LANSING, MI— This year’s firearm season deer harvest was down across the state.
The Department of Natural Resources says totals dropped 11 percent from last year, or nearly 30,000 deer.
Upper Peninsula numbers were down 5,550 deer from 2022.
The reported deer harvest as of December 5th for all hunting seasons decreased compared to the autumn of 2022 by 26 percent in the Upper Peninsula.
The DNR says predators, winter weather, habitat quality, changes to deer harvest regulations, declining hunter numbers, and changes in timber harvest all play a combined role in changes to the deer population in the Upper Peninsula.