By Louie Stout

Michigan Buck

If you have a lot of hunting friends on social media, you know that the bow season produced a lot of nice bucks.

Will we see the same during the gun season that opened Saturday in Indiana and begins Tuesday in Michigan?

We always do, and that should include a few giant bucks getting knocked down by fortunate hunters.

Based upon mandatory harvest reports compiled by Michigan for the first time this season, there have been nearly 86,800 deer taken in that state through Friday. Buck harvest in border counties included 544 in Berrien, 565 in Cass, 527 in St. Joseph, 668 in Branch and 1,058 in Hillsdale.

In Indiana, 28260 deer have been harvested as of Friday with 11,407 of them being antlered bucks, slightly behind last year’s buck harvest for the same period of time. Northern Indiana border county buck harvests are Lake (157), Porter (157), LaPorte (232), St. Joseph (165), Elkhart (266), LaGrange (336) and Stueben ((350).

Although Indiana hasn’t produced any forecast, here’s what Michigan officials predicted last fall about deer season prospects:

Southern Lower Peninsula 

For yet another year, the winter of 2021 didn’t seem to negatively impact deer in this region. In fact, the southern Lower Peninsula deer herd rarely experiences any overwinter mortality due to the abundance of summer food and the relatively mild winters. The summer of 2022 saw drought-like conditions throughout much of June and July. Despite this weather, crops seem to withstood the conditions and were in great shape.

Deer numbers can vary depending on where you are in the region, but in many locations, numbers are plentiful and with time in the field, most hunters should have opportunities to be successful this year.  Antler growth seems to be fairly average across the region compared to previous years, so while there are some great bucks to be had, if one doesn’t present itself while you are hunting, consider harvesting a doe this year and passing on younger bucks to try and help manage the herd. Your choices will pay off in the future. 

The DNR is continuing to prioritize surveillance for chronic wasting disease in the southern Lower Peninsula. If you harvest a deer in a county where we are conducting surveillance, please consider dropping off your deer’s head at one of the collection stations in the link embedded in the message you receive when you report your harvest.

Northern Lower Peninsula

2021 was quite a year for deer hunters in the northern Lower Peninsula. Despite about a 10% dip in hunter efforts from 2020, the buck harvest increased by about 16%. Hunting should remain in good shape heading into the 2022 season. Winter mortality hasn’t really impacted the herd in the northern Lower for quite some time, and that trend seemed to continue during the winter of 2021. Deer came out of winter in great condition due to the mild weather, and that great condition has led to plentiful reports of does being seen with twin fawns in many areas.

A common theme echoed from reports out of this region is the skewed buck-to-doe ratio many are seeing. Improving this ratio through additional antlerless harvest can improve the number of bucks hunters see each fall, the timing and intensity of the rut, and even the age structure of bucks as efforts are transferred to antlerless deer. It can also help alleviate conflicts associated with high numbers of deer. If you are hunting in an area with a lot of does this year, consider taking an extra antlerless deer to help manage your deer herd.  If you don’t have an immediate outlet for the venison, you can always share your harvest through Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger.  This program allows you to donate your deer to a participating processor, with the resulting venison being delivered to a local food pantry at no cost to the hunter.

Upper Peninsula

The fear throughout the winter was that the long winter with plentiful snow would have an impact on the U.P. deer herd. Based on days with total snow on the ground exceeding 12 inches, it was determined that the winter of 2021 was severe. Fortunately, the fears seemed to exceed reality, and the deer seemed to fare well. While deer numbers remain low in many locations, overall harvest in the U.P. was up a little bit last year, and there is optimism that another minor increase will happen again this year, with the deer currently being observed this summer. To not sugar-coat anything, 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. 

Some hunters expressed concern last year about recently expanded antlerless harvest opportunities throughout much of the southern U.P. and the potential impact on harvest. While we only have one year of data available, it appears that while antlerless harvest did increase in many units, it never increased more than one antlerless deer per square mile in any unit, with most units only increasing their antlerless harvest by about one antlerless deer for every 3 to 4 square miles. There was quite a bit of variability in how this regulation affected management units, but it doesn’t appear to have a limiting population-level effect that some had feared, given the early returns. The same regulation structure is in place for 2022. As a reminder, for Deer Management Units 351 and 352, hunters will need an access permit as well as an antlerless license to participate in firearm antlerless deer hunting in either of those units. Hunters pursuing antlerless deer in the extreme southern part of the U.P. can simply purchase antlerless licenses and go hunting. As always, it’s best to consult our Hunting Digest for more information.