MADISON - Mother Nature smiled on the opening of the 2009 Wisconsin nine-day gun deer hunting season Saturday.

Early morning dense fog dampened some areas of the state and prevented hunters from getting out, but most of the fog had cleared by early afternoon and mild temperatures made for unusually pleasant hunting conditions throughout the state.

According to a Department of Natural Resources press release, 626,404 licenses were sold for the nine-day gun deer season. DNR wildlife managers at registration stations reported a large percentage of older bucks, many with good antler development. Numbers picked up later in the day after hunting pressure increased after the fog cleared.

Tom Hauge, director of the DNR's wildlife management program, said many deer appeared to still be in rut (mating season) in many areas of the state.

Among the opening day success stories was a young boy on his first gun deer hunt who bagged a nine-point, 185-pound buck in the northeast region.

In western Kenosha County, DNR Wildlife Technician Paul Hainstock reported that this year was the steadiest it's ever been in the five years he's been working at Paddock Lake. As the area is within the CWD management zone, almost all the early deer registered were antlerless but by midafternoon, Hainstock said more bucks were coming in. Hainstock said hunters had reported seeing three bucks with just one antler and believe it is a genetic abnormality in a portion of the county.

Of the more than 625,000 hunters taking to the woods Saturday were 9,592 10-to-11-year-olds who were participating in this year's hunt under the new Hunting Youth Mentorship program. Nearly one-third of all hunters were under the age of 30, DNR officials said.

Saturday's opener also was high on the safety scale. DNR hunter safety administrator Tim Lawhern reported two shooting incidents Saturday, but neither were fatal.

Lawhern said a male hunter in Grant County was shot just below the buttocks when a nearby hunter was unloading his gun and a hunter in Green County was shot in the thigh.