Controlling Michigan’s deer population has been a challenge for many years. We’ve added seasons and have upped the number of does that can be taken by hunters. Yet, we continue to be plagued by car/deer accidents, because current means of herd management have failed.
In 2009 the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) exclaimed the only way to obtain antlerless harvest goals is to implement the Earn-A-Buck program, as has been done in neighboring Wisconsin. Its Earn-A-Buck program requires hunters to take an antlerless deer before taking a buck. The concept may make sense on paper, but in Wisconsin, it very well may be repealed.
Frustration with the system has been brewing for years and has culminated in a proposal by a Wisconsin lawmaker to revise the rules because hunters don’t like the idea of passing up trophy bucks. In haste, some may shoot the first antlerless deer they see to qualify for the privilege of hunting a buck, and in so doing are apt to eliminate future trophy bucks by killing them when they are fawns.
One of the changes being proposed in Wisconsin is to retain the Earn-A-Buck program but only after a hunter has taken his first buck in certain areas of high-deer density. This strategy would seem to satisfy the objection of passing up mature bucks.
For the most part, the DNR would not be allowed to establish gun seasons ahead of the November hunt. The bill provides for a number of exceptions, however, including for youth, mentored and disabled hunts and in chronic wasting disease zones.
Additionally, the state would return to a simpler deer season structure by generally eliminating early season gun hunts before their traditional November firearms hunt. In Michigan, as well, we have so many firearms hunts before November, it’s difficult to keep track of them. And, one complaint often heard by deer hunters is how these early hunts tend to drive deer to becoming nocturnal and generally skittish. It seems we have a lot in common with Wisconsin.
One of the bill’s key sponsors, Sen. Terry Moulton, R-Chippewa Falls, said the key to herd control is hunter participation but enthusiasm is down because of the extra hunts and Earn-A-Buck.
Moulton said “In order to get your biological results, you’ve got to address the social aspect of hunting. If you don’t get hunters to buy into the system, you’re not going to get the deer. This is something I think the hunters have been asking for.” On the other hand, Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources has insisted Earn-A-Buck and the extra hunts are keys to keeping the state’s deer herd under control.
So, who’s right? Look at the results.
While Wisconsin and Michigan grapple with effective deer management strategies, little has changed; deer numbers in many areas – especially in southern Michigan – are far above reasonable levels.
