Victor Skinner

Michigan hunters in five counties will be able to earn a second buck in 2027 through a pilot program approved by the Michigan Natural Resources Commission this month.
The pilot program will coincide with implementation of a one-buck rule approved by the commission in May that’s designed to reduce deer abundance in the Lower Peninsula, while improving buck structure and the buck-to-doe ratio. “The Natural Resources Commission asked that we develop an earn-a-second-buck pilot program to determine the effectiveness of the regulations at increasing antlerless harvest,” Brent Rudolph, the Michigan DNR’s deer, elk, and moose specialist, told Michigan Outdoor News.

A Clinton County, Mich., man faces dozens of firearm and wildlife violations after he reportedly filmed himself poaching deer at night last year and leaving them to rot.
Thomas House, 26, was arraigned July 23 on 50 criminal counts in 65A District Court in St. Johns, including five felony weapons offenses, reckless use of a firearm, three counts of possessing an uncased firearm in a vehicle, six counts of taking game from a vehicle, six counts of shining with a weapon in possession, and 29 violations of conservation orders for taking game without a license, improper method of take, and taking game out of season.

DNR officials have proposed a “one buck rule” to restrict every hunter in Michigan to a single antlered deer per season statewide. The goal, as stated, is to better balance the statewide harvest and drive down deer numbers.
“It’s no secret we have been trying to promote, especially in the Lower Peninsula, an increase in our antlerless harvest,” Chad Stewart, a DNR deer program manager, told Michigan Outdoor News. “Really, what we’re striving for is a more balanced harvest.”