One-buck rule gets nod in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula

Gaylord, Mich. — Lower Peninsula deer hunters will be limited to harvesting one antlered deer per season starting in 2027, following a vote by the Michigan Natural Resources Commission.

Hunters in the Upper Peninsula won’t be limited to one buck, as a DNR recommendation for a statewide one-buck rule did not gain traction.

The NRC approved the “one-buck rule” in the LP during a day-long session in Gaylord on May 13.  The policy was introduced by Commissioner David Nyberg, who called it a compromise with other commissioners.

The goal was to protect the combination license in the UP. Nyberg pointed to the fact that habitats, food sources and the deer themselves are difference in the UP and the LP, making a statewide one-buck rule too broad in scope.

“I understand a lot of the concern that I heard from hunters about the proposed statewide one buck rule,” Nyberg said.

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George Lindquist, the vice chair of the DNR’s West UP Citizens Advisory Council, pointed out that DNR’s recommended policy would have swapped out an antlered deer for an antlerless deer in the UP’s combination license.

“The groups and the people I’m involved with are happy that we’re keeping these rules the way they are up in the UP,” Lindquist told Bridge Michigan. “We just don’t have the numbers to allow for an increased antlerless take.”

In the UP, hunters will be allowed to take either one buck of any size, or buy a combination license that will allow them to take a buck with at least three antler points and a second with at least four points.

Starting in 2027, LP hunters will have the option of buying a combination license that would allow them to take one antlered deer, with the second tag only valid for an antlerless deer. Hunters could also buy a single deer license that would allow them to shoot a buck with three or more antler points.

The one-buck rule was not the one DNR had recommended. The DNR’s policy would have eliminated a hunter’s ability to take an antlered deer with a single deer license.

If a hunter wanted to kill an antlered deer, they would have needed to buy a combination license with which they would have been able to take an antlered deer or an antlerless deer in combination with a second antlerless deer.

“By coupling some of the licenses in the combo license, we could effectively be doubling the price of a buck license and stepping into the arena that is legislative authority,” NRC Chairperson Becky Humphries explained.

In other action, the NRC passed an amendment requiring the DNR to launch a pilot study of an “earn a second buck” program in some southern Michigan counties. In the program, hunters would have to harvest an antlerless deer in order to buy a license for a second antlered deer. The pilot project is expected to be presented at the NRC’s July meeting.

As a part of the amendment to hunting regulations, commissioners requested DNR to create a framework for the model that they could pilot.

The public comment period of the May 13 meeting lasted for four hours, with hunters providing input – some favored the one-buck rule, some did not.

A detailed guide on the deer regulation amendments passed during the May 13 NRC meeting will be presented in the June 5 issue of Michigan Outdoor News.

Bridge Michigan contributed to this report.