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Taking stock of Michigan’s latest deer harvest
DNR and hunters look to address harvest decline in Upper PeninsulaBy JOHN PEPIN
Deputy public information officer
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
The 2023 firearm deer season is officially complete. Although there are still deer hunting opportunities happening in December, we know most of our 2023 hunter effort is officially in the books.
The license sales and harvest data are mixed throughout the state.
Harvest figures
The reported deer harvest for the entire state is down compared to last year by a total of 11% or almost 30,000 deer. This is certainly significant in the eyes of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and something that is being closely watched. There are many factors that can contribute to the reduction of harvest.
Taking a look at where the highest harvest totals are within Michigan’s 83 counties, it is no surprise that they come in the southern portion of the state. Significantly milder winters and abundance of food from agriculture continue to support high deer density where these conditions exist. Harvest reporting updateThis is just the second year of a required harvest report.The historical method of estimating the deer season harvest would have relied on a random sample of hunters, who were mailed a paper survey, at the end of the deer season. Although that method will be continued to be able to further our understanding of the relationship between the old survey and the new harvest reporting data, the required harvest provides a real-time evaluation between years that has previously not been available. It is too early to tell whether harvest reporting has improved this year compared to last. One of the major changes to the system includes a removal of the required pin drop for harvest location and instead asking hunters to select a township, range, and section from a map grid. The average time to complete a harvest report dropped from 3.7 minutes in 2022 to just 2.9 minutes in 2023. The rate of hunters not reporting their harvest is currently unknown and could add a significant margin of error to the harvest decline. More harvest dataAll 15 U.P. counties have recorded individual drops (all deer seasons) below 2022. Those declines range from 10.9% in Mackinac County to more than 40% in Gogebic (40.6%), Marquette (40.1%) and Ontonagon (42.2%) counties. Six counties in the U.P. reported declines greater than 35%.The reported Michigan statewide harvest during the firearm deer season statewide decreased by 11.9%. Other Great Lakes states, including Wisconsin (-17.6%) and Minnesota (-7.4%) have also recorded harvest percentage declines during their gun deer seasons. When reviewing the preliminary data available through Dec. 5 from the Midwest, the northern states appear to have very similar reductions in harvest. ReactionHunters in the U.P. have expressed a great deal of anger, frustration and concern with the low reported deer harvest this year.The Michigan Department of Natural Resources hears, appreciates and empathizes with those reactions, as DNR wildlife managers are also concerned with the reported harvest numbers. |
Deer numbers remain low in many locations, especially along the Lake Superior shoreline and in the western counties and even some locations in the eastern U.P., which will again temper expectations of overall harvest in the U.P. The southern portions of the U.P., including parts of Menominee, Delta and even Dickinson counties, seem to have consistent deer numbers, and another good year is anticipated for those areas. But to be clear, there will be places in the U.P. where deer densities remain low, and hunting efforts in some of these locations will prove extremely challenging. Even in those three counties predicted to have good harvest numbers, Menominee, Delta and Dickinson counties posted declines of 18.2%, 20.7% and 26% respectively. To effect positive change, hunters, wildlife managers, landowners, foresters and others need to work together cooperatively, each doing what they can to help, given their own limitations. We’ve been here before. In 2015, the buck harvest in the U.P. bottomed out at an estimated 17,000. Two years later in 2017, buck harvest in the U.P. eclipsed 30,000. The deer herd will come back. The DNR has maintained many conservative deer management recommendations since 2015. There is no reason to think that the herd won’t bounce back in a few years, barring unforeseen severe winter weather. |
