Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

Michigan's firearm deer hunt starts Saturday and runs through Sunday, November 30. Hunting will be open statewide on public and private lands.

According to the DNR, hunters last year harvested nearly 180,000 deer during the two-week regular firearm season, which was about half of the total deer harvest from all seasons combined. Additional upcoming harvest periods include late segment archery, muzzleloader season, late antlerless firearm and others.

This year could bring a strong deer hunting season, mirroring a robust 2024, although hunters will encounter varying conditions across the state. Hunters in the northern Lower Peninsula, for example, should be aware of the lingering effects of the devastating March 2025 ice storm that downed trees and limbs across 13 counties.

Online harvest reporting is required for all hunters who successfully take a deer. You can report your deer through the DNR Hunt Fish app or at Michigan.gov/DNRHarvestReport.

Reporting your harvest gives the DNR a real-time snapshot of how the season is going.

So far in 2025, epizootic hemorrhagic disease has been confirmed in wild deer in at least 16 counties in southern Michigan: Berrien, Calhoun, Cass, Clinton, Eaton, Gratiot, Hillsdale, Ingham, Ionia, Jackson, Lenawee, Livingston, Mecosta, Saginaw, Van Buren and Washtenaw. Initial confirmation of EHD mortalities were announced in early September, and frost and snow in early November killed the adult midges that transmit the EHD virus by biting deer.

Though EHD can cause high deer mortality, the impact tends to be localized, with some areas seeing heavy losses while nearby areas show no effects. There is no evidence humans can contract the EDH virus.

Most hunters won’t need to change their harvest plans and should still target antlerless deer. However, some hunters in areas that were highly affected by EHD may consider modifying their harvest plans to reduce hunting pressure while the deer population recovers. After a widespread EHD outbreak in 2012, local herds showed signs of rebounding after just a couple of years and were fully recovered after four to five years.

The DNR also is asking for hunter assistance with efforts to monitor chronic wasting disease again this year. CWD is a contagious illness that affects the nervous system of deer and elk. This year, the DNR is conducting focused testing for CWD in 11 counties in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula: Baraga, Chippewa, Dickinson, Houghton, Iosco, Keweenaw, Luce, Mackinac, Ogemaw, Ontonagon and Schoolcraft.

CWD testing is free for deer harvested in these counties when submitted through DNR drop boxes and staffed sample submission sites. If you would like to keep the antlers, remove them from the head. All heads tested for CWD are also screened for bovine tuberculosis. Results are posted to the DNR lab results webpage.

Hunters in all other counties are eligible for free CWD testing by using a free lymph node kit that includes overnight shipping. Hunters must extract lymph nodes to submit to Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Results from deer submitted to MSU will be sent directly to the hunter and will not appear on the DNR lab results webpage.

In many areas in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, there are more deer than the habitat can support. This overpopulation can cause problems for people, such as more vehicle collisions, damage to crops and gardens, and the spread of wildlife diseases.

Hunting regulations are in place to encourage hunters to harvest more antlerless deer. Hunters play a critical role in helping to manage deer numbers, which is important to protect public safety, reduce property damage and limit disease spread.

If you’re hunting in an area with high deer numbers or an area where chronic wasting disease or bovine tuberculosis are present, consider taking a doe this year to do your part inmanaging Michigan’s deer herd.

Purchase a universal antlerless license for $20 online at eLicense, through the DNR Hunt Fish app or anywhere DNR licenses are sold.

The DNR is saying "thank you" to Michigan hunters this fall with a series of Hunter Appreciation: Deer Drop-In Mondays at locations across the state. There are two more drop-in Mondays coming up: Nov. 17 and Dec. 1. Both events run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Each Drop-In Monday offers the chance to bring in a deer or lower jaw for aging, pick up free hunting swag like patches, stickers, hand warmers, field-dressing gloves and more, and connect with DNR staff and fellow hunters and talk about the season.