By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-936215.mp3
Lansing, MI – Deer hunting is an annual tradition in Michigan, but it's losing popularity. Fewer deer hunters take to the woods every year. But even people who don't hunt or eat venison need to pay attention during hunting season. Michigan ranks third in the nation for deer car collisions. And about half of those accidents happen in October, November and December.
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When hunting season starts, Skip's Sport Shop in Grayling runs a buck pole that could hold more than 30 deer.
"We got big ones and little ones, weight can vary, depending on the food source for the year," says shop owner Jack Millikin.
Millikin says the bucks hanging from the pole are smaller this year than he expected, but they're all trophies. He points to one missing one of its antlers.
"You know, and I'm sure that's got a big story behind it, you know, that will be told for years and years at the hunting camp and at Thanksgiving dinner," he says.
Firearm hunting season in Michigan runs the second half of November, before the big snows and right after mating season. Millikin says that creates a lot of movement and commotion in the herd.
"The does are nervous and they get pushed, and they're not being cautious, and the bucks kind of what they call lose their head because all they want to do is chase the doe," Millikin says.
"Deer are pretty productive animals," says Rick Campa with the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University. He says it's not uncommon for a doe to have twins or triplets every year in southern Michigan, where winters are milder, and there are more farms and gardens on private land.
One hundred years ago the deer population was nearly wiped out in southern Michigan, and the state started to regulate hunting. With controlled licenses issued, the deer population in lower Michigan rose steadily from the 1960s to the 1990s. Today there are fewer hunters, and the deer population in southern Michigan is a third larger than the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment would like. Campa says the overflowing deer population during mating season becomes more than just good targets for hunters.
"The bucks are looking for does, and they've got one thing on their mind, and it's not food and it's not looking both ways when they cross the road," Campa says.
Most deer car collisions happen in the southern third of the state where there are more deer, more people, and more roads.
There were about 61,000 deer crashes last year, more than the year before.
"However we do think deer crashes are underreported, so we think deer crashes are more about 80,000 a year," says the Insurance Institute of Michigan's Lori Conarton. She's also chair of the Michigan Deer Crash Coalition. She advises drivers "Don't Veer For Deer" because it's safer not to swerve if a deer runs onto the road. She says that way accidents with other cars or objects can be avoided, and there's less risk of serious damage or injury. The average vehicle repair cost for a deer collision is $2,100.
"And that's all put in to what insurance companies pay out in losses, which actually impacts premiums over the long term," Conarton says.
So the more deer-related collisions, the more Michigan's auto insurance rates could go up.
"So you put more cars and more deer together and it equals more collisions," says Conarton.
Hunting is the most effective way to manage the deer population, and that's where the DNRE comes in.
The department's Brent Rudolph says the number of hunters has declined by about one percent every year for the past decade.
"You add to that there's still a real challenge for us to get hunters to take antlerless deer, take females, take does, that makes that real population management impact," Rudolph says.
Does aren't trophies like bucks are, but are a good source of food. Rudolph says not everyone needs that much venison, but culling the herd still has value.
The buck pole at Skip's Sport Shop is for bucks only; the trophies. But Jack Millikin says all deer need to be managed as a crop.
"These animals, if they weren't harvested, whether it's hit on the road by a car, or harvested by a hunter, mother nature would take care of that," Millikin says.
Millikin says it's important to attract new and young hunters to the sport, but he says kids have less time and interest in hunting than they used to. The state already reduced the minimum age for bow and firearm hunting, and a new bill in the legislature seeks to eliminate the minimum altogether.