TIME TO CHANGE THE TRADITION OF DEER SEASON? By: Jimmy Gretzinger Producer, Michigan Out of Doors TV
It might be time to change something that for years I didn’t think needed to be changed. The firearm opener here in Michigan has been on November 15 for as long as I can remember and I have always loved that tradition. I have even defended it for years to those who are trying to get the opener changed to the second Saturday of the month. However, recently I have come full circle on that idea. I now tend to agree and think the gun opener here in Michigan should be the second Saturday of November. I liked the November 15 opener because you always knew when it was and never had to think twice about it. It has been on the 15th for my entire life, so why change it. For years I liked the fact that having an opener on a random weekday meant fewer folks in the woods. Fewer hunters meant that I had a better chance of filling a tag. I grew up hunting state land in northern Michigan and it was crawling with other hunters on opening day! Anything to get a few more to stay home was a welcomed thing. That’s not the case anymore. This past season the opener fell on a Monday, which greatly limited the number of people able to hunt, something I was able to witness firsthand. Let’s start with the fact that both of my boys (and most around the state) that want to play basketball had tryouts starting on the 15th this past year. You can’t miss the tryout.
How many kids did that effect just this past season? Teachers and school officials, including a couple at the deer camp I visited last year, also have a tough time taking many days off. How many teachers that wanted to hunt last year couldn’t do so? I have no idea. Yes, they can hunt other days, but the tradition of the opener is gone for them and countless others. A mid-week opener means a big loss for business owners. In the current economy we need to do anything we can to promote more dollars for our restaurants, hotels, and party stores. A Saturday opener would encourage more people to travel to deer camps around the state and therefore spend more money in the small towns that need tourists in order to survive. How much money was not spent last
year that would have been with a Saturday opener? I know that change is hard and people hate it. However, I think it’s time we do something small that will help more people use the woods and help local economies here in Michigan. For years the DNR has reported that moving the opener to the second Saturday of the month would make no noticeable difference to the overall harvest of deer. If the harvest is not affected and more people can go hunting and spend more money doing so, who loses in this new system? I think we all win – it’s time for a change here in our great old state! ■ The opinions stated herein are not necessarily those of GreenStone Farm Credit Services. Partners — Winter 2022
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