By Glen Wunderlich

Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association

Condensed from the QDMA 2020 Whitetail Report

Once again, the Quality Deer Management Association has gathered and assembled data from the 2018/2019 season from state and provincial wildlife agencies to provide a “State of the Whitetail” account relative to deer numbers and how hunters are affecting the balance of the collective herd.  Overall, positive trends have been established and we’ll see just how Michigan’s hunters stack up to states across the whitetail range.

Countrywide, yearling (1½) year-old buck harvest rates are at the lowest ever recorded, and the percentage of 3½-year-old and older bucks in the harvest is 37% of the total antlered buck harvest, which is the highest percentage ever recorded. Hunters are clearly reaping the benefits of more naturally balanced age structures in herds across the whitetails’ range. In addition, the antlered buck harvest (those 1½ years or older) is at near record level, and last season’s buck harvest was 5% above the previous 5-year average.

On the contrary, antlerless harvest was down slightly from the prior year, and it was 4% below the 5-year average. The antlerless harvest has now declined nearly 20 percent in the past decade.

Michigan hunters shot the most antlered bucks per square mile (PSM), and Delaware hunters shot the most antlerless deer PSM.

Crossbows, which have been a relatively new option for hunters, exceed the vertical bow harvest in 11 of 25 states (44%). Over half of the wildlife management units east of the Rocky Mountains have deer densities at the established goals, while 23% have densities above goals and 22% have deer densities below goals.

The biggest issues and trends include the continued spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD). Twenty-eight states reported a combined CWD budget of just under $11 million ranging from $500 in Massachusetts to $3 million in Pennsylvania.

Overall, Texas shot the most bucks (508,155) and Rhode Island shot the fewest (994). Michigan, South Carolina and Pennsylvania more than doubled the national average and shot 3.3 to 3.7 bucks per square mile (PSM), while North Dakota shot the fewest (0.3 PSM). Michigan hunters shot nearly 2½ times the national average of bucks PSM, Texas alone shot nearly as many bucks as the entire Northeast region, and the Southeast region dominated the buck harvest per deer hunter category.

*  Top states antlered buck harvest:  Texas 508,155  with a distant toll – yet second place from Michigan of  211,754 .

*  Top states antlered buck harvest per square mile:  Michigan at 3.7  and South Carolina at 3.6.

*  Michigan antlered buck harvest:  211,754 –  down 17 percent.

*  Top states with lowest percentage of yearling bucks taken:  Arkansas at 9 and  Florida and Mississippi at 11.

*  Top states with highest percentage of yearling bucks:  Wisconsin at 53 and Maryland at 42.   Although Michigan’s figures for yearling bucks were not made available, it should be noted that its numbers were right up there (or, down there, if you will) at approximately 47 percent the previous two seasons.

*  Top states with highest percentage of 3½-plus bucks:  Mississippi at a whopping 77, Louisiana at 75 and Arkansas at 72 percent.  Again, Michigan did not report figures for this report but the two previous years show a meager 27 and 22 percent totals.

*  Top states antlerless harvest:  Texas at 375,408 , Pennsylvania 226,940, Wisconsin 175,168 and Michigan 155,898.  Although Michigan’s numbers are comparatively high, our DNR indicates we need to take more bald deer.  To put these figures in perspective, Maryland took 75 antlerless deer per 100 hunters (75 percent), while Michigan posted a mere 27 percent per 100 hundred hunters.

*  Top states with lowest percentage of fawns in antlerless harvest:  Texas at 2 percent, and Louisiana and Mississippi at 7 percent.  Michigan is still taking too many fawn, although down minimally over the past three seasons at 21 percent.

So, there you have it:  the good, bad and ugly of it all.  Michigan’s tallies continue to reflect a huge herd, but with better management by hunters has room for improvement when it comes to balancing the herd for a more natural state of bucks and does.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is now accepting applications for the Wolf Management Advisory Council, an advisory body that is being re-established in light of federal delisting (which went into effect Jan. 4) of gray wolves as a threatened or endangered species.

The purpose of the council is to make recommendations on wolf management in Michigan. It will be comprised, at minimum, of representatives from conservation, hunting and/or fishing, agricultural and animal advocacy organizations, as well as tribal government, as specified in state statute. Applications for the council will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4. Request an application by emailing DNR-Wildlife@Michigan.gov or calling the DNR Wildlife Division at 517-284-9453. On Nov. 3, 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided to remove gray wolves from the federal list of threatened and endangered species in the lower 48 states. The action took effect Jan. 4, 2021. With the federal delisting of wolves, two state laws – Public Act 290 of 2008 and Public Act 318 of 2008 – became effective. These laws allow residents to use lethal control on wolves that are in the act of killing or wounding livestock or a dog. Wolves in Michigan are still a protected game species, and the taking of a wolf that is not in the act of killing or wounding livestock or a dog is illegal. The mere presence of a wolf near livestock or a dog does not authorize the use of lethal control. From an estimated survey of 140 wolves in 1998, to more than 600 every year since 2011, gray wolf populations in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula have recovered, based on goals set by state and federal governments. Wolf management in Michigan is guided by Michigan’s Wolf Management Plan, which currently is being updated. There will be opportunity for public input as work to refresh the plan continues. Read more

Regional Director

Reports to: Director of Field Operations

Department: Fundraising & Marketing

Classification: Exempt

Date: November 2020

Job Summary:

Field Operations is a primary fundraising division of RMEF. Regional Directors organize local volunteer chapters to hold fundraising events, principally banquets, and perform major gift development activities to support the continued operation of RMEF and finance elk and wildlife conservation projects.

In addition to event-related fundraising, Regional Directors solicit donations of major gifts directly from donors or through RMEF members, volunteers and other contacts. Read more

Irving, TX– Stealth Cam® is excited to be expanding their wireless trail camera line in 2021 with the all new Reactor! This new camera is easy to setup, requires less batteries, captures premium quality images and videos with class-leading performance and program customization anywhere/anytime.

The Reactor wireless trail camera features the latest in wireless data transmission technology to provide fast image and video transfer from remote camera locations to anywhere you have a network connection. With this technology, users can employ the free Stealth Cam App to download photos and videos on demand, set transmission schedules, delete data from the memory card, and control all camera functions and image management features without having to be on-site.

Boasting 26-megapixel photo and 1080P video recording, the Reactor delivers superior imaging day or night! It is compatible for AT&T users in the US, Canada, and Mexico and available as a 4G Verizon network compatibility model, also in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Both camera models are 100% verified through the wireless service providers! Read more

BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA — Mallards hatched last spring in the Prairie Pothole Region of Canada and the northern United States continue to drop in on hunters during these final days of the 2020-21 season as far south as Louisiana, Texas and California. Meanwhile, a thousand miles north, Delta Waterfowl Hen House Specialist Travis Quirk is already working to boost next season’s migration of North America’s favorite duck.

Quirk, of the Colonsay region of southern Saskatchewan, Canada, is an agri-business execuctive and waterfowling outfitter. He is also a former Delta Waterfowl research student. Importantly, as a seasonal contractor for The Duck Hunters Organization, Quirk is responsible for the upkeep of 300 Delta Hen House nest structures. He installed the structures for Delta, and maintains them each winter to ensure they’re ready to greet mallard hens when they return to the prairie wetlands to nest in April and May.

The Delta team of Hen House specialists in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and North Dakota maintains nearly 10,000 mallard nest structures across the PPR, where up to 70 percent of the ducks migrating down all four North American flyways are hatched. Read more