By David Fleet
Editor
Ortonville — Stop chasing antlers.
That’s the message from Chad Stewart, deer, elk and moose management specialist Michigan Department of Natural Resources to Michigan deer hunters.
“Our harvest decisions we make between October and December can improve our deer herd, influence safety on our roads, support our farmers and benefit our forests,” said Stewart.
Stewart said killing an adult buck has little effect on herd size during an interview with The Citizen newspaper last week.
“We need to quickly, and substantially, increase our antlerless deer harvest across much of our Lower Peninsula.”
According to Michigan DNR data 75% of hunters don’t take an antlerless deer, while only 17% of hunters take one anterless deer in a season.