By Louie Stout

The stellar Michiana deer harvest that ramped up during the bow season has continued and is destined to be the best we’ve seen in six years.

Deer harvest for St. Joseph, LaPorte, Elkhart, Marshall and Kosciusko counties during the firearm season was up 24 percent compared to the five-year average. For the season, this region is up 20 percent.

“There has been an upward trend in those counties for the past five years,” said Moriah Boggess, Indiana deer biologist. “In fact, we’re seeing that trend across northern Indiana.”

Statewide, the harvest is up 6 percent overall and 8 p`ercent during the firearms season.

Through last Wednesday, the statewide harvest was about 4,500 shy of eclipsing last year’s mark with the muzzleloader and special antlerless seasons remaining.

St. Joseph and Elkhart counties have already eclipsed last year’s season harvest by nearly 100 deer, Kosciusko had equaled it while LaPorte and Marshall trailed last year’s total harvest by 70 and 50 deer respectively.

By season’s end, it’s likely that St. Joseph County will experience its biggest overall harvest since 2013.

There has been a substantial increase in antlered bucks harvested as well. Kosciusko County shows an 11 percent increase in bucks taken compared to last year while Elkhart is 10.5, St. Joseph 8, LaPorte 4.5 and Marshall 3.8 percent.

Boggess said that while antlerless bonus permits have been reduced some in northern Indiana, hunters remained pleased.

“Overall, hunter satisfaction has been going up and our opinion surveys indicate those hunters have seen an improvement in the number of quality bucks they encounter while hunting,” noted Boggess.

Those kind of “real-time” harvest statistics are possible because Indiana requires hunters to check in each deer they kill.

Michigan is another matter. That state relies on observations and a voluntary check-in system that was reduced substantially this year due to limited DNR staffing during the covid outbreak.

Even so, it appears as though several nice bucks have been taken in southwest Michigan this season.

“We saw a five percent increase in deer permits sold, and based on what I’m seeing on social media, several mature bucks were taken this season,” said Michigan DNR Biologist Ken Kesson. “We had an abbreviated check-in at Crane Pond this year, but I did see quite a few nice deer.”

Rick Kruger of Pokagon Creek Processors near Niles said he’s seen a tremendous increase in numbers and quality of deer coming through his shop this year. Last season, he did 450 deer; this year, he’ll hit 700.

“We’ve really seen a tremendous increase in weight of deer and horn sizes,” he said. “I suspect the fact that we’ve had relatively mild winters the past two years may have something to do with that.”

Kruger said the bucks have had huge bodies, averaging field-dressed weight of 180 to 200 pounds, and both bucks and does have been averaging about 25 pounds heavier.

Kruger said he’s also noticed deer hunting is becoming a family activity.

“We saw more kids and women bringing deer in this year and that’s awesome to see,” he said. “I think the Covid situation has people worrying about getting meat, or they’re working so much they’re going into the woods to reduce stress and figure that’s a good, safe place to be until this thing blows over.”

A full report on the 2020 deer harvest from both states will be available sometime next spring or summer.