r/MichiganHunting • u/DetroitLionCity • 13d ago
Hunter increase in 2027
How much do you think the "amount of hunters" will be increasing next year when we turn into a 1 buck tag state?
I'd be interested to see the stats of how many additional hunters got a tag, especially females. I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of guys out there who are going to have their wives get tags for this exact reason...
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u/ShillinTheVillain 13d ago
The guys who only hunt for bucks are the problem. The state has been begging us to kill doe for years now, and the science supports it.
Fewer deer = more resources per deer. Fewer does also means bucks have to travel and compete for mates, which translates to more buck movement and stronger rut behavior.
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u/DetroitLionCity 13d ago
I am with you, I got my two does already this year. I am just curious of folks thoughts.
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u/Embarrassed_Sea6537 13d ago
I don't think it's gonna be an issue. Why are we stacking immature deer? Let em grow, shoot them freezer queens for meat
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u/AleksanderSuave 12d ago
The issue is that our state disproportionately shoots less does.
It starts early on, look at the youth harvest numbers.
One buck isn’t going to fix that.
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u/DetroitLionCity 13d ago
All the guys I know up North are taking mature deer in an antler restricted county.
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u/Embarrassed_Sea6537 12d ago
10-4 all im saying is its gonna encourage people to pass on that 6pt which I'm all for
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u/LongWalk86 12d ago
Hunter counts will continue to go down, so no increase. The one buck rules and rifle line removal are not bring in new people to the sport. Why would they?
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u/DetroitLionCity 12d ago
Because I believe there will be hunters who have their wife go pick up a tag. Shoot their 2nd buck and then use their wifes tag on it.
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u/LongWalk86 12d ago
I guess we will see. Most folks I know are one and done, especially if it's a buck.
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u/TwinCam117 12d ago
I for one am not going to be mad at the one buck rule. I didn't shoot a buck last year where we are in branch county. The others on our small property we have permission to hunt all took two small bucks a piece. There were 8 small 8 points shot in less than 300 acres lol. Some were 2.5 and a couple were 3.5. One of those 2.5 year old bucks was a small basket 10 point that went maybe 100 inches. I am ready for one buck rule lol.
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u/M1ster-Sushi 12d ago
I’m hunting Clare county and while I’ve seen more does then bucks; the does are tiny. I saw 8 yesterday and I passed on an ok 3 pointer; all the does looked like yearlings to him and he’s a 2.5 year old
Buck at best.
I filled my restricted tag and I hope to grab any decent size now: can’t eat horns.
Everyone keeps saying we have a doe problem: but I don’t want to shoot a tiny doe when I have to pay for the tags and processing. If it’s an issue, print a free
Doe tag.
I think you have a lot of hunters who aren’t patient and are unable to sit on some deer; assess their size;
And are comfortable with letting them🙄🤢;
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u/thesneakymonkey 12d ago
If anything I think it’ll lose some folks. People will poach more (having their kids buy tags or whatever and using it themselves). Buck quality won’t increase if this is happening. And actual hunter numbers will fall (despite what the case number of tags bought shows if this is happening). Heck people around here can’t even stop baiting let along follow new tag rules. I’m happy we get one more season with the combo. Always been a dream of mine to tag out on two mature bucks. One last try.
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u/Thick-Driver7448 12d ago
If they would bring back baiting, we’d see a big increase in hunters.
I understand the whole no-baiting to stop cwd thing. But how is it any different than deer eating apples from an apple tree, the stuff we plant in food plots, the corn from a farmer’s field, etc? And now we can have a bait pile in our backyard but not in the woods?
For a state that wants to lower the number of deer we have, I’ve never understood why they make it so damn hard for us to do, and then wonder why deer harvest and the number of hunters are going down. I understand the one-buck rule so we get bigger bucks. But if you want us to shoot does, why not change it so we earn a buck tag? Shoot 1-2 does first and then you can shoot a buck. Even if they just do it for a year or 2
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u/ShillinTheVillain 12d ago edited 12d ago
Unless you're in the UP, you don't need bait to kill deer
Edit: to clarify, I'm not being critical of baiting. I mean that the bait ban shouldn't be the reason they don't hunt. You can be successful without it.
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u/Thick-Driver7448 12d ago
You also don’t need a 2-inch cutting diameter broadhead, a rifle, camo, etc. We can go back and forth on what you need vs don’t need. It’s about giving yourself the best chance at success.
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u/ShillinTheVillain 12d ago
Sorry, I didn't mean that to sound critical of bait. I meant that that shouldn't be the reason people don't hunt.
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u/LongWalk86 12d ago
I don't bait myself, but then I hunt where I live and can go out and put the time in before hand scouting and then put lots of hours in the stand if needed. In past years I have not been nearly so lucky and only had a couple days to get out the entire season. You can argue if it's "needed", but it sure does help your odds. If the DNR wants hunter taking more deer, they gotta help out the casual hunter as well. The die-hards are getting more and more rare.
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u/GonzoTheWhatever 12d ago
Hunters up north never stopped baiting. Gas stations constantly sell out of food bags and I see it in the woods all the time. The only ones who stopped baiting are us rule follower types.
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u/Bows_n_Bikes 12d ago
This seems like a good solution honestly. If someone is so hell bent on only shooting bucks that he gets his wife into hunting for the second buck, we as a community gained another hunter.
I don’t think that’ll happen much though. I think the more likely scenario is that guys will have a “target buck” on camera and will pass up other nice bucks all season while waiting for him to show up. Then they’ll shoot a small 6 on the last day to avoid tag soup.
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u/AleksanderSuave 12d ago
You could just as easily see the number of untagged bucks increase as a result of this, and never even know it.
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u/DetroitLionCity 12d ago
Absolutely will also be the case but I know legit processors require you to have your deer tagged and a lot of the deer hunters I know are lazy when it comes to processing their deer.
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u/AleksanderSuave 12d ago
I think it’s a mix.
Up north? Odds of processing your own are higher.
Metro areas? Guys will go to processors. Some processors near me check that the tag was reported with DNR, and ask for confirmation #, others just ask for the tag # for their log book.
I could also see an increase of people shooting deer, seeing them be “smaller than expected” and then leaving them entirely, to not waste a tag.
I saw a very small doe tossed out on public land, with the area around the loins clearly cut out (clear cut lines on both sides, not tears from an animal).
I bet that increases with this.
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u/Effect_Sure 11d ago
I live about an hour south of the bridge... this last weekend, bow opener, the once filled woods with hunting camps is now empty...
I don't harvest the bucks on my property... I only harvest the does. And yes, you're welcome for saving them for you, Lol.
Unfortunately, one of the big issues I think this one buck will encourage, is more poaching. Just my opinion.
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u/PutridDropBear 11d ago
Zero chance raw deer hunter numbers will increase.
Less than zero chance raw deer hunter numbers increase as a result of the moronic decisions by the idiots on the NRC.
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u/hookup94 8d ago
Probably won’t be out hunting this year or next. Every farm around has posted plenty pictures of EHD and the results. Our herd got decimated this year…
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u/Silver-Boat-2433 3d ago
This doesn't change anything for private property hunters. For public land hunters, the rules are making it more difficult to be successful. It's also stupid to have point restrictions. Either you want deer numbers down or you're just making dumb rules for private property owners to not follow
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u/llama-llama-goose 13d ago
The number of people shooting two bucks was already very small. The number of people going through the hassle of doing this will be even smaller.