It doesn’t matter how quick your reflexes are or if you just replaced your brakes. You’re going to hit a deer if you spend enough time driving around Michigan.
In 2022, Michigan had over 58,000 reported vehicle-deer collisions, with 11 deaths and over 1,600 injuries. We’ve got a ton of deer in Michigan—over two million. This might seem great, but there is a line, and we’ve crossed it. Michigan is overrun.
There are a few reasons why the herd has grown so large.
For starters, hunting is dying in our state. Twenty years ago, our hunting population was at around 800,000. It’s now in the 500,000s. As a huge hunting advocate, this is heartbreaking. But the decline in hunters isn’t the only issue. Culture is also key.
We’ve been conditioned to shoot bucks—any and all bucks, regardless of size. Our hunting culture prizes huge racks of antlers to the detriment of the overall deer herd.
Many Michiganders will pass up tons of doe just to shoot a small buck. Those who do shoot a doe often do so as a last resort. They’re second-class animals in Michigan.
This has consequences. Removing males from a population doesn’t really impact numbers, because a single buck can impregnate many doe. Managing wildlife numbers requires managing females. And so, our deer population has grown. More deer means more time spent in close proximity, and this allows diseases to run wild, and diseases like bovine tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease are becoming real problems.
It also makes you more likely to hit one of these creatures with your car or have them demolish your garden. And I really hate that.
The state has tried multiple times to solve this problem. For the past 20 years, the Department of Natural Resources has raised doe quota numbers incrementally. For the last decade, they’ve also tried to lower the costs a few times too.
For those unaware, Michigan’s tag system gives hunters plenty of options. Most choose a “combo tag,” allowing for two deer, which can be two bucks or one buck and one doe. One of these tags is restricted to bucks with at least four antler points on one side, while the other is unrestricted for any buck or doe. Additional doe tags are cheap and easy to get—I’ve already filled two for just $20 each. But despite the options, plenty of hunters still pass on does.
Changes to the tag system haven’t worked, because governments don’t dictate culture in America. People do.
We need to see deer as food, not as trophies. Every doe represents a few dozen pounds of free-range meat, available for the cost of a deer tag and a few rounds of ammo. That’s less than $100. On a per-pound basis, it’s $2 a pound, basically the cost of factory-farmed chicken breast.
Not long ago, venison was a staple that fueled our nation. It can be again. By shifting our perspective, we can put more wild meat on the table and do the rest of Michigan (except for auto body shops) a huge favor.
Do your part. Get a coat, grab your old man’s lever-action rifle, hit the woods this fall, and don’t pass on a good shot by dreaming about a new rack of antlers over the fireplace.
James Zandstra is an experienced outdoorsman with a passion for the Mitten State. Follow his work on X @TheFairChase1.
