No Upper Peninsula deer season an option for smaller herd

[Horizontal Hunter]

ST. IGNACE, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's Department of Natural Resources is considering, among several things, canceling the fall deer hunting season in the Upper Peninsula as a response to a smaller deer population.

The Natural Resources Commission will listen to DNR staff at a May 7 meeting, although no decision will be made at that time.

In December, state biologists estimated that the harvest was down as much as 40 percent across the Upper Peninsula. Some places had 40 inches of snow by mid-November, and recent winters have been extreme.

"I hope it doesn't come to that, and I don't think it will come to that," deer management specialist Chad Stewart said of canceling the 2015 season.

"It's simply an option to show the most extreme level of protection that we can provide the deer," he told WPBN-WTOM (http://bit.ly/1JWBiWn ).

Stewart said the number of deer killed in the Upper Peninsula last year was one of the lowest in 30 years. Other options for the DNR include restricting the killing of does.

Hunting gives a big lift to the economy north of the Mackinac Bridge. Some young hunters skip school on Nov. 15, opening day. A character in the 2001 comedy about Michigan hunters, "Escanaba in Da Moonlight," says opening day is "like Christmas with guns."



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http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/sport ... 235640.php

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[Dewey]

Wow I know it's tough up there but cancelling the season is pretty extreme.

One buck only using any method seems more reasonable.

[Horizontal Hunter]

In a related article:

Upper Peninsula running low on deer
By PETER PAYETTE • 4 HOURS AGO
SHARETwitter Facebook Google+ Email

CREDIT KEN BOSMA
The deer herd in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is so depleted the state is even talking about closing the firearm season this year. It’s just one option listed in a report to the Natural Resources Commission about possible responses to the situation.

Wildlife biologists estimate the population of deer in the UP is at its lowest level in 30 years. Extremely cold winters, particularly in 2014, are to blame, according to the report.

Ray Lyon does not expect the state will stop hunting in the UP altogether. Lyon is a bow hunter who lives in Traverse City and has hunted in the UP for more than 20 years. He’s also been involved in crafting management policy through his involvement with Michigan Bow Hunters.

He has confidence biologists can rebuild the population.

“If we let them do their jobs then we’ll be good,” he says.

Scientific considerations are not the only ones weighed when managing deer. Insurance companies have a stake because a larger deer herd means more car accidents. Deer graze farm fields and hunting organizations sometimes prefer certain management priorities like more big bucks.

Any change to reverse the decline in the UP will be complicated as many hunters already have purchased licenses that are valid in 2015. It would be confusing because the amended rules would be different than those for hunting below the Mackinac Bridge.

And the Upper Peninsula doesn’t need another drag on tourism.

Read more:
http://interlochenpublicradio.org/post/ ... g-low-deer

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[Rutnstrut]

I really wish the WI DNR would consider options like this in the north. However money and not the wellness of the deer herd is what motivates our DNR.

[turflord]

My family had land in iron county from 1913 to about 2000 and no winter did as much damage to the deer as the wolfs....

[Uncle Lou]

What I truly don't understand (I'm not even being sarcastic right now), is that if a deer is going to die in the winter, or a certain percentage of them and by whatever means (predation, car, severe winter), why can't we stick them in our freezers in the fall before they die anyway. Wouldn't this be a win-win-win. The state gets their money, we get to go hunting, and less deer for the wolves to eat (maybe some of them can die from a tough winter).

I always thought hunting season was to thin the heard before winter as there is less food in their environment in winter.

And this is all very much about wolves, I agree turflord