By The Number Harvest Report
The semi- official numbers have been tallied for the 2007 gun season, and it appears the deer harvest is down by 5 percent. The D.N.R. has estimated that 249,000 whitetails were harvested over the Nov. gun season with 63 percent being antlered, and 37 percent being antlerless. This information is gathered from deer processing lockers, hunters, check stations, sold licenses, and D.N.R. personnel. The final figure will be released in July, after a mail survey of 50,000 hunters has been tallied.
Actually hunter success this year was similar to last years, but the overall number of hunters, in the field, appears to be less than last year. That would account for the lower number of deer harvested in 2007.
The Upper Peninsula reported a 6 percent increase in harvest over last year, with an estimate of 36,000 deer taken. While the harvest increase was up in the Upper, it was down in the Lower by approximately the same 6 percent figure. Basically hunters reported seeing more deer statewide than last year. Obviously they didn’t ask “me” how many I saw!
Archery season will account about 25 percent of total statewide harvest, and muzzleloader will add another 10 percent. The special anterless season will add about 5 percent to the total harvest, of under last years total, of 450,000 deer.
Three mild winters in a row has certainly helped the deer herd grow, and it looks like we could see another mild winter this year. Who would of ever believed we would see temperatures in the mid-sixties on January 7th? Even the Upper Peninsula has been experiencing unusually warm weather of late. Who knows; maybe there will be enough deer around next year, even I could “tag” one.
Mike