Commission adjusts deer rules
IRON MOUNTAIN — A few changes have been made in deer hunting rules for the Upper Peninsula.
As reported Friday by MLive, antlerless harvest quotas will be reduced in the “mid-snowfall zone,” a band crossing the middle latitudes of the U.P. The Michigan Natural Resources Commission on Thursday also restored a three-point antler point restriction in Deer Management Unit 122, which is mostly in south Dickinson County.
Changes in the U.P. archery season were approved to allow antlerless harvest in the early and late archery seasons in the southern part of the peninsula, restrict it after Dec. 10 in the middle tier and prohibit it in the northern tier, MLive reported.
According to Commissioner Dave Anthony, the aim is to protect does in the northern snowfall zone and areas to the south where they may migrate during the winter, while allowing a full antlerless archery season in the southern areas.
Beginning in 2025, the statewide Liberty Hunt for youth and hunters with qualifying disabilities will be antlerless only. A complete description of the changes is pending from the Department of Natural Resources.
An update will be provided when the DNR’s Western U.P. Citizens’ Advisory Council meets Thursday, July 25, in Escanaba. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern time at the Delta County Chamber of Commerce, 1001 North Lincoln Road.