Think of deer herd density in Leelanau County as a checkerboard. Whether trying to avoid killing a deer while driving or hoping to hook up while hunting, the difference between success and failure depends upon whether you’re on a white or a black section.
That was one result of an admittedly nonscientific, countywide deer survey showing that the herd is little changed over the past year in size, doe-to-buck ratio, and disproportion.
“It’s just real uneven across the county,” said Clay McNitt, one of the leaders in a movement more than 20 years ago to improve deer management in Leelanau. “In the southwest end of the county there are a lot of deer. And there are a lot of deer in other spots. But in other areas we hardly turned up any deer at all.”
The survey is consistently inconsistent, with changes in weather and farm crops the biggest variations. The 2024 survey was conducted about a month ago on a rainy, somewhat windy evening, when 10 vehicles — mostly trucks, of course — set out for three-hour cruises. Each was assigned a geographic area that has not changed since the inaugural survey in 2002.
They glassed with binoculars through the last hour of daylight, then turned to spotlights for the final two hours when most of the bigger bucks were spotted.
Their combined sitings were eerily similar to the 2023 survey. Some 1,276 deer were identified, compared to 1,319 a year earlier. Adult does counted were 583, compared to 195 bucks, with remaining deer either unidentifiable by sex or fawns.
The buck-to-doe ratio didn’t budge, remaining at slightly less than one-to-three.
Deer get bunched up in August, McNitt continued, when scores can be counted in large alfalfa fields surrounded by woods.
“With summer patterns, you’re drawing from miles around. But come October, those deer will be up in the hills. They disperse,” McNitt said.
But the biggest reason for an uneven deer pattern is the preference of landowners. Some prefer to help grow big herds or don’t hunt at all, allowing deer to multiply. Others — especially farmers who see an oversized deer herd as detrimental to business — harvest does to keep numbers in check.
For instance, surveyors in one zone counted more than 200 deer. Only 20 and 15 deer were spotted in two other zones, and “that’s not a lot of deer for three hours of driving,” McNitt said.
The surveyors are a story onto themselves. They formed and passed petitions to have antler restrictions placed on buck kills. Leelanau was one of the first places in the state to embrace what came to be called “qualified deer management,” which calls for harvesting more does while letting bucks survive their first hunting season with antlers McNitt said the concept is only partially working. While Leelanau has gained a reputation for growing big-antlered bucks, he would prefer a herd with a more even buck-to-doe ratio.
Hounters are balking at that notion. Even after the MDNR allowed them to purchase up to 10 antler less tags, the doe population has not been culled.
“We use to squabble over how many doe permits would be allowed in the county. Now you can use both tags for a combo license to shoot does. People can shoot as many deer as they want. But the reality is that most people want to shoot bucks and only want one or two deer — or whatever they can afford to have them processed,” McNitt said.
