TRAVERSE CITY -- The deer herd in three northern Lower Michigan counties swelled in recent years to levels sought by state wildlife officials, but doe permits for this year's firearms hunting season still won't be issued there.
No state doe permits will be sold this year for Benzie, Grand Traverse and Kalkaska counties and only limited numbers of antlerless tags for private land may be issued in surrounding areas. The Michigan Natural Resources Commission will decide on the numbers next month.
Elk Rapids hunter and taxidermist Voss Guntzviller often hunts deer in Grand Traverse, Antrim, Charlevoix and Otsego counties, where he said herd size varies almost township-by-township and depending on proximity to agricultural zones.
It's a good idea to allow the deer population to continue to grow in the three counties where no doe permits will be issued, he said.
"There are places along the Boardman River in Grand Traverse County where there are quite a few deer by the river, but other places there are no signs," Guntzviller said.
Public land tends to host fewer deer than private property and perhaps increased food plots on state land would help boost the population there, he said.
State wildlife officials made a "huge mistake" a number of years ago when they issued too many doe permits in the region, said Dan Doherty, a sport shop owner in Kalkaska. The wild herd's numbers plummeted and area hunters noticed the difference, he said.
The purpose of restricting doe permits is to increase or maintain the deer population in the three counties, where the numbers are reaching desired levels, said Rod Clute, big game specialist with the state Department of Natural Resources.
"In the late '90s, we had a huge deer population in those areas and the habitat was not enough to support the deer herd at that level over a long period of time," Clute said. "We deliberately lowered that deer herd and deliberately brought it below what the habitat could support, to allow it to recover."
Habitat did improve and the deer herd now is projected at 10,000 animals in Benzie County and 13,000 deer in both Grand Traverse and Kalkaska counties, he said.
"Now the trend says it's coming up, but we don't want to go ahead and issue a bunch of antlerless licenses, just because the projections are where we'd like to see them," Clute said.
The 2005 season was the last time firearms doe permits were issued in Benzie, Grand Traverse and Kalkaska counties. Archers and those involved in the two-day youth hunt still will be allowed to kill female deer in those areas, where state wildlife officials will consider firearms doe permits next year, Clute said.
Surrounding counties also may see doe permits limited this year to use on private property: 400 in Leelanau; 2,500 in Manistee; 3,400 in both Charlevoix and Wexford; and 5,000 in Antrim. The NRC will vote on those figures next month.
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