LANSING, MI — For some across the state this is like a national holiday. Firearm deer hunting season opens today and will continue for the next two weeks in Michigan. State officials say hunting contributes over two-billion-dollars to the state’s economy each year.
The deer harvest is expected to be lighter than usual, according to the forecast from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, with fewer hunters taking to the woods than before. Deer specialist Chad Stewart with the DNR says the number of hunters is down a quarter-million people in the past generation and that has made deer population control more difficult.
Stewart says hunters on average can only use one or two deer a year to feed their families, while the DNR would like to see them take three to five deer.
