DNR Reports 2014 Deer Hunting Harvest Down Across Michigan

By Vanessa Torres

Several factors added to decline; wildlife managers working on improvements

Michigan -(Ammoland.com)- The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently issued a Michigan Deer Harvest Survey Report on the 2014 deer hunting seasons indicating that roughly 615,000 hunters statewide harvested a total of roughly 329,000 deer.

The harvest represents a drop of 15 percent from 2013.

Wildlife managers report that regional declines in deer harvest were greatest in the Upper Peninsula, where the overall harvest was down by nearly 36 percent.

The DNR said several factors – including back-to-back years of severe winter weather that depleted the deer population in some parts of the state – contributed to the decline.

Snow, snow and more snow
“In the Upper Peninsula, winter started early with more than 3 feet of snow on the ground in some areas before the Nov. 15 opening of firearm deer season,” said DNR wildlife biologist Brian Frawley. “Though not as severe as the previous season, this marked the third consecutive rough winter for the deer population in the U.P.”

Frawley said that much of the region’s drop in deer harvest can be explained …read more

Source:: AmmoLand