Michigan’s deer in the record, from 1859 to this November

“Since the 1950s, the DNR has used mail surveys that were sent to randomly selected hunters to estimate harvest.” That is how the 2026 Deer Hunting Regulations Summary, read Oct. 30, 2026, begins its answer to why Michigan made deer harvest reporting mandatory. The same section says the share of hunters returning those surveys “declined from an average of more than 70% in the early 2000s to 33% in 2021,” and that “Low response rates can lead to inaccurate estimates.”

“Beginning in 2022, there was a new requirement of all successful deer hunters to report their deer harvest through the DNR’s website or mobile app,” the summary says, and statewide it applies to every successful hunter with a state-issued deer license. The deadline and how to file are in the tagging and reporting guide in this issue. The summary adds that “Michigan is one of the later states to adopt mandatory harvest reporting.”

That makes two kinds of number. A survey estimate is built from the answers of a sample of hunters; a reported count is the number of harvest reports hunters filed. Every figure here from 2022 on is the second kind, from the Deer Harvest Report Summary page on the DNR’s eLicense site, which labels its totals “Total based on reported harvests.” None is a DNR harvest survey estimate. The summary says the DNR “will continue to do its traditional post-season deer harvest survey for a few years to compare harvest estimates from both the old and new systems.” No such comparison is in the pages and documents read for this piece, so the record gives no bridge between the two kinds of number.

What the live report page offers

The Deer Harvest Report Summary sits on the DNR’s eLicense licensing site rather than on michigan.gov, and the DNR’s harvest reporting page links to the eLicense Harvest Report Summary. Read on Oct. 30, 2026, it offered license years 2022 to 2026; a Hunting Season filter that starts at “All”; a choice to summarize by “County” or “DMU” (a deer management unit, one of the areas the DNR divides the state into for deer management); and an “Export to CSV” button.

The Hunting Season list differs by license year, so the tables below use the All setting for every year and make no season-by-season comparison.

The long record, 1859 to 2014

For the years before reporting, the record is the DNR’s own chronology, set out in the Michigan Deer Management Plan (DNR Wildlife Division Report No. 3626, the 2016 update, with data through 2015). Every entry below is a statewide entry in the plan’s words, and the herd sizes are the plan’s estimates or those of the people it names, not harvest reports. How the Nov. 15 opener came to be belongs to the November 15 feature in this issue.

Year	What the plan records
1859	The Legislature limits the taking of deer “to the period of August 1 through December 31,” the first regulation to limit the taking of deer in Michigan.
1887	The plan records that “the use of dogs and artificial lights became illegal.”
1895	The season is shortened to 25 days, with the first bag limit (five deer) and the first deer license: “14,477 licenses for 50 cents each,” with 22 non-residents paying $25.
1909	The bag limit is reduced to three deer, and “market hunting and the selling of venison became illegal.”
1914	Game Commissioner William R. Oates “estimated that there were only 45,000 deer in Michigan.” That year 21,061 resident licenses and 178 non-resident deer licenses were sold.
1921	The “three inch rule was enacted limiting hunters to antlered deer only.” The plan adds that the deer herd began to rebound.
1937	Ilo Bartlett, the state’s first deer biologist, “reported that there were 1.125 million deer in the state.”
Late 1940s	The herd “peaked at about 1.5 million deer.” The plan says antlerless deer were again allowed to be taken by hunters.
1971	The Legislature directs the DNR to develop the Deer Range Improvement Program (DRIP), designed to acquire and manage deer habitat.
1995	The herd reaches “a new peak of 2.2 million deer.”
1997	The plan’s high for annual deer hunters: “870,000.”
1998	“State records for deer hunting participation were set”: 785,000 hunters “pursued deer during Michigan’s firearm deer season,” and “an estimated 582,000 deer were harvested.”
2013	Deer hunters “provided between 26-33 million pounds of venison to nearly two million individuals,” the plan says.
2014	Annual deer hunters: 616,000.

Four seasons of reported harvest by county

License years 2022 to 2025 are the first four complete years of mandatory reporting. The statewide totals below are read from the Deer Harvest Report Summary page with Hunting Season on All and Summarize By on County; in each year the 83 county rows add up to the page’s Summary Total.

License year	Antlered	Antlerless	Total reported	Page “as of” stamp
2022	172,021	131,033	303,054	10/30/2026 10:41 AM
2023	155,649	118,633	274,282	10/30/2026 10:41 AM
2024	157,271	142,221	299,492	10/30/2026 10:42 AM
2025	153,697	142,150	295,847	10/30/2026 10:42 AM

The reported total fell from 303,054 in 2022 to 274,282 in 2023, a drop of 28,772 (303,054 minus 274,282), then stood at 299,492 in 2024 and 295,847 in 2025. The page gives counts, not reasons, and nothing read for this piece says what share of harvested deer are reported, so no explanation for the year-to-year differences is offered.

County by county, Sanilac County has the highest reported total in 2022 (8,150), 2023 (8,311) and 2024 (9,544). Saginaw County is highest in 2025 (9,369), with Sanilac second (8,784). Keweenaw County has the lowest in all four years (158, 93, 161 and 118). A county’s count is a count of reports filed there; by itself it does not say how many deer the county holds or how many hunters went out.

License year 2022, reported harvest by county

County	Antlered	Antlerless	Total
Alcona	2,250	1,996	4,246
Alger	537	89	626
Allegan	3,193	2,636	5,829
Alpena	2,182	1,362	3,544
Antrim	1,248	1,023	2,271
Arenac	1,941	1,252	3,193
Baraga	693	58	751
Barry	2,787	2,245	5,032
Bay	1,304	786	2,090
Benzie	768	644	1,412
Berrien	1,600	1,235	2,835
Branch	2,288	2,028	4,316
Calhoun	3,462	2,595	6,057
Cass	1,821	1,493	3,314
Charlevoix	897	683	1,580
Cheboygan	1,382	747	2,129
Chippewa	928	214	1,142
Clare	2,628	2,361	4,989
Clinton	3,441	2,774	6,215
Crawford	1,160	1,249	2,409
Delta	2,375	1,308	3,683
Dickinson	1,353	662	2,015
Eaton	2,792	1,995	4,787
Emmet	781	550	1,331
Genesee	2,700	1,700	4,400
Gladwin	2,641	2,192	4,833
Gogebic	468	49	517
Grand Traverse	1,085	1,175	2,260
Gratiot	3,090	2,350	5,440
Hillsdale	3,042	2,593	5,635
Houghton	885	122	1,007
Huron	2,654	1,925	4,579
Ingham	2,719	2,084	4,803
Ionia	3,544	2,639	6,183
Iosco	1,788	1,598	3,386
Iron	1,401	913	2,314
Isabella	3,049	2,291	5,340
Jackson	4,135	3,006	7,141
Kalamazoo	2,155	1,561	3,716
Kalkaska	959	982	1,941
Kent	3,365	2,160	5,525
Keweenaw	155	3	158
Lake	1,355	1,872	3,227
Lapeer	3,832	3,144	6,976
Leelanau	743	571	1,314
Lenawee	2,557	2,075	4,632
Livingston	2,894	2,011	4,905
Luce	294	21	315
Mackinac	626	209	835
Macomb	1,214	908	2,122
Manistee	1,525	1,718	3,243
Marquette	1,836	251	2,087
Mason	2,150	2,577	4,727
Mecosta	3,248	2,200	5,448
Menominee	3,354	2,052	5,406
Midland	2,481	1,824	4,305
Missaukee	1,505	1,394	2,899
Monroe	1,096	771	1,867
Montcalm	4,797	3,306	8,103
Montmorency	1,233	1,554	2,787
Muskegon	1,750	1,170	2,920
Newaygo	3,938	3,484	7,422
Oakland	2,054	1,388	3,442
Oceana	2,526	2,498	5,024
Ogemaw	2,383	2,108	4,491
Ontonagon	892	110	1,002
Osceola	2,526	2,141	4,667
Oscoda	1,073	1,334	2,407
Otsego	1,064	817	1,881
Ottawa	2,077	1,681	3,758
Presque Isle	2,044	1,324	3,368
Roscommon	1,510	1,407	2,917
Saginaw	3,615	2,662	6,277
Sanilac	4,399	3,751	8,150
Schoolcraft	760	168	928
Shiawassee	3,205	2,387	5,592
St. Clair	3,525	2,614	6,139
St. Joseph	1,778	1,757	3,535
Tuscola	3,711	2,940	6,651
Van Buren	2,543	1,978	4,521
Washtenaw	2,698	2,191	4,889
Wayne	356	193	549
Wexford	1,208	1,144	2,352
Summary total	172,021	131,033	303,054

License year 2023, reported harvest by county

County	Antlered	Antlerless	Total
Alcona	2,169	1,464	3,633
Alger	432	50	482
Allegan	3,224	2,566	5,790
Alpena	2,139	1,235	3,374
Antrim	1,114	890	2,004
Arenac	1,757	1,183	2,940
Baraga	423	51	474
Barry	2,668	2,128	4,796
Bay	1,114	730	1,844
Benzie	678	566	1,244
Berrien	1,550	1,203	2,753
Branch	2,398	2,394	4,792
Calhoun	3,366	2,682	6,048
Cass	1,637	1,548	3,185
Charlevoix	895	592	1,487
Cheboygan	1,170	620	1,790
Chippewa	825	175	1,000
Clare	2,262	1,789	4,051
Clinton	3,236	2,699	5,935
Crawford	977	790	1,767
Delta	2,080	849	2,929
Dickinson	1,029	513	1,542
Eaton	2,607	2,167	4,774
Emmet	694	378	1,072
Genesee	2,480	1,579	4,059
Gladwin	2,086	1,657	3,743
Gogebic	272	44	316
Grand Traverse	1,002	926	1,928
Gratiot	2,941	2,432	5,373
Hillsdale	3,045	2,640	5,685
Houghton	578	119	697
Huron	2,717	2,077	4,794
Ingham	2,502	2,207	4,709
Ionia	2,981	2,560	5,541
Iosco	1,546	1,243	2,789
Iron	946	494	1,440
Isabella	2,895	2,170	5,065
Jackson	3,829	3,138	6,967
Kalamazoo	2,112	1,577	3,689
Kalkaska	862	762	1,624
Kent	2,843	2,025	4,868
Keweenaw	90	3	93
Lake	1,150	1,347	2,497
Lapeer	3,501	2,803	6,304
Leelanau	732	520	1,252
Lenawee	2,336	1,868	4,204
Livingston	2,642	1,883	4,525
Luce	240	11	251
Mackinac	540	173	713
Macomb	1,078	777	1,855
Manistee	1,428	1,323	2,751
Marquette	1,126	122	1,248
Mason	2,051	2,075	4,126
Mecosta	2,691	1,983	4,674
Menominee	2,951	1,479	4,430
Midland	1,932	1,479	3,411
Missaukee	1,501	1,140	2,641
Monroe	982	710	1,692
Montcalm	3,913	2,981	6,894
Montmorency	1,046	940	1,986
Muskegon	1,661	1,324	2,985
Newaygo	3,409	3,159	6,568
Oakland	1,911	1,311	3,222
Oceana	2,407	2,404	4,811
Ogemaw	1,998	1,560	3,558
Ontonagon	507	93	600
Osceola	2,414	1,942	4,356
Oscoda	986	878	1,864
Otsego	832	541	1,373
Ottawa	1,927	1,516	3,443
Presque Isle	1,996	1,160	3,156
Roscommon	1,091	922	2,013
Saginaw	3,706	2,526	6,232
Sanilac	4,310	4,001	8,311
Schoolcraft	580	130	710
Shiawassee	2,980	2,406	5,386
St. Clair	3,190	2,480	5,670
St. Joseph	1,784	1,919	3,703
Tuscola	3,447	2,761	6,208
Van Buren	2,459	2,004	4,463
Washtenaw	2,543	1,962	4,505
Wayne	365	174	539
Wexford	1,135	931	2,066
Summary total	155,649	118,633	274,282

License year 2024, reported harvest by county

County	Antlered	Antlerless	Total
Alcona	2,311	1,953	4,264
Alger	498	48	546
Allegan	3,097	3,073	6,170
Alpena	2,294	2,005	4,299
Antrim	1,178	1,410	2,588
Arenac	1,909	1,459	3,368
Baraga	473	79	552
Barry	2,217	2,185	4,402
Bay	1,146	1,175	2,321
Benzie	749	661	1,410
Berrien	1,426	1,340	2,766
Branch	2,309	2,948	5,257
Calhoun	2,746	2,767	5,513
Cass	1,021	1,054	2,075
Charlevoix	949	712	1,661
Cheboygan	1,383	820	2,203
Chippewa	934	127	1,061
Clare	2,277	2,003	4,280
Clinton	3,341	3,272	6,613
Crawford	1,004	1,102	2,106
Delta	2,448	1,295	3,743
Dickinson	1,404	777	2,181
Eaton	2,886	2,884	5,770
Emmet	766	526	1,292
Genesee	2,444	1,787	4,231
Gladwin	2,350	2,180	4,530
Gogebic	341	38	379
Grand Traverse	1,057	1,127	2,184
Gratiot	3,057	3,619	6,676
Hillsdale	3,004	3,314	6,318
Houghton	810	132	942
Huron	2,703	2,659	5,362
Ingham	2,659	2,843	5,502
Ionia	3,020	3,151	6,171
Iosco	1,575	1,300	2,875
Iron	1,136	585	1,721
Isabella	2,844	2,470	5,314
Jackson	3,944	3,804	7,748
Kalamazoo	1,653	1,577	3,230
Kalkaska	915	920	1,835
Kent	2,240	1,900	4,140
Keweenaw	157	4	161
Lake	1,138	1,206	2,344
Lapeer	3,514	3,467	6,981
Leelanau	892	719	1,611
Lenawee	2,400	2,317	4,717
Livingston	2,594	2,281	4,875
Luce	253	9	262
Mackinac	699	76	775
Macomb	1,138	1,029	2,167
Manistee	1,454	1,326	2,780
Marquette	1,512	154	1,666
Mason	1,995	2,326	4,321
Mecosta	2,720	2,027	4,747
Menominee	3,478	2,309	5,787
Midland	2,125	2,156	4,281
Missaukee	1,542	1,425	2,967
Monroe	1,141	1,004	2,145
Montcalm	3,634	3,287	6,921
Montmorency	1,401	1,401	2,802
Muskegon	1,550	1,386	2,936
Newaygo	3,325	3,570	6,895
Oakland	1,678	1,295	2,973
Oceana	2,292	2,315	4,607
Ogemaw	2,186	1,910	4,096
Ontonagon	617	59	676
Osceola	2,515	2,033	4,548
Oscoda	1,096	1,194	2,290
Otsego	921	664	1,585
Ottawa	1,712	1,551	3,263
Presque Isle	2,223	1,614	3,837
Roscommon	1,159	1,042	2,201
Saginaw	3,938	3,994	7,932
Sanilac	4,373	5,171	9,544
Schoolcraft	661	108	769
Shiawassee	3,087	3,083	6,170
St. Clair	3,300	3,046	6,346
St. Joseph	935	1,294	2,229
Tuscola	3,365	3,771	7,136
Van Buren	1,905	1,838	3,743
Washtenaw	2,602	2,468	5,070
Wayne	335	190	525
Wexford	1,191	1,021	2,212
Summary total	157,271	142,221	299,492

License year 2025, reported harvest by county

County	Antlered	Antlerless	Total
Alcona	2,162	1,909	4,071
Alger	457	64	521
Allegan	3,070	3,380	6,450
Alpena	2,258	1,731	3,989
Antrim	1,020	1,133	2,153
Arenac	2,027	1,644	3,671
Baraga	450	123	573
Barry	1,829	1,866	3,695
Bay	1,288	1,285	2,573
Benzie	696	627	1,323
Berrien	1,269	1,277	2,546
Branch	2,503	3,171	5,674
Calhoun	2,867	2,917	5,784
Cass	833	880	1,713
Charlevoix	832	548	1,380
Cheboygan	1,237	637	1,874
Chippewa	856	127	983
Clare	2,311	1,919	4,230
Clinton	3,311	3,636	6,947
Crawford	706	829	1,535
Delta	2,113	1,452	3,565
Dickinson	1,211	753	1,964
Eaton	2,866	3,004	5,870
Emmet	705	453	1,158
Genesee	2,862	2,095	4,957
Gladwin	2,432	2,153	4,585
Gogebic	381	63	444
Grand Traverse	923	914	1,837
Gratiot	3,195	3,730	6,925
Hillsdale	3,247	3,520	6,767
Houghton	587	243	830
Huron	2,761	2,694	5,455
Ingham	2,664	2,756	5,420
Ionia	2,876	3,269	6,145
Iosco	1,574	1,321	2,895
Iron	1,028	577	1,605
Isabella	2,891	2,564	5,455
Jackson	3,246	3,428	6,674
Kalamazoo	1,814	1,515	3,329
Kalkaska	666	632	1,298
Kent	2,337	1,885	4,222
Keweenaw	113	5	118
Lake	928	892	1,820
Lapeer	3,656	3,585	7,241
Leelanau	890	808	1,698
Lenawee	2,777	2,991	5,768
Livingston	2,878	2,594	5,472
Luce	223	37	260
Mackinac	698	88	786
Macomb	1,161	1,199	2,360
Manistee	1,332	1,107	2,439
Marquette	1,241	261	1,502
Mason	1,982	2,312	4,294
Mecosta	2,477	1,876	4,353
Menominee	3,136	2,319	5,455
Midland	2,508	2,523	5,031
Missaukee	1,213	1,290	2,503
Monroe	1,329	1,070	2,399
Montcalm	3,814	3,598	7,412
Montmorency	1,199	1,266	2,465
Muskegon	1,506	1,313	2,819
Newaygo	2,937	2,790	5,727
Oakland	2,226	1,557	3,783
Oceana	2,289	2,300	4,589
Ogemaw	2,064	1,945	4,009
Ontonagon	625	87	712
Osceola	2,217	1,963	4,180
Oscoda	791	814	1,605
Otsego	732	468	1,200
Ottawa	1,843	1,767	3,610
Presque Isle	2,113	1,517	3,630
Roscommon	1,043	950	1,993
Saginaw	4,511	4,858	9,369
Sanilac	4,002	4,782	8,784
Schoolcraft	652	138	790
Shiawassee	3,171	3,406	6,577
St. Clair	3,125	3,003	6,128
St. Joseph	1,069	1,301	2,370
Tuscola	3,380	3,720	7,100
Van Buren	1,906	1,742	3,648
Washtenaw	2,291	2,121	4,412
Wayne	438	255	693
Wexford	850	808	1,658
Summary total	153,697	142,150	295,847

This season so far

On Oct. 31, 2026, at 6:00 PM, the same page gave a 2026 Report Total of 71,639 under the line “Total based on reported harvests”: 35,646 antlered and 35,993 antlerless. These are partial-season reports, not a season total and not a survey estimate. The page’s count is live, and this is the Oct. 31 reading, stamped 10/31/2026 06:00 PM; the summary says the system will provide “real-time summaries of the number and types of deer harvested by county and management unit.” At the 6:00 PM stamp, Saginaw County led the 2026 county table with 2,880, then Montcalm County with 2,146, and Keweenaw County was lowest with 12.

Why the numbers differ

The summary itself describes the system as allowing “a near real-time estimate of deer harvest as it occurs”; this piece uses the page’s own label, “Total based on reported harvests,” a count of reports. The plan’s record for 1998, by contrast, is a figure it labels an estimate: “an estimated 582,000 deer were harvested.” The 2022 table above is a count: 303,054 harvests reported. Reading the gap between them as a decline would compare two methods, and the record gives no bridge between them.

The hunter figures are not one series either. In the plan, 785,000 is the number of hunters who “pursued deer during Michigan’s firearm deer season” in 1998, a state record for participation. The plan’s “a high of 870,000 in 1997 to 616,000 in 2014” counts annual deer hunters.

Three archival plates

Each caption gives only what the catalog record says about the picture, its date and the collection that holds it; no record names a photographer. None shows the 2026 season, and none is evidence for the numbers above.

What is unsettled

The record read for this piece leaves three things open. First, the years between the two sets of numbers: the plan’s figures run through 2015 and the reported tables begin with 2022, and hunter, license and harvest totals for 2015 through 2021 are not in what was read, nor are hunter counts after 2014. Second, the survey side of the changeover: no 2025-season harvest survey report was located for this piece. Third, how the reported counts relate to the survey’s estimates, and what share of harvested deer are reported; no page or document read gives either.

To find your own county, open the Deer Harvest Report Summary on the DNR’s eLicense site, pick a license year, set Summarize By to County and read your county’s row. Whatever number you carry to camp, carry its year, its kind, reported count or survey estimate, and the stamp the page gave it.