About the Harvest Dashboards
Historic harvest data of four game species, deer, bear, turkey, and elk can be viewed on each of the tabs across the top of this page. The data for the current license year will be updated after the license year is complete. Deer, bear, and turkey are represented by Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) while elk is represented by Elk Hunt Zone.
Tips and Tricks
- When viewing the pages on a desktop, each element can be expanded by selecting the Expand icon in the upper right corner of the element. This will allow you to view the element on the entire screen.
- Most species’ maps have multiple layers that can be displayed on the map. Each layer will change based off of the license year selected in the upper right corner of the page. If you wish to view another layer on the map, select the Layer icon in the upper right corner of the map.
- Clicking a WMU or Elk Hunt Zone on the map will bring up a pop-up with additional information on the harvests in that WMU or Elk Hunt Zone.
- Clicking on a row in the ‘Top 10 WMUs’ or ‘Top 10 Elk Hunt Zones’ table will Highlight and zoom to that WMU or Elk Hunt Zone on the map.
Map Layers
Deer, bear, and elk have multiple layers that can be viewed in the map. Deer and bear are represented by WMU while elk is represented by Elk Hunt Zone. Deer and bear layers are normalized by the area, in square miles, of the WMU. The harvest data are normalized so it is easier to compare across WMUs, which vary in size or area. Deer is represented by number of deer harvested per one square mile while bear is represented by number of bears harvested per 100 square miles. The layers within the elk map are the total reported harvests within each elk hunt zone; data are not normalized.
Turkey has one layer that can be viewed on the map. The turkey harvest data is represented by number of turkeys harvested per 100 hunter days. That layer is the best way to depict the harvest trends in each WMU.
How Harvests are Estimated
Reported vs Estimated Harvests
Some species, such as bear and elk, have check stations where each harvest is reported. Bear and elk are represented as ‘reported’ harvest because of the check stations. Other species, such as turkey and deer, do not have check stations so annual harvests must be estimated.
Estimated Deer Harvests
Annual deer harvested in each WMU are estimated using reported harvest in combination with estimated reporting rates from field-checked deer.
Estimated Turkey Harvests
Annual turkeys harvested statewide are estimated from the annual Spring Turkey Hunter Survey and the Mentored Youth Turkey Hunter Survey for the spring season and from the annual Game Take Survey for the fall season. Harvests by WMU are calculated as the proportion of statewide estimate according to the proportions in the reported harvest in each WMU.
Annual Reports
Due to some harvests being reported with unknown sex or unknown WMUs, the numbers on this dashboard could be slightly different then the numbers reported in the annual report for each species. Please use the annual report for the final number harvested each year. Reports for each species can be found by searching on the following link.