MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said its prediction of the state's deer population was probably too high and that it'll work to be more accurate for next year's deer hunt.

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The nine-day gun deer hunt statewide registered more hunters than last year, but there was a 20 percent drop in the number of deer killed statewide.

The DNR estimated the fall deer population statewide was between 1.5 million to 1.7 million.

Only about 344,000 deer were harvested with just about 125,000 of them bucks.

Some veteran hunters said they didn't even see a deer, much less get one during the hunt.

"We heard from most of our hunters that they saw very few deer," said Jerry Stoddard, owner of Stoddard's County Market. "They've thinned the herd a lot and I think however they're estimating their herd size needs to be re-evaluated."

Tom Hauge, of wildlife management with the DNR, said the projection was probably off because they used the wrong reproduction or "multiplier" figure against last year's total harvest.

"The earlier indications are suggesting that our projections were probably high and that there weren't as many deer out there as we were projecting," Hauge said.

Hauge said last year's harsh winter took a bigger toll than they thought. The DNR said it won't make the same mistake next year.

"We're certainly going to look hard at the data this year and sort of redouble our efforts to make sure were providing the most accurate information possible," Hauge said.

Hauge said the lower than expected hunt numbers might mean certain population goals have been reached and, in turn, some earn-a-buck programs could be canceled next year.