Early Impressions from 2015 Firearm Season Show Deer Harvest up in Lower Peninsula

By Justin Stakes

Lansing, MI -(AmmoLand.com)- Each year, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources generates preliminary estimates of the firearm deer harvest shortly after the season closes.

The 2015 firearm deer season wrapped up Nov. 30, with indications of mixed results throughout the state. The harvest appears to have decreased in the Upper Peninsula and increased in the Lower Peninsula.

“We anticipated a poor harvest in the U.P. due to the drastically low deer population throughout much of the U.P. over the past couple of years,” said Ashley Autenrieth, DNR deer program biologist. “However, we’ve seen uncharacteristically high temperatures and low snowfall levels so far this fall, and if this continues, we hope the herd will begin rebounding.”

Although reports differ widely across and within regions, DNR biologists estimate the harvest, compared to 2014, was up perhaps as much as 17 percent in the Lower Peninsula, and declined approximately 19 percent in the U.P.

“Fortunately, the Lower Peninsula hasn’t had a drastic drop in deer numbers over the last few years,” said Chad Stewart, DNR deer management specialist.

“That, coupled with good wild apple and acorn production over the last two years, has made for good conditions for the deer herds in …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand