Although U.P. deer numbers are generally down from previous years over most of the region, at least one county still has plenty of whitetails. Menominee County came in second place statewide for the number of deer reported taken during the 2024 firearms season at 3,513. The only county in the state with a higher reported harvest as of December 3 was Sanilac at 4,094.
The reasons for such good success in the region’s southernmost county are it has excellent deer habitat, and winters are generally milder than those farther north. The fact that last winter was a record mild one with a lack of snow region-wide played a major role in boosting the kill. Menominee County has more farming than other U.P. counties, resulting in an excellent mix of agricultural and woodlands that whitetails thrive in.
Warm weather during the first week of the 2023 firearms hunt also contributed to lower-than-normal hunting success due to reduced daytime deer activity, which resulted in the carryover of whitetails to 2024. Another factor that contributed to a lower deer harvest in the county last year is many cornfields had not been cut by the time firearms season started. The reported deer harvest in Menominee County during the 2023 gun season was 3,037, putting it in fourth place statewide.
The number of deer brought to processors during the first days of the 2024 gun hunt in Menominee County reflected the high harvest. Gary’s Quality Foods in Wallace, for instance, took in 80 deer on November 15 and they weren’t yet sure how many came in on the 16th when I stopped there during the afternoon. A pile of deer was outside the processing facility then and many others had already been hauled inside.
The fact that the first days of the 2024 firearms season were milder than normal played a role in the number of deer brought to processors then. The situation with processors was the same in Delta County this fall. Delta is another southern U.P. county that borders Menominee. One hunter reported taking his deer to Soderman’s Meat Processing in Gladstone on November 17 and getting claim ticket number 1,018. During previous years, the highest claim ticket he got was 500.
Delta County had the second-highest reported deer kill for the U.P. during the recent gun hunt at 2,256. That compares with a reported harvest of 2,013 for the previous year.
More than 1,000 whitetails were reported taken from each of two more southern U.P. counties that are among those that usually produce the highest kill in the region. The reported take from Dickinson County was 1,262 compared to 994 the year before. The tally for Iron County was 1,163 versus 958 in 2023.
For all deer seasons so far during 2024, Menominee County was still in the running for one of the best in the state in terms of harvest. The fact that antlerless deer are legal in the county during both archery and firearms seasons helps Menominee compete with those downstate, too, in terms of harvest numbers. As of December 3, a total of 5,213 bucks and does had been reported from that county, putting it in sixth place statewide.
Sanilac County tops the list at 6,795. Saginaw County was next in line with 6,324. Jackson and Montcalm Counties totals were 5,557 and 5,356. Tuscola County only had 50 more deer registered than Menominee, and Newaygo County had one less than Menominee.
