Many Washtenaw County hunters head north for the opening of firearms deer season
Many hunters from Southeast Michigan headed to the northern parts of the state for the opening of firearms deer season this morning, leaving the area’s dense deer population in the clear.
Mary Dettloff, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said many residents from the lower portion of the state head north because of a lack of public hunting lands here.
Hunters took to the woods and fields for opening day of firearms deer season.
Associated Press photo
“The southern part of the state is definitely overpopulated, and a lack of public hunting land is one of the reasons why,” she said. “Other things are that a lot of the land is agricultural land and wooded habitat, and the deer are very at home in the southern part of the state.”
Dettloff estimated there are more than 1 million deer in the southern third of the state, or anywhere south of Clare. This overpopulation causes a number of issues, including many deer-car collisions.
The number of car crashes involving deer is rising, with 6,560 accidents in Southeast Michigan in 2009, up from 6,278 in 2008.
Dettloff said it’s hard to judge how many of the area’s hunters head north, but finding hunting grounds closer to home can prove difficult.
“Unless they own agricultural land or know someone who does to give access, for the most part I would think a lot of hunters downstate would go places further north,” she said, “where they can access further public hunting grounds.”
Washtenaw County-owned parks outlaw both firearm and bow hunting on the premises.
Comments
Rork Kuick
Thu, Nov 18, 2010 : 11:18 a.m.
Excellent question! I do think there is a most famous way to donate dead deer (and other critters) around here: "Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger". http://www.sportsmenagainsthunger.org/ About 33000 lb of deer in 2008-9 it says. I've never studied it hard or heard many stories, but it's not a new thing.
AlphaAlpha
Wed, Nov 17, 2010 : 10:21 p.m.
Is there an organization that will process or otherwise handle donating deer meat to the needy? Who?
Rork Kuick
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 2:40 p.m.
"I was wondering where the gun/hunter haters were" Here I am, sort of. The bow season - beautiful, quiet, not overcrowded, more deer and less disturbed deer, better weather, longer season - is now officially ruined, just at peak rut too. Oh, the inhumanity of it! The upside is I now again have time to volunteer on stewardship efforts on public lands around here. With a full freezer, I feel I owe something. Yet there are very few hunters showing up. It is shameful. We should be the majority at many of these events. If 1 in 100 hunters showed up, we could do great things. If 1 in 10 showed up, we could perform miracles. If nobody shows up, we will have so many alien shrubs out there you won't be able to see 10 yards soon unless we burn the place every few years (and we do some of that). The awesome stewardshipnetwork.org provides one-stop shopping around here, from the big rec areas to tiny parks. Actually, there is little going on until after the gun season - no shock I suppose.
dading dont delete me bro
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 12:15 p.m.
sooo many wrongs being mentioned here... baiting is illegal now. it has been for the past couple seasons. there is a difference between baiting and feeding however. illegal to shoot from an occupied house. i.e. bedroom and kitchen windows. a responsible hunter is aware of beyond the target. i.e. maintaining safety and relations w/citizens. shooting at exactly 6:00am?!? legal shooting hours begin 30 minutes prior to sunrise and end 30 minutes past sunset. i'm no expert on this subject, but it does upset me when others don't follow rules. it gives us responsible hunters a bad name.
Atticus F.
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 10 a.m.
The problem with hunting public land in this area, is that on any given day you are sharing the woods with several other hunters. When I used to hunt public land, I would always encounter 5-6 other hunters through the coarse of the day, walking near my blind, scaring away all the deer.
AlwaysLate
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 9:53 a.m.
In Lodi Township, those of us without access to blinds just shoot out our bedroom or kitchen windows. Much more comfortable that way... The only problem that comes up is when you and the next door neighbor have a deer in a crossfire. If someone misses the deer...well, oops!
Elaine F. Owsley
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 9:42 a.m.
P.S. Yes, I know, he couldn't shoot them here. But if the issue was "seeing" deer, this is the place.
Elaine F. Owsley
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 9:41 a.m.
Our son-in-law inherited his family cabin between Munising and Manistique. They don't bother going up there any more because there just aren't any deer. I invited him to camp out in our back yard - over 20 bed down in the yard next door at night.
Killroy
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 9:37 a.m.
This explains why I ran into a ten pointer and a few hinds at Bird Hills in Ann Arbor. Thanks for scattering them, hunters. Got some great shots (with my camera).
AlwaysLate
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 9:19 a.m.
About two months ago the deer hunters began sprucing up their blinds and setting out their "bait" in Lodi Township. Yesterday, along Scio Church Road (west of Wagner Road) there were so many pick-up trucks parked along the side of the road, it looked like a huge farm auction. Then, exactly at 6:00AM, it sounded like the beaches of Normandy with one tremendous thunderclap of gun fire. I'm not sure if they hit anything...or anybody. But, I warmed myself in the knowledge that if Lodi Township is ever invaded, the invaders don't stand a chance!
dading dont delete me bro
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 9:18 a.m.
45th parallel is around gaylord area. you can clearly hunt w/rifle south of that parallel. http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10363_10913-31537--,00.html
Forever27
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 8:50 a.m.
@Macrabe, rifle hunting is not allowed below the 45th parallel line.
Bob Bethune
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 8:49 a.m.
Just doing rough numbers, when you add up Pinckney Recreation Area, Waterloo Recreation Area, Chelsea State Game Area, Goose Lake recreation area, and Sharonville game area, there are probably about 40,000 acres of public lands within very reasonable driving distance of Ann Arbor. However, that pales in comparison with the huge tracts of land in the northern lower and the UP. Also, for many hunters, the trip up north, especially when it involves setting up a hunt camp, is an important part of the experience. Up north you hunt with a rifle, not a shotgun; you may well hunt from a camp, and so forth. Another factor is that many hunters prefer forest-fed venison as opposed to farm-field-fed venison; one hunter I know says that southern lower venison tastes like beef to him; he wants the taste of deer who've been eating acorn mast, not corn. That being said, the fact is that the bulk of the deer are down here, which does mean that there's very good reasons to seek out private land for hunting, since there's a lot more deer habitat on private land than on public land. Private land leasing for hunting is very active around here. The hunter access program could really stand a boost down here; not very many property owners know about it and it doesn't get used to anything like its potential. Well managed, deer hunting could be a major source of tourist dollars down here, just as it is up north. The future of all hunting, not just deer, ultimately boils down to habitat. The economic and recreational benefits of hunting could be very good to us down here, but only if we protect the good habitat we have and try to improve the marginal habitat we have. That applies not only to dear, but to upland birds and waterfowl as well. Upland birds, such as pheasant, were once a major source of hunting acitivity and economic benefit; habitat changes have all but eliminated upland bird hunting from many areas of Michigan over the past fifty years.
Macabre Sunset
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 8:19 a.m.
I know, dading. Legality is one thing, maintaining safety and relations with citizens is an entirely different matter. If someone's that close to my home with a rifle, that's not safe or courteous. And that's what encourages people to change the laws.
Elaine F. Owsley
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 8:16 a.m.
AlphaAlpha, the closest place to hunt deer can't be far from my Scio Township home since daybreak sounds like World War III. Our small subdivision is overrun with deer so I'm hoping those fellows/girls get their limit.
dading dont delete me bro
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 6:37 a.m.
@macabre, "...as long as they stay a half-mile from any home..." legally, per dnr hunting regulations, hunters only have to be 450 feet from any occupied building. why go upnorth? there are HUGE deer in 'southern' michigan (michigan shotgun zone). i saw more deer yesterday than i've seen in the past 3 seasons combined. i didn't take a shot though.
AlphaAlpha
Tue, Nov 16, 2010 : 6:35 a.m.
Thank you, Edward. It looks like Four Mile aka Fourmile Lake just west of town is the closest in the county. It seems it would be in the best interest of auto insurance companies to sponsor hunting education classes; a small investment in hunting should soon pay dividends through fewer repair claims.
AlphaAlpha
Mon, Nov 15, 2010 : 10:28 p.m.
So, just where is the closest place to A2 to hunt deer?
Epengar
Mon, Nov 15, 2010 : 10:27 p.m.
Rural landowners in the county might want to know about the state's Hunter Access Program. This program pays landowners in the southern half of the lower peninsula to allow public hunting access on their land. Landowners are protected from any accident liability by state law. I don't know how much they pay. More information here http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10363_10913-31674--,00.html or you can contact the DNRE's South Central Management Unit Office in Lansing: 517-641-4903 8562 East Stoll Rd. E. Lansing, MI 48823 Within Washtenaw County, it looks like the only public lands open to deer hunting are the Pinckney State Recreation Area north of Chelsea, and maybe the small Chelsea State Game Area around Four Mile Lake between Chelsea and Dexter. There are some other areas relatively close in Livingston and Jackson Counties. Overpopulation of deer is a real problem in our part of the state. Along with the road safety issue, they are pests for gardeners, and in many parks and other protected areas, their intensive browsing is decreasing populations of native wildflowers. I recently discovered an old UM Museum of Zoology publication about the mammal species of Washtenaw County. It was published in 1922. At that time no deer had been seen in the county at all for many years. The article also has some details about the last times that bears, mountain lions, and maybe wolves were seen in the county. It's freely available from the UM's digital archive, Deep Blue: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/56562
Macabre Sunset
Mon, Nov 15, 2010 : 10:25 p.m.
I was hearing the gunshots today. I'm fine with hunting, though, as long as they stay a half-mile from any home and they stay sober.
David Briegel
Mon, Nov 15, 2010 : 10:23 p.m.
My nephew's a real man. He got his with a bow last week! Ricebrnr, quit lookin' for a fight!
Ricebrnr
Mon, Nov 15, 2010 : 9:27 p.m.
No the hunters are up north. I was wondering where the gun/hunter haters were
Raggety Andy
Mon, Nov 15, 2010 : 9:22 p.m.
Real men hunt with their hands...
lynel
Mon, Nov 15, 2010 : 9:16 p.m.
They're all up North.