The overall bow harvest in Region 3 only went up 7.3 percent during 2006 compared with 2005, which is the lowest rate for any region in Michigan. When you consider that part of our state has the highest bowhunting pressure and has been consistently producing the highest bow kill of any region for a number of years now, however, that increase takes on a different meaning. It’s actually a good sign that archers continue to take more whitetails from that region.

The buck kill actually went up 10.1 percent among bowhunters in Region 3 last fall and the antlerless harvest was up by a modest 3.1 percent. A total of 78,361 bucks and does were bagged by bowhunters in the region during 2006 compared with 73,012 the year before. Numbers for the buck kill for the two years are 48,781 and 44,312. The tally for does and fawns is 29,581 versus 28,695.

Areas in Region 3 that experienced the greatest increase in harvest were the Southeast District and Saginaw Bay District. The bow kill went up by 20.7 percent in the southeast counties and 16.6 percent in those near Saginaw Bay. An estimated 11,660 bucks and does were taken by archers in the Southeast District last fall compared with 9,661 in 2005, and hunter numbers declined slightly, so the success rate was obviously higher.

The buck harvest was up by 31.4 percent (7,287 versus 5,545) in the southeast, with only 6.2 percent more antlerless deer taken -- 4,372 compared with 4,116).

Counties in the Southeast District are Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Oakland, Macomb, Wayne and Monroe.

Bowhunter numbers in the Saginaw Bay District remained close to the same between 2005 and 2006, so the increased harvest there can also be primarily attributed to better success. The tally there for bucks and does among archers for the last two years was 21,767 and 18,674. The buck kill increased by 17 percent (13,012 and 11,118) compared with a 15.9 percent boost in the antlerless kill (8,755 and 7,556).

Counties in the Saginaw Bay District are Clare, Gladwin, Arenac, Isabella, Midland, Bay, Saginaw, Tuscola, Huron and Sanilac.

There is great news for fans of bowhunting for deer in the Upper Peninsula. The archery kill increased from the year before, even though there was a decline in hunter numbers, and the outlook for this fall is terrific due to a record mild winter over most of Region 1. Regionwide, the bow kill increased by 12.2 percent in 2006, but that number doesn’t give a clear picture of bowhunting success for the U.P. The bow total actually declined by 15.3 percent in the Eastern District because hunter numbers there were down by 22.2 percent. Archers killed 21.6 percent more deer last fall in the Western District.

Bowhunters tagged 7,560 bucks and does in the western U.P. during the 2006 seasons, according to DNR figures, compared with 6,215 the year before, even though hunter numbers declined by 1.6 percent. The bowhunters who tried their luck were obviously much more successful than they had been in 2005. The buck harvest jumped 30.5 percent (3,748 versus 2,873), and the antlerless kill went up by 13.9 percent (3,811 and 3,345).

Western U.P. counties have always given up the bulk of the U.P. harvest, and it will remain that way in 2007 because last winter was so easy on northern whitetails. Southern U.P. counties didn’t have much of a winter at all. Even in northern U.P. counties, permanent snow cover did not arrive until mid-January. Breakup also came early, with most snow gone by late March. A freak snowstorm during early April, however, buried the northern U.P. with 4 to 6 feet of snow. Because the snow was gone for about two weeks before it returned -- and the worst of it only lasted about a week -- the late snow should have had minimal impact on deer survival and fawn production, although some deer that otherwise would have survived were probably lost due to the storm.