some of the laws that have changed in the time you have been hunting.

for WI I started hunting in 1990
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shotgun & handgun only to Rifle
about half the state was shotgun & handgun only , I think 2009 and 2013 first more , then all of the state went rifle , except that individual town ships can stay shotgun & handgun only muzzle loaders also allowed during gun and muzzle loader season.

as far as I know it is up to the township to enforce these ordinances them selves.

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Deer transport
in 1990 you had to keep your deer exposed until registered

by 2016 when my youngest took hunters education they were saying hide it , I looked in the regs and sure enough the requirement to keep it exposed to plain sight was gone
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caliber restriction
it is now "reasonable equipment " meaning if you make it work even if it is 17hmr it worked and is reasonable , if you use 22lr and it doesn't work , you got a ticket coming your way

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online registration
we used to have to register in person now almost everything is online or by phone if your don't internet.
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back tags
we used to have to wear back tags they were colored different by year , then they stopped changing colors , then a few years later no back tag required
they were a pain if you changed coats you had to switch your tag , you had to poke a hole in your coat for the backtag holder
if you hunted in the rain it was a special treat.
so glad those went away.

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unloading to cross a road
I can not find it in the regs anywhere that there is a requirement now in the last several years.
this was preached at us in 1990
my hunting buddy is like , no they said absolutely not in hunters ed , but that was when we took it in 1990
I don't recall it in the kids hunters ed I think they just quietly took it out of the regs when they realized it is a constitutional violation
it is your god given right to keep a loaded gun on your person so long as you are not traveling in a car and then it is still your god given right to have a loaded handgun on you while in the car. just not loaded long guns.


I did find it , not in the regs but in the state statutes, so long as you are not transporting a loaded long gun , or placing it IN a vehicle you may possess a loaded gun withing 50 feet of the center line of the road , you may not discharge it if the road is paved.
you may place a loaded gun ON a stationary vehicle.
this was an issue people would get back to their truck and need to free up their hands from what they were carrying and lean the gun up against the truck or on the tailgate
they made that no longer a thing , you can place on or against a stationary vehicle and it may even be running so long as it is stationary

just not IN unless unloaded.
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more than one gun when mentoring a youth hunter.
when they first came out with mentored hunting they said ONLY one gun between the 2 of you
the legislature voted in 2016 to change that and now you may both carry a gun
part of what the DNR was saying prior to the change was not even a handgun on the adult
I think that pushed too far
again your got given right to carry a loaded gun.
wolves , bear , mt lion and hunter killers have all been real things even if seldom
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cross bows
in 1990 you had to have a class disability permit A or B
then in about 2006
they said if you are over 62
then in about 2012 they made it anyone can use a cross bow

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Air guns , this just changed last year or the year before
you can now use a high powered air gun to hunt deer and to party hunt deer in WI.

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Ground blinds
need 144sq inches of orange on public land and north of Highway 64 may be left overnight so long as clearly marked with name and address OR customer number.

how ever if you get there in the morning and a guy is hunting your blind , you can climb in and make friends with him but you can't kick him out . you can take down your blind and move it.

In Mo, '72: When I came home from the service Deer were kind of a novelty. If farmer Joe Blow saw a Deer out back it make the local paper. Deer season was 2 3day weekends, Bucks only. After a while it became 2 weekends and the week between, then you were allowed to shoot a Doe on 1 day, the 2nd weekend, then the whole weekend, then it was the first weekend, then you could shoot either sex with an "Any Deer Tag. Now Your allowed to shoot all the does you want, but only 1 Buck per season.

WI you could kill a bear in archery season with your bow license. No special or extra tag. Not sure when it changed.

Praise be no noise bag tags rubbing on trees, hanging up in thickets, etc.
No in person registration, thankfully, hated having to go to a bar or gas station.

Amen on the back tags , crawl through a thicket to have to crawl back in and find your tag if it came off.

same with ear tags , I shot a buck in 2001 drug it out got almost to the road and realize the tag had ripped off , I had tied it on
I had to go back and find it and tie it on again. I got lucky it was only about 30 yards back where I crossed a creek
and I had drug enough of a trail it was easy to back track.

way back if you lost your tag there wasn't even a way to get a reprint , you bought a new tag.
when they went to the printers you could get a reprint for 12 dollars but at least you could get a reprint with your doe tag.