Firearms deer hunters in Wisconsin bagged 226,260 deer, up 3.6 percent from 2010, according to preliminary harvest results. And officials said it was the second safest season on record. The tally showed hunters harvested 102,837 bucks and 123,423 antlerless deer -- both higher than last year. There were six hunting incidents, but no fatalities, during the nine-day deer gun season. "Overall participation was good. We had a 3.6 percent increase in deer harvested compared to 2010 and the reports that we've been getting in from the field are that in many parts of the state hunters saw more deer," Tom Hauge, DNR wildlife director, said in a statement. "That said, we do know that not everyone got a deer this year, or saw a deer. The herd in parts of the state is still rebounding and that even within counties with higher harvests, deer aren't distributed evenly." "Harvests suggest that deer herds are increasing in some of the units where deer numbers were previously below goal," Hauge said. "We also saw an increase in buck harvest in the CWD zone with the new provision this year allowing hunters to shoot a buck first before having to go to earn-a-buck rules for a second buck in the zone. This was a popular change among hunters I've heard from." "As far as hunting conditions and deer observations, we will be interested in seeing the data hunters provided on their registration stubs," added Hauge. "We know broadly what weather conditions were like, but data from individual hunters in the field provides a much more personal and localized perspective. We will summarize these finding along with the harvest totals in February" The nine-day harvest numbers don't include harvest from the archery, October antlerless gun deer hunt, muzzleloader, December antlerless deer gun hunt or late archery seasons.