Over the last few years, around 700,000 individuals have purchased a license to hunt deer in Michigan. These hunters ultimately spend more than 9.6 million days afield and take
more than 400,000 deer. Over 300,000 hunters participate in Michigan’s archery season, about 600,000 hunt with a firearm and 200,000 with a muzzleloader. Although surveys
show that the leading reasons many individuals participate in deer hunting is simply the opportunity to spend time outdoors with friends and family, harvesting a deer is still very
important to many deer hunters. No amount of hunting guarantees a harvest, but preparation and hard work are keys to producing the best chance to see and take deer, or
to mentor a new hunter through a safe and enjoyable season.
The 2012 deer season is expected to be a successful year for many hunters, and as always, will certainly offer the exciting challenge we call ‘hunting’.
Part of hunting preparations each year includes becoming familiar with the most recent regulations. The deer website of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and a collaborative website with the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University provide highlights of regulations changes, information about deer management,
and links to additional resources, such as a list of deer check stations. These sites are located at www.michigan.gov/deer and http://deer.fw.msu.edu. Please refer to the 2012 Hunting and Trapping Digest and Antlerless Digest, available at DNR Operations Service Centers, license vendors, or available in electronic formats through links at these sites, for a map of all Deer Management Units (DMUs) and other regulations details.
For the 2012 season, the days open for hunting deer in September were reduced. The early antlerless firearm deer season (open only on private lands in select areas within the
Lower Peninsula) was reduced from 5 days to 2, and the season was held on the same weekend as the statewide youth and 100% disabled hunt. These seasons ran from
November 2012 — bar 2 September 22−23, 2012. The youth early antlerless firearm season that was held in southern Michigan in September 2011 was eliminated this year, though increased emphasis on youth mentoring opportunities and discounted licenses were made available through the new Mentored Youth Hunting Program.
Overall deer activity tends to be highest a few weeks prior to breeding. The peak of breeding activity for Michigan deer generally occurs just prior to the opening of the firearm deer season. These peak breeding dates are earliest in the southern Lower Peninsula, except that many does in the region that were born just this spring will already conceive their first fawns this year. Those breeding events for young does often occur a month or more later than they do for older deer, often not until mid-December. Hunters often seek to take advantage of these times of high deer movements, so archery hunting activity is often highest in late October and early November, followed by the busiest deer hunting day of the year — the opening of the firearm season. In southern Michigan, another late period of deer activity can occur several weeks prior to the late breeding events among young does, which can coincide with the end of the firearm season.
As of mid to late October 2012
, the number of deer brought to check stations was down slightly compared to the same point last season, which was expected due to the reduced number of days open for deer hunting in September and poor weather conditions throughout much of the state during the first few weeks of archery season. The number of individuals that had purchased deer licenses was up slightly (about 4%) compared to 2011, though this may not reflect final hunter numbers for the season, as a sharp rise in license sales occurs annually just prior to the opening of firearm season. The season appears to be progressing well overall, though noticeably fewer deer are being seen in some areas of Michigan heavily hit by an outbreak of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD), which has emerged in widespread areas throughout many Midwest States this year.
What to Expect Across the State
Hunting success and hunter satisfaction increased in the 2011 season across the state, though regional increases occurred only in the Upper Peninsula (UP) and northern Lower
Peninsula (NLP). With three mild winters in a row and generally good past mast crop production, deer numbers across most of these northern regions have increased over the
last three years. Many areas in these regions are forecasted to offer increased sightings and successful hunts this year. However, there are always exceptions in some areas that
experience local population decreases. While hunters in northern regions are often used to observing sudden drops in deer populations following severe winters, some local areas in
the southern Lower Peninsula (SLP) will see lower than usual deer populations during the 2012 season due to the EHD outbreak being most pronounced in this region. Information
regarding expectations in each region is found below.
Upper Peninsula
The winter of 2011−12 was quite mild, and offered deer very favorable conditions for survival and spring fawn production. This was the third consecutive mild winter, allowing
the deer herd to continue its rebound from the harsh winters of 2007 and 2008. Due to November 2012 — bar 3 these conditions and the resulting increase in deer numbers, antlerless permits were increased this year, and some areas previously closed to antlerless hunting are open.
Antlerless permits were made available in Deer Management Units 022 (Crystal Falls), 031 (Nisula), 036 (Amasa/ Michigamme), 055 (Menominee), 117 (Drummond), 121 (Bay De
Noc), 122 (Norway), 152 (Gwinn), 155 (Gladstone), 252 (Rock), 255 (LaBranche). Buck hunting opportunities should also be good this year. The recent mild winters should
lead to increased availability of yearling and 2 ½ year old bucks this fall, and in general, more bucks have been seen so far. However, local areas are influenced differently by factors that affect numbers of deer, deer condition, and sightings at a smaller scale. Body size and antler development is typically best within agricultural areas, but nice bucks are also taken from forested areas where access is limited and they have an opportunity to grow older. More deer tend to be found in the southern UP near Lake Michigan, with fewer in the northern UP near Lake Superior. The production of mast (fruit and nuts) in the UP appears to be limited this year due to the drought conditions from this past summer. This will make scouting all that much more important. Hunters will have to invest more time to find areas that may be producing mast or different areas that deer are targeting due to the lack of mast production.
Northern Lower Peninsula
The deer population in much of the NLP is expected to be higher than last year. With three mild winters in a row, deer numbers have rebounded since the harsh winters of 2007 and
2008. Due to the increase in the population, some areas previously closed to antlerless hunting will be open this year. These include DMU 016 (Cheboygan), 069 (Otsego) and 072 (Roscommon), where antlerless licenses were made available for both public and private land. DMU 040 (Kalkaska) is also open this year for private land antlerless licenses only. However, in spite of more areas being open, the overall number of available antlerless deer licenses has decreased. This is primarily due a reduction in the eastern NLP multi-unit area DMU 487. The quota was reduced to a level closer to past demand for licenses. This will not affect the overall management goal of the area, which is to eradicate bovine tuberculosis (TB).
Mast production (fruits and nuts) is reportedly variable throughout the region. Despite poor conditions in much of the state, some NLP areas have reported good production of acorns
and apples. Deer should be expected to frequent these areas, so scouting to find these locations will be important. The outbreak of EHD has affected deer in some areas of the NLP; fewer locations have been reported and have generally involved lower deer mortality levels in comparison to locations in the SLP. Consult the map and reporting figures available under the EHD section at www.michigan.gov.emergingdiseases to identify NLP areas that have been affected by EHD.
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