It's not over until it's over, and that date is Nov. 30.

Until then, Charlie Reinertson suggests hunters stay in the woods.

Why? "Even a grumpy guy like me gets lucky once in awhile," he explained.

Reinertson, owner of Harbor Construction, had only seen one other deer in 10 hunts leading up to Thanksgiving morning. Hunting near Maple City, Reinertson admittedly snuck late into his blind about 7:20 a.m., and shook off some snow. Moments later, a deer — at the time Reinertson didn't know if he was searching for a buck or a doe — took a few steps, then circled back into view to figure out the object of the commotion.

"He must have been coming back to see what that sound was," said Reinertson, who until recently was known to harvest at least one buck a season. Now the buck was in the open at 50 yards, and Reinertson made a steady shot that took down a massive 8-point that will likely rough score at about 126 inches on the Boone and Crockett scale. That's big enough for the Michigan record book.

Reinertson both blames and credits quality deer management rules for his deer season. He remembers a decade ago when deer numbers were much higher — farmers said they were out of control, and had the crop damage to prove it — and a hunter in a good spot might expect to see 20 to 30 deer on opening day.

Reinertson and his twin sons had only seen five deer through seven days of the firearms deer season before he connected on the trophy.

The goal of QDM management is to keep deer numbers below the carrying capacity of the land while protecting smaller bucks from being harvested. In theory, the deer herd contains more and larger bucks in a population model that mimics what Mother Nature would provide without man taking on the role as dominant predator.

So what does that mean for hunters?

"You have to be patient. It's a pain. I used to like seeing a few deer," said Reinertson.

The Leelanau deer season is not following the statewide pattern, as the Department of Natural Resources is reporting that hunters are seeing more deer. However, bucks harvested have sported smaller antlers than a year ago.

DNR wildlife biologist Rich Earle said a summer drought and a poor acorn crop in the fall of 2006 are being blamed.

"This year it's not a bumper crop, but acorns were plentiful," said Earle, which bodes well for next season. Earle's territory includes Leelanau, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Benzie and Manistee counties.

But you can throw out statewide or even regional reports when discussing the whitetail hunt in Leelanau, which is the only county in Michigan wholly enrolled in a quality deer management program. Bucks must have at least three points on one antler to be taken here. Earle said several bucks with respectable racks from Leelanau County have been taken to DNR check stations, and he expects to learn of many more as volunteers for the Leelanau Whitetails organization visit county deer processing shops to gather information.

State conservation officer Mike Borkovich reports the rut, which is the downfall for many otherwise nocturnal big bucks, has extended late into the season.

"Most of the bucks taken are chasing does, and some of them are in food sources. (The rut) is tapering, but it's the longest rut I've ever seen," said Borkovich.