(Source: MIRS.news, Published 07/12/2024) Changes to deer hunting will be coming to Michigan, but not as many as recommended by the Deer Management Initiative (DMI), after several amendments were passed by the Natural Resource Commission (NRC) that kept the status quo.

Board members contemplated 20 separate amendments to the recommended deer hunting regulations at the NRC meeting Thursday. The regulations were meant as an attempt to grow or reduce deer populations in different areas across the state. In the end, the amended package of rules passed with a 5-1 vote.

“For those of you who are worried this is the end, it’s not. It’s only the beginning,” NCR Chair Tom Baird said.

Two big changes came in the form of rules for the Liberty and Independence hunts and the extension of the late doe firearms season. 

Starting in 2025, the Liberty and Independence deer hunting seasons, which are hunting seasons set aside for youth and disabled hunters in September, will only allow hunting antlerless deer. The stipulation of a doe-only season will end in 2029.

The late antlerless firearm season, which normally runs from December to New Year's Day, will have a second season tacked on starting Jan. 2 and running to the second Sunday in January. 

Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Biologist Chad Stewart, who is the deer management specialist, said the department will need to work out how the different rules for the new deer season would work.

“We're still trying to figure out some of the language and how it was presented and interpreting that,” Stewart said.

There is also a change to the two-day early and late doe seasons that opens those seasons up to public land, instead of private land only.

Muzzleloading season also saw an amendment to allow other firearms to be used during the season.

Following the NRC meeting, Rep. Cam Cavitt (R-Cheboygan) urged the Legislature to pass 

HB 5305, which extends muzzleloading season by 10 to 14 days.

“The best way we can address the overpopulation is by expanding access to all sorts of hunting options,” he said. 

Cavitt said the DNR, NRC, and other outdoor groups needed to “find more ways to get people off the couch and back into tree stands.”

He said that everyone should be more willing to kill does in northern Michigan until the overpopulation issue is dealt with in the area.

“But we can’t change the rules so much that it chases people away from hunting entirely," he said. "It’s already expensive to get the equipment and clothing. It’s a hassle for some to even find a place to hunt. Many may throw in the towel altogether if you start forcing them to count the number of antlers on each side of a deer’s rack before they can take a shot." 

The only antler point restriction that was passed by the NRC was above a three-point around Norway in the U.P. The three-point restriction proposed by the DMI was removed. The limit on bucks was also kept in, despite the DMI recommendation.

The bait ban in the lower peninsula remains.

Stewart said the commission passed about three of the amendments recommended by the DMI, while passing six amendments introduced by commissioners.

“I think there’s certainly a desire to continue working with these DMI teams from the commission side. We’ll have to circle back with the DMI teams and see if that same feeling is reciprocated,” he said.

He said the teams were put together in January and worked at a breakneck pace to get the recommendations out in six months.

Stewart said if the DMI teams were done again, he could see it being done over a longer time, because the pace they worked was unsustainable.

“Maybe focused topics to work through, I think would probably be a better approach, but that’s still an idea we’re kicking around and we’ll obviously take some of their input as well, for those who want to continue to participate,” Stewart said.