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Deer management

Table of contents

  • Deer regs home page and glossary of terms

      Deer management

      • Managing deer in Michigan
      • Deer management plan strategic goals

      Season dates and bag limits

      • Deer hunting season dates
      • Deer management units and antler point restrictions
      • Bag limits

      License types and fees

      • License types and fees by age
      • Hunter safety
      • Mentored hunting
      • Apprentice hunting
      • Hunters with disabilities
      • Michigan residents
      • Michigan veterans with disabilities
      • U.S. military personnel
      • Treaty-authorized hunters
      • DNR Sportcard
      • Hunt/fish combo license
      • Base license
      • Deer licenses
      • Pure Michigan Hunt

      Purchasing licenses and kill tags

      • Identification requirements
      • Where to buy licenses and kill tags
      • Lost licenses and kill tags

      Antlerless deer drawing system

      • Application information
      • Eligible applicants
      • How to apply for an Upper Peninsula antlerless deer hunting access permit
      • Application assistance
      • Drawing results

      Reserved deer drawing system

      • Application information
      • How to apply for a reserved deer hunting access permit
      • Party applications
      • Drawing results

      When and where to hunt

      • Hunting hours
      • Hunting and trapping zones
      • Limited firearms deer zone
      • Safety zones
      • Public lands
      • State lands
      • State parks and recreation areas
      • National wildlife refuges
      • National forest lands
      • Commercial Forest lands
      • Hunting Access Program
      • Local municipalities
      • Waterways
      • Rights of way
      • Trespassing

      Equipment regulations

      • Hunter orange
      • Elevated platforms and ground blinds
      • Bows, crossbows and firearms
      • Transporting bows, crossbows and firearms
      • Artificial lights
      • Off-road vehicles and snowmobiles

      Hunting methods

      • Baiting
      • Feeding
      • Hunting with dogs
      • Commercial hunting guides

      Wildlife diseases

      • Bovine tuberculosis
      • Chronic wasting disease
      • Epizootic hemorrhagic disease

      Invasive species

      • Russian boar

      After the harvest

      • Validating harvest
      • Transporting game animals
      • Mandatory deer harvest reporting
      • Deer check stations
      • Handling and processing deer meat
      • Buying and selling game animals
      • Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger
      • Deer management cooperator patch

      Report all poaching

Managing deer in Michigan

The current deer management program includes research to help understand the ecology of deer and the opinions and concerns of Michigan’s residents regarding deer. In addition, the DNR provides information to the public about deer and technical assistance to landowners on deer habitat issues and conflicts with deer. Hunting provides recreational opportunities, is important as a cultural and social activity, and is the primary tool used to manage the size and distribution of Michigan’s statewide deer population.

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Deer management plan strategic goals

The statewide deer management plan is summarized below to promote an understanding of the overall deer management vision for Michigan.

  1. Manage deer populations at levels that do not degrade the vegetation upon which deer and other wildlife depend.
  2. Promote deer hunting to provide quality recreational opportunities, as the primary tool to achieve management goals and as an important social and cultural activity.
  3. Manage habitat to provide for the long-term viability of white-tailed deer in Michigan while limiting negative impacts to the habitats of other wildlife species.
  4. Reduce conflict between humans and deer.
  5. Reduce the threats and impacts of disease on the wild deer population and on Michigan’s economy.
  6. Enhance public engagement in and awareness of deer management issues and knowledge of deer ecology and management.

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