Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RALPH ANSAMI
As expected, both the number of deer hunters and deer killed are down for the first few days of the Upper Peninsula deer-gun season.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources staff members said Sunday’s opening day was improved in some parts of the U.P. over last year, but that was mainly because 3 to 4 feet of snow crippled hunters last November.
On Wednesday morning, hunters in the Ironwood area were greeted with temperatures in the mid 50s, heavy rain and strong wind, a triple dose of bad hunting conditions.
At the Marquette DNR check station, one deer was checked on opening day last November. This year, the station checked six, closer to the 10-year average of 10 deer brought in on opening day.
“Last year, we didn’t really have a deer season here at Marquette,” said DNR wildlife technician Bill Rollo. “That deep snow shut things down in a lot of areas. Even if we have a poor season this year, it will be better than last year.”
Last November, firearm deer hunters in the U.P. harvested 14,734 bucks and 1,574 antlerless deer for a total of 16,338, down 38 percent from 2013.
After three consecutive severe winters in the region, MDNR biologists said hunters this season should expect to see fewer deer in the U.P., especially in the 1½- and 2 ½-year-old age classes.
Numbers of deer checked Sunday at stations across the U.P. varied from nine at Escanaba to three at Crystal Falls and one each at Baraga and Shingleton.
Michigan does not require registration of deer and the DNR estimates kill numbers.
At Escanaba, the nine deer checked was the same number as in 2014 on opening day.
“The quality of the bucks may have been slightly better than opening day last year,” said DNR wildlife biologist Dusty Arsnoe.
“The number of bucks checked in the western U.P. is similar to last year, and most bucks checked so far have been 2 ½ and 3 ½ years old or older,” said DNR wildlife biologist David Jentoft.
Wisconsin to begin
Wisconsin’s nine-day gun-deer season opens Saturday.
The biggest change is hunters’ deer registration will be entirely paperless, and can be completed by phone or over the Internet. Hunters can register deer online through gamereg.wi.gov or by phone at 844-426-3734.
Twelve county deer management units, including Iron County, are designated as buck-only this season.