Michigan’s New Hunting Season a Success for Deer Management – 97.9 WGRD

I grew up in a family of hunters. My uncle’s man cave was something to behold with many of the deer and geese he’d shot hanging up along the walls. This was his favorite time of year and would always come back with a freezer’s worth of venisonThis year’s hunting season was different, however, because the DNR added a new extended late antlerless firearm season that ran from January 2nd to the 15th, a short two-week season but one that proved to be a busy one for hunters. Here how’s the experimental season went.These two weeks were short but made a huge impact on the deer population. While two extra weeks doesn’t sound like a lot of time, hunters took advantage of the extra time. Hunters were able to purchase a $5 license and bag up to 10 deer. In the two weeks, hunters added a whopping 13,269 deer to the overall total, bringing the 2024 deer total to 299, 113.By all measures, this extra season can be considered a success in helping curb the deer population. 2023’s totals came to 274,282. Prior to the extended late season, 2024’s total was 285,844. Pretty close totals, but the extended late brought the difference to +24,831.  Specifically looking at antlerless numbers, 118,633 in 2023 and 141,893 in 2024.It will be interesting to see how effective this new season is in the long term. You can view the DNR’s entire Harvest Report Summary here.Gallery Credit: UnsplashGallery Credit: Lauren Gordon

Source: https://wgrd.com/michigan-late-antlerless-season-2025/