GAYLORD -- Deer hunters across the region must enter a state lottery system for a chance at a doe permits since state officials changed the rules after five years of over-the-counter sales.
There are no doe licenses this year in Benzie, Grand Traverse or Kalkaska counties and many surrounding areas only will have permits for private land. Whether for public or private land, all doe permits in the area will be issued through a lottery system because last year's permits quickly sold out, some places in just minutes.
"It gets really crazy. We had customers who come in and are waiting in the parking lot at 5:30 a.m.," said Paul Hentschel, an employee at Roy's General Store and Hardware in Traverse City.
Hentschel remembers last year's doe licenses selling out for some places in less than 30 minutes, he said.
Available permits in Cheboygan County sold out in 15 minutes, Leelanau County in 23 minutes and Otsego County in 70 minutes, said Rod Clute, big game specialist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
For some areas, "if you weren't standing in line when they went on sale, you didn't get one," Clute said.
That's why the state switched this year to a lottery system for much of northern Lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, an effort to create a more equitable way of dispensing doe permits, he said.
Applications for the doe permit lottery went on sale Tuesday and will be available through Aug. 15. The drawing results will be posted Sept. 8 and any leftover doe licenses will be sold over-the-counter on Sept. 17.
Hunter Matt Harwood of Gaylord already bought his application for $4 and said it's another way for the state to generate more revenue from deer licenses. The lottery is a more equitable method for getting at least one doe permit to as many hunters as possible, he said.
"It does help spread it out among everybody, gives everyone an equal chance," Harwood said.
Each county has a different number of doe permits available through the lottery, many only on private land. There are 400 available in Leelanau; 2,500 in Manistee; 5,000 in Antrim; and 3,400 in both Charlevoix and Wexford counties.
Other areas have doe licenses for both private and public land, including Crawford, Otsego, Emmet and Cheboygan counties.
