Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Wildlife Division
March 2009

A Review of Deer Management in Michigan

-History of Deer and Deer Hunting in Michigan

Introduction
“A Review of Deer Management in Michigan” is a review of scientific information
pertaining to deer, deer-related issues, and deer-management options in Michigan and
summarizes the best available biological and social science relevant to these topics. It is
not intended to provide management recommendations for white-tailed deer in Michigan.
The information presented in this document was obtained from published scientific
literature, agency and university reports, unpublished agency data, and personal
communication with deer experts and is designed to aid in completion of the Michigan
White-tailed Deer Management Plan.

You are being provided with the following information on the History of Deer and Deer
Hunting in Michigan to serve as background information for discussions that will occur
during the April 6-7 Deer Advisory Team (DAT) meeting. You will receive sections of
the large document throughout the process of developing recommendations for the DNR.
All sections will be compiled and a completed document finalized as the DAT process is
concluding.

History of Deer in Michigan

Deer have been a valuable resource in Michigan since the first Native Americans began
to hunt them. Prior to European settlement, Michigan had an abundant deer herd in the
south. The mixture of hardwoods, wetlands, bogs, forest openings and prairies was ideal
for deer. There were few deer in the virgin forests of the north, which were inhabited
mostly by elk and moose. These mature forests were so dense that sunlight could not
reach the forest floor and therefore little deer food was available.

As farmers and settlers moved into southern Michigan, deer habitat was eliminated by
removal of cover for crop fields and by unregulated shooting for food - deer were mostly
gone from the southern Lower Peninsula by 1870. Logging of forests in the north
produced the opposite effect - more openings, brush, and young forests - the northern
herd climbed to an estimated 1 million deer in the 1880s.

As railroads were developed and provided access into the wilderness, market hunters shot
hundreds of thousands of deer. Early measures to control market hunting, by restricting
the time frame to take deer but not the number of deer taken, were not very successful.
What followed were decades of ups and downs in the deer population resulting from
changes in hunting regulations and available habitat.
In 1914, Game Commissioner William R. Oates estimated that there were only 45,000
deer in Michigan and recommended changing regulations limiting hunters to only 1 deer,
with the goal to increase the size of the deer herd. In 1921 the 3 inch rule was enacted
limiting hunters to harvesting only deer with at least one antler 3 inches or greater in
length. The deer herd began to rebound. Some of the increase was due to habitat changes
as logged-over areas produced deer browse. In addition, shrubs and other deer foods
developed in many areas that had been cleared for agriculture, but abandoned during the
depression.

By 1930, the abundance of deer was recognized. The first discussion of deer-vehicle
accidents began. There was also a significant amount of winter starvation and over-
browsing in cedar swamps where field investigators reported a shortage of food and
cover for the growing herd. Ilo Bartlett, the state's first deer biologist, reported that there
were 1.125 million deer in the state in 1937 and he began to talk about the “Deer
Problem.” About 1/3 of the deer at this time were in the Upper Peninsula and 2/3 in the
northern Lower Peninsula- only a very few deer were present in southern Michigan.

Despite the state’s attempt to provide more hunting lands and to place more deer habitat
in public ownership, the deer population continued to grow and peaked at about 1.5
million deer in the late 1940s. At first with small hunts beginning in 1941 and then in
larger ones, antlerless deer were once again allowed to be taken by hunters in an attempt
to reduce the size of the deer herd. However, before that could happen, the habitat for
deer collapsed, due to a combination of pressure from a large herd and an increase in
forested areas - mature stands of timber once again began to appear on formerly logged
lands. The deer population once again dropped.

To address the habitat problem, the Department of Conservation (precursor to the DNR)
developed a Deer Range Improvement Program (DRIP) in 1971. The program was
designed to acquire and manage critical deer habitat and increase the deer herd to 1
million deer by spring of 1981. The success of the DRIP, along with series of mild
winters and artificial feeding of deer by the public further propelled the herd to a new
peak of 2.2 million deer in 1995. Signs of distress in the herd appeared again.

History of Deer Hunting in Michigan

The first regulation enacted to limit the taking of deer in Michigan occurred in 1859,
when the state legislature limited the taking of deer to the period of August 1 through
December 31. In 1881 deer that were spotted or had a red coat were protected, and it
became illegal to kill deer using traps or while the deer was in water. In 1887 the use of
dogs or artificial lights became illegal. In 1891 some areas of the state were closed to
deer hunting for the first time. The state legislature shortened the season to 25 days with
the first bag limit (5 deer) and created the first deer license in 1895. Michigan sold
14,477 licenses for fifty cents each with 22 non-residents paying $25 for a Michigan deer
license. An estimated 121,000 deer were taken that year. In 1909 market hunting became
illegal as did the selling of venison. The bag limit was reduced to 3 deer. Youths less
than 17 years of age were required to be accompanied with an adult while deer hunting
beginning in 1915 and the bag limit was reduced to 1 deer. That year, 21,061 resident
licenses were sold and 178 non-resident deer licenses were sold harvesting an estimated
8,000 deer.

Antlerless deer were protected in 1921 when a deer with at least one 3 inch antler became
the only deer that could be legally taken. In 1925 the firearm deer season ran from
November 15 through November 30. By 1930 over 75,000 people deer hunted in
Michigan and harvested an estimated 32,000 deer. In 1937 the first archery season was
opened from November 1-14. There were 186 archery licenses sold and the archery
harvest was recorded at 4. That year over 150,000 people hunted deer in Michigan
harvesting almost 40,000 deer.

In 1955 mandatory reporting was discontinued in Michigan and permanently replaced by

the use of a survey to assess the annual harvest, which was first initiated in 1952. There
were over 500,000 deer hunters in 1963, harvesting an estimated 124,000 deer. The first
muzzleloader season opened in 1975, with an estimated 8,500 hunters harvesting around
150 deer.

State records for deer hunting were set in 1997 when 870,216 unique individuals
purchased a deer license in Michigan and in 1998 when an estimated 582,000 deer were
harvested (Figure Z).

Statewide Annual Deer Harvest

700000

600000
Number of deer

500000

400000

300000

200000

100000

0
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007

Year

Figure Z. Estimated annual deer harvest 1963 through 2007

A complete listing of historic deer hunting regulations can be found on the DNR web site
at www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/DEER_REGULATION HISTORY_210705_7.pdf