DNR proposes new hunting regulations due to excessive deer population

Farmer Jackie Beougher is tired of seeing deer depleting her crops.

The owner of Beougher Farms on Meridian Road said deer have been eating her crops for several years.

“When the seeds come out of the ground, they start nibbling on them, especially the soybeans. They love soy,” Beougher said. “Later, when (the deer) get bigger and the corn is ripe, right before it’s picked, they come in… they eat like four rows.”

She says she expects to lose some of her crop to deer every year, which has a negative impact on her farm’s finances.

“We have to kill these deer from here because it’s not our responsibility to feed them,” Beougher said.

She doesn’t hunt herself, but has obtained 10 deer hunting permits that allow local hunters to shoot the animals because of crop damage.

Malcolm Brubaker, a hunter for about 40 years, has been helping his neighbors, including Beougher, keep the deer population in check. He said he’s also heard from other local farmers that the deer are damaging their crops and even posing a risk of transmitting diseases to their cattle.

Brubaker also gives away free venison to people. He usually lets people know on social media that he’s going hunting and they come to pick up the meat.

“I prepared a short post on Facebook and within two hours, 45 people showed up and said they would gladly take deer meat for their uncle and deer meat for their parents,” he said.

Meanwhile, state officials discussed proposed hunting regulations aimed at controlling deer populations with the public at a meeting in Gaylord on June 26, and will make a decision on the matter on July 11.

Department of Natural Resources biologist Chad Fedewa said southern Michigan in particular is experiencing an overpopulation of deer, leading not only to agricultural damage but also to a lack of ability to regenerate forests.

“(The deer) have probably reached population levels or higher that we would like to see them at,” Fedewa said. “Once the numbers get to a certain level, we see a lot of negative impacts from the deer.”

Brubaker said one reason for the overpopulation of deer is that there are far fewer hunters today than he saw as a child.

“If people had started … hunting more deer than usual, we would not be in the current situation where the population has reached almost critical levels,” he said.

In the same vein, Fedewa said the DNR is not only seeing fewer hunters, but also finding that those hunters aren’t hunting very much. He said many hunters only kill one deer a year.

The number of people picking more than two fruits a year is “quite negligible,” he added.

“We’ve tried to change the regulations as much as we can to encourage hunters to hunt more antlerless deer (hinds) to reduce the population,” Fedewa said. “But we still see things going in the opposite direction at this point.”

Fedewa said a combination license is available, which is two tags that can be used on female and/or male deer. A person can purchase an additional 10 deer tags per year.

“It’s interesting because when I first started hunting, you were allowed to shoot one buck,” Brubaker said. “And if you were lucky and got a permit for a doe, you could shoot her.”

Fedewa said regulated hunting is the main method of managing the deer population because winters in the Lower Peninsula are not typically severe and deer are not attacked by predators as often.

To achieve the long-term goal of reducing the deer population, the DNR is working on a deer management initiative, has implemented universal antlerless deer hunting licenses for every county and is seeking to increase funding for the Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger program.