When Is Opening Day In Michigan: On a cool, beautiful Michigan morning, the sun comes up and lights up the trees and fields. It had been a while since Mike Ketelaar and his father got to their spots in Kent or Ionia counties. It was well before dawn, so they could enjoy the view they look forward to every year. At this very moment, Ketelaar started to become interested in things that were most important to him in life. The standard rifle deer season starts at sunrise, which is a day that many Michigan hunters will always remember.
The head of the National Deer Association of Michigan’s council, Ketelaar, says, “Opening day is like Christmas morning no matter what age you are.” “Whether you’re a dedicated Christmas enthusiast or not, everyone anticipates Christmas morning, much like every hunter eagerly awaits opening day.”
For hunters in Michigan, November 15 is a very important day. For many years, November 15 has been the official start date of the most famous deer hunting season in Michigan. Other states may have a different date.
What is opening day?
There are shooting laws in Michigan that say when and how you can kill whitetail deer and many other animals in the state. People often use the phrase “opening day” to refer to the first day that hunters can legally kill a deer with a regular rifle, even though there are different times of the year for each type of shooting.
A lot of hunters think that seeing and killing a deer on the first day of the season improves your chances of success. Chad Stewart, a deer, elk, and moose management expert with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, says that shooters killed more deer on the first day of the 2022 hunting season than they did in the last nine days of the season put together.
Ketelaar said that deer behavior changes with the seasons. As more people gather and, let’s say, start shooting guns, deer may stay away from open areas or places they used to think were safe.
I don’t buy it. Won’t more people hunt if opening day is on the weekend?
Both conservationists and the government are always looking for ways to make shooting more popular. DNR deer hunting is a practice that helps many people store food in their freezers for the whole year. It also brings in money for the state and helps control the number of deer. In theory, there should be fewer car crashes if there are more hunters. But it also means that farmers will lose a lot less crops. Every year, deer cost farms hundreds of millions of dollars.
The state wants to figure out how to control the number of deer. Stewart looked at a lot of different kinds of data, such as the number of hunters, the number of days spent shooting, and the number of deer killed each week on opening day. Stewart says that moving it to a certain day of the week or weekend would stay the same.
Come on, is opening day really that big of a deal?
He’s also not by himself. It has been sixty years since the Michigan Legislature took a break from working during part of November. A story from MLive in 2018 said that the two-week holiday always includes opening day, even though lawmakers don’t say that it has anything to do with deer season. On the first day of the season, things in rural Michigan might almost stop. The Ludington Daily News reported in 1976 that that week, November 15, there would be “no school, deer hunting season” at a nearby school. Some communities are more in favor of keeping that policy, even if it means closing schools or doing something else.
“They could help and make things a little easier,” says Stewart. He went back to information from last year about how many deer were killed every day during the gun season. Stewart found that more than 45,000 pictures were taken on November 15—one for every second of sunshine.
Five-day quiet period before firearm season’s opening day begins Friday
Alpine: Before the official start of the rifle deer season on Friday, hunters make last-minute plans and give the deer five days of peace to get used to their normal schedule.
It is against the law, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, to carry rifles or shotguns filled with buckshot, slug load, ball load, or cut shell in any area where deer often go during the five days. In order to get to or from hunting camps, guns must be locked up or taken out of the trunk of a car. Jon Sheppard, a conservation officer for the DNR, says the main goal is to let the deer slow down. It’s like a reset in how it works. They move more slowly now that they have to wait until after shooting season.
They have some time to calm down before November 15, which is the first day of gun deer season and a big day for everyone. Hunters usually have tree stands set up, but Sheppard said that the last five days have been a “mad rush” to get everything ready. During the five days, the state lets people collect furs and hunt small game or ducks as long as they use the right guns and ammo. Even when it’s not hunting season, archery is still allowed.
Firearm hunting season opens for deer across Michigan
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says that the best time for deer hunters in Michigan is during the normal rifle season, which lasts from November 15 to November 30. During that time in 2022, 154,598 animals were killed.
Nineteen counties, including Barry, Calhoun, Ionia, Kent, Mecosta, Montcalm, Newaygo, and Ottawa, have brought back the ban on four-point antlers under the deer combo license. In the Liberty Hunt, shooters can now kill more than one deer without antlers, but they can only kill one buck at a time. Some parts of Delta, Dickinson, and Menominee counties were taken out of a chronic wasting zone in the Upper Peninsula. In some Northern Michigan deer management units, you can only hunt deer with antlers.
What is the 5 day quiet period in Michigan?
“The five-day quiet period creates a window of time, just before the opener, when hunters can catch their breath and the woods have a chance to calm. “This period is like pushing a reset button, allowing deer to settle back into their day-to-day patterns, which in turn increases the chances of a successful hunt.”
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan—The Michigan Department of Natural Resources wants shooters to remember that there will be no hunting for five days. Hunters all over the state are hard at work getting stands, traps, and camps ready for the rifle deer season, which starts on November 15. It’s important to remember to respect the “quiet period” from November 10–14, even as excitement about the hunting trip grows.
“Putting up the deer blind and sighting rifles are just a few of the things that need to be done to get ready for firearm deer season,” said DNR Law Enforcement Division Captain Pete Wright. “Hunters may have a lot on their plates this time of year.” There is a five-day time of peace before the season starts, which is used as a break. It gives shooters a break and a peaceful time in the forest.
“At this point, the environment is almost fully restored so that deer can go back to their normal activities.” “This makes it more likely that the hunt will be successful,” Capt. Wright said.
It is against the law to carry or own a rifle or shotgun with buckshot, slug load, ball load, or cut shell ammunition in places that are good for deer during these five days. On the other hand, empty weapons that are safely stored in the trunk of a car can be taken to and from a shooting spot.
How many deer are shot opening day Michigan?
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says hunters took 18,000 deer on the opening day of firearm season Wednesday. LANSING, Mich. (WJRT) – The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says thousands of deer hunters were successful on the first day of firearm season.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources released its Deer Harvest Report early Thursday morning. It showed that 25,712 deer were killed on the first day of the firearm season. So far, in the 2023 deer shooting season, about 114,153 deer with and without antlers have been killed. Twenty-five thousand seven hundred twelve deer were killed with rifles at the start of the season, 19,984 with horns and 5,728 without.
Thanks to gun shooters going into the woods, Sanilac County is back on top as the county with the most deer killed in Jackson County. On Thursday morning, hunters in Sanilac County and Jackson County said they had killed 3,391 deer.
First, the DNR asked shooters to report their deer kills within 72 hours. Additionally, hunters must still put a paper kill tag on any deer they kill, making sure that the tag stays with the head in case it gets separated from the body. Hunters must keep the proof number even after they’ve reported a kill.
When did deer hunting start in Michigan?
The first Michigan game warden was hired in 1887, which was also the year it became illegal to use dogs and lights. The beginning of deer management in the state began in 1895, with the deer season becoming Nov. 1-25 and with a five-deer (any sex) limit. A hunting license was also required for the first time.
When Europeans first came to the southern Lower Peninsula of the Great Lakes State, they found grasslands and bogs with lots of room for whitetail deer and elk. The northern Lower and Upper Peninsulas, on the other hand, were made up of dense, unbroken old-growth woods that didn’t let much light through. Whitetail deer had a hard time in this area, but forest caribou and moose did very well.
The southern part of the Lower Peninsula was the first part of Michigan where Europeans settled. Even though there were old-growth forests in some places, the constant clearing of land for farming and business lumber production had a big effect on the environment. During this time, there were no limits on hunting, which is what killed off all the elk by 1870 and caused the whitetail deer population to drop dramatically.
A law passed in 1859 that set a seven-month shooting season was the first step toward stopping deer hunting. However, the influence was limited because there were no clear rules or enforcement.
How many deer are in Michigan?
two million deer
State officials estimate there are now upwards of two million deer in Michigan, most of them concentrated in the southern part of the state. For context, species managers were concerned about overpopulation 80 years ago when the state’s deer population was half as large.
Communities in Lower Michigan have to deal with too many whitetail deer. Natural resource managers have used a range of herd control methods to deal with this problem. Some of these are letting hunters kill more deer every year, trying out lower-cost licenses in some places, and loosening the rules so that bigger harvests are possible.
Chad Stewart, a deer, elk, and moose management specialist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, says that these steps have yet to work. Some state officials and hunting supporters are now pushing for a different strategy. They say that hunters in the Lower Peninsula should stop chasing antlerless bucks and start chasing does instead.
The point of this message is very clear: Killing adult male deer doesn’t have much of an effect on the size of the herd. However, killing adult female deer can help control the population by stopping them from having twins or triplets in the spring.
Is deer hunting in Michigan good?
According to the DNR, Michigan has more acres of public land than any other state east of the mighty Mississippi, albeit mostly in the Upper Peninsula. Further, DNR officials report it ranks No. 1 in the country for total archery harvest and fluctuates between No. 2 and 4 in total deer harvest.
The youth season starts on September 9 and 10, and the early antlerless season starts on September 16 and 17. The search for freedom lasts from October 19 to October 22. From October 1 to November 14, and again from December 1 to January 1, is bow season. It’s gun season from November 15 to November 30. In some areas, muzzleloading starts on December 1. The late season for not having antlers lasts from December 11 to January 1. The dates are just guesses; you can check the Michigan Department of Natural Resources website to be sure.
Michigan has beautiful scenery and roads, but there are a lot of hunters, which might make being in a tree stand less exciting. Because of this, the age distribution of bucks varies from state to state.
Chronic wasting disease, or CWD, affects a lot of people in the central and southern parts of the Lower Peninsula. Even though fewer hunters and the presence of CWD are thought to be major factors, the DNR’s recent loosening of hunting restrictions could lead to a bigger harvest of deer without antlers this year. Even with all of these factors taken into account, the overall grade stays a good C.
The biggest theme park in Michigan is getting ready to open on Memorial Day Weekend and welcome people of all ages. Michigan’s Adventure is happy to offer a range of fun things for kids, families, and people who like to be scared. There is something here for everyone, from thrilling roller coasters to calm family rides to thrilling roller coasters. Extreme sports fans will want to experience the exciting things that Thunderhawk and Shivering Timbers have to offer. These fast-moving attractions promise exciting experiences in the air that will make you gasp for air.
Camp Snoopy has five rides for the whole family, including a roller coaster made just for little kids. Also, while you’re here, don’t miss the chance to meet some of your favorite furry friends. Michigan’s Adventure is a fun and exciting place for everyone.
In other news, hunters in Michigan will likely buy licenses before Wednesday, which is the first day of the firearm deer season. Over the next few days, another 100,000 licenses will be bought. Every year, more than a million deer licenses are sold, but only about 25% to 30% of hunters actually kill a deer.
