapped this year |
| Towns in and near it | Sturgeon Bay, Ephraim, Sister Bay, Algoma, Marinette and Casco |
How many deer are harvested in Door County?
The DNR registered 4,302 deer in Door County in 2025: 1,979 bucks and 2,323 antlerless deer, 54% of the harvest antlerless. Over the 10 years shown, the harvest averaged 4,270 deer a year; the most bucks were registered in 2017 (2,064).
| Year | Deer registered | Bucks | Antlerless | Antlerless share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 4,302 | 1,979 | 2,323 | 54% |
| 2024 | 4,225 | 1,957 | 2,268 | 54% |
| 2023 | 3,793 | 1,727 | 2,066 | 54% |
| 2022 | 3,846 | 1,736 | 2,110 | 55% |
| 2021 | 3,940 | 1,766 | 2,174 | 55% |
| 2020 | 4,166 | 1,704 | 2,462 | 59% |
| 2019 | 4,047 | 1,656 | 2,391 | 59% |
| 2018 | 4,791 | 1,947 | 2,844 | 59% |
| 2017 | 5,264 | 2,064 | 3,200 | 61% |
| 2016 | 4,328 | 1,900 | 2,428 | 56% |
Source: Wisconsin DNR Deer Metrics, harvest history for Door County. Deer registered is the DNR's buck and antlerless harvest added together. The DNR's Deer Metrics shows every year back to 1960 for most counties.
How much public land is in Door County?
20,728 of Door County's 312,403 acres are public land open to the public (6.6%). The biggest share is state wildlife areas, forests and other DNR land: 17,240 acres.
| Manager | Acres | Share of Door County |
|---|---|---|
| State wildlife areas, forests and other DNR land | 17,240 | 5.5% |
| Land trusts and other open land | 2,719 | 0.9% |
| National wildlife refuges and waterfowl production areas | 464 | 0.1% |
| Other county, city and regional land | 181 | 0.1% |
| State parks | 115 | under 0.1% |
| Other federal land | 9 | under 0.1% |
| All public land open to the public | 20,728 | 6.6% |
Measured by FilledTag inside the DNR's boundary from USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee land open to the public). Hunting rules differ by manager: DNR wildlife areas and state forests are open to hunting unless posted; county forests are open to hunting in most cases (check the county forest's rules); national forest land is open in season; refuges follow U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rules; state parks allow hunting only in listed seasons and areas; national park land is closed to hunting.
DNR properties in Door County
DNR properties in Door County, largest first, with the acres of each inside it:
- Peninsula State Park: 3,670 acres
- Newport State Park: 2,450 acres
- Mud Lake Wildlife Area-Door: 2,434 acres
- Gardner Swamp Wildlife Area: 1,163 acres
- Potawatomi State Park: 1,095 acres
- Rock Island State Park: 957 acres
- Whitefish Dunes State Park: 865 acres
- Baileys Harbor Boreal Forest & Wetlands State Natural Area: 616 acres
- Cave Point-Clay Banks State Natural Area: 473 acres
- Big And Little Marsh State Natural Area: 326 acres
- Baileys Harbor Boreal Forest & Wetlands - Jonathan Ela Unit: 208 acres
- Coffey Swamp State Natural Area: 191 acres
- Ahnapee State Trail: 173 acres
- Moonlight Bay Bedrock Beach State Natural Area: 101 acres
- Thorp Pond State Natural Area: 80 acres
- Strawberry Creek State Habitat Area: 74 acres
- Grand Traverse Island State Park: 26 acres
- Big Creek State Habitat Area: 18 acres
- George K. Pinney State Public Access: 9 acres
- Strawberry Creek State Hatchery: 6 acres
Other large public areas here, by PAD-US: Mink River Estuary (2,056 acres), North Bay (1,632 acres), Shivering Sands Wetland Complex (718 acres), Natural Area (575 acres), Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge (445 acres) and Kangaroo Lake (420 acres).
How do you get to Door County?
Highways through it: WI 57 (about 75 miles inside) and WI 42 (about 66 miles inside). Towns inside: Sturgeon Bay, Ephraim, Sister Bay, Egg Harbor, Forestville and Ellison Bay. Nearby: Algoma (5 miles), Marinette (6 miles), Casco (8 miles) and Luxemburg (9 miles).
Which deer management units border Door County?
Door County touches one other deer management unit. Their latest DNR harvest and public land, for comparison:
| DMU | Deer harvested | Year | Public land | Voluntary Public Access land sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kewaunee County | 3,110 | 2025 | 1.6% | 1 |
Questions hunters ask
How many deer were harvested in Door County in 2025?
4,302 deer were registered: 1,979 bucks and 2,323 antlerless deer (DNR Deer Metrics). In 2024: 4,225.
Is there public hunting land in Door County?
Yes. 20,728 acres, 6.6% of the unit, are public land open to the public by PAD-US 4.1, the largest share state wildlife areas, forests and other DNR land (17,240 acres). The DNR's map shows 20 DNR properties open to hunting here.
Does Door County have VPA land?
Not on the DNR's 2026 lease map.
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Where these numbers come from
- Deer harvest: Wisconsin DNR Deer Metrics (registered harvest by deer management unit).
- Public land: USGS PAD-US 4.1 (fee land open to the public). DNR properties: Wisconsin DNR managed lands open to hunting. Voluntary Public Access land: Wisconsin DNR Voluntary Public Access and Turkey Hunting Program lands.
- Boundaries: Wisconsin DNR deer management units. Highways and towns: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 primary and secondary roads; U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer, places.
FilledTag is not part of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Numbers are copied from the DNR and the federal sources above, or measured from their maps; nothing on this page is estimated by FilledTag.