Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
The DNR has traditionally gathered most deer harvest information through check stations and mail surveys. Biological data, like harvest date and location, sex and age, antler diameters and points, came directly from harvested animals through face-to-face meetings with hunters at check stations. Response rates to the mail surveys have declined from about 75% in the mid-2000s to just 33% last year Low response rates can lead to an inaccurate, biased estimate of the harvest. Mail surveys are also expensive and time-consuming. It costs the DNR about $173,000 to print and mail questionnaires to 60,000 hunters. The surveys take several months to compile and analyze, with the first survey mailing going out in December and the final report not finalized until the following summer. Because declining survey response rates, which are unlikely to reverse, increase the level of uncertainty with deer harvest estimates, the DNR needed to find another approach
Online mandatory harvest reporting will more efficiently collect data and produce harvest summaries sooner than before. The new system, with its corresponding dashboard, will show hunters every day how harvest is progressing across the season, with up-to-date accounts on total harvest in the state, by county, and even harvest by day. The number of deer harvest reports submitted by Michigan hunters is currently greater than those submitted in other states with mandatory deer harvest reporting and comparable hunter numbers and seasons, like Missouri and Wisconsin. This comparison suggests that most Michigan hunters are complying with the new rules. Hunters can watch short videos on how to report a harvest on the DNR Hunt Fish app and how to report through the eLicense website.
Currently, there are 14 counties with more than 1,000 deer harvests reported, most deer so far this season have been taken in the lower peninsula. The reported harvest for each of the three completed deer seasons was Liberty Hunt; 6,299, Early Antler-less Firearm season; 3,469, Independence Hunt; 411.
Technical assistance for online reporting is available at a variety of locations around the state or by calling 517-284-9453 during normal business hours.
Answers to frequently asked questions are available on the DNR deer harvest reporting webpage.
