Traverse City -- Tony Kintner wants bigger, older bucks in the area's deer herd.
"In Michigan, a 41/2-year-old deer is almost unheard of," he said.
Kintner, of Fife Lake, stopped Saturday at a booth for the Northwest Michigan chapter of the Quality Deer Management Association at the annual Traverse City Hunting and Fishing Expo. The group is lobbying state wildlife officials to expand deer hunting restrictions in Leelanau County to 12 additional counties in northwestern Lower Michigan.
That would mean hunters must find a buck with three points on one antler to fill their first kill tag, followed by a buck with four points on one antler for a second kill tag.
The idea is to allow bucks to grow more and reproduce at an older age, said Ryan Ratajczak, chapter president.
"A lot of the hunters are looking to see a more increased buck age structure. The goal is to protect at least 50 percent of 11/2-year-old bucks," he said.
Such expanded restrictions could improve the balance of bucks and does, Ratajczak said.
"We like to have a good buck-to-doe ratio in the wild; one-to-one would be ideal," he said.
Some hunters don't like the idea of more restrictions, Ratajczak said, but many agree with their effort, including Kintner.
"It would be a healthier deer herd all around," Kintner said.
Chapter members asked expo attendees to sign postcards addressed to both the Michigan Natural Resources Commission and Russ Mason, wildlife chief for the state Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The cards ask state officials to consider expanding Leelanau County's deer restrictions to Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Lake, Manistee, Mason, Missaukee, Osceola and Wexford counties.
"Everybody wants a healthy deer herd with a good age structure and sex ratio in balance with habitat," Mason said.
Regional deer advisory teams are planned across the state to gather input from hunters, farmers, foresters and others on deer management practices. This grassroots effort should become a part of that discussion, Mason said.
