New data from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources shows the number of deer harvested during the firearm season declined slightly from 2023.
Michigan's hunters harvested 134,714 deer over the November firearms period. That's 2,360 less than the 137,074 deer that were culled in 2023. Moreover, antlerless deer were culled less this year. 49,409 were culled this year and 51,761 were culled last year during firearm season.
“I think a lot of what we're seeing this year is similar to the trends that we've seen in the past,” said Chad Stewart, a deer specialist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
“Harvest numbers are down a little bit in the Lower Peninsula, and up about 14% in the Upper Peninsula,” he said. “Our Lower Peninsula harvest really needs to increase. We need to see a lot more antlerless deer harvested, especially in our southern half of our Lower Peninsula.”
Environmental officials in Michigan have been working to control the booming deer population. Over two million deer live in the state. The state has extended hunting season for antlerless deer in the Lower Peninsula. They hope to encourage hunters to kill doe, which repopulate at a quick rate.
“We’ve tried lots of different things,” Stewart said of the state’s efforts. “Field-to-table type events to try to recruit older onset hunters to try to get them involved. We've tried various youth events to try to get them into hunting…we've got specialized youth seasons,” he said.
Despite the efforts, Michigan is seeing a decrease in hunters. This is a problem, Stewart says, because the state needs hunters to help cull the deer population.
"There's going to be a new normal with fewer hunters on the landscape compared to what was experienced. Ten, and 20 and 30 years ago, there's just sort of a societal shift that's occurred. It's not as popular today as it what it was years ago. "
Despite that, Stewart says there was a slight increase in overall deer hunting license purchases compared to 2023.
Sanilac, Newaygo, Montcalm, Menominee, and Jackson counties harvested the most deer this year respectively. The same five counties were the top five last year. Stewart attributed that to the habitat of those counties.
“Counties where there's a really good mix of woods and fields and, and mild winters. And in each one of those cases, you have what fits the bill for really good deer populations.”
