For those who may be ignorant of the situation, the deer in question are in the TB area of Michigan and any large number of deer over 100 that congregate isn't a good thing. Depsite 2 decades of very liberal antlerless tags, some area hunters are refusing to fill any more antlerless tags in protest of fewer deer seen, thus thwarting the DNR's attempts at lowering herd numbers, thus hopefully reducing TB rates in deer, that then get into cattle herds.
As far as interlopers, much of the vacant land in northern Michigan has, for decades and decades, been owned by downstate folks who bought the property mainly for hunting. Most hunters "up north" have always been landowners from down state and their guests.
This is an area known as "club county". My guess is, the majority of deer hunters in this area are not local landowners or even locals, but instead landowners and guests from the metro-Detroit/SE Michigan area, and have been since the 1950's.
For example, Presque Isle only has roughly 13,000 residents, yet has 10,000 deer hunters. While a higher percentage of rural residents hunt, it's not remotely high enough to make up the majority in that county.
Topic: Northern Michigan (too many deer) (Read 543 times)
