Region 3's best overall hunting successes during firearms season were the south-central (40.1 percent), southwest (37.4) and Saginaw Bay (36.6) districts. Buck-hunting success ranged between 23 and 25 percent for each of those districts. The south-central and southwest districts on a fairly consistent basis produce some of the biggest antlered bucks bagged in Michigan.

Counties that make up the south-central district of Region 3 include Lenawee, Hillsdale, Jackson, Washtenaw, Livingston, Ingham, Eaton, Ionia, Clinton, Shiawassee, Gratiot and Montcalm. Counties in the southwest district include Branch, St. Joseph, Cass, Berrien, Van Buren, Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Allegan, Barry, Kent, Ottawa and Muskegon.

Most of the counties in the Saginaw Bay district lie in Region 3. These include Saginaw, Bay, Tuscola, Sanilac, Huron, Midland and Isabella. The district's remaining three counties -- Clare, Gladwin and Arenac -- are part of Region 2.

Region 1
The U.P., or Region 1, has consistently produced the best deer hunts for gun hunters interested in antlered bucks, and the 2006 season was no different.

The hunter success rate for buck hunting last fall in the U.P. was 27.1 percent, compared with 24.4 percent in Region 3 and 23 percent in Region 2. The west U.P. district tops the region last season for hunting either bucks or does, where hunter success in that category was 34.5 percent, compared with 23.3 percent success in the east district.

Buck-hunting success last year in the west U.P. was 29.1 percent -- by far the best district success numbers in the state during the 2006 gun hunt. Next down that list was the Saginaw Bay district, with 25.2 percent success on bucks. Deer hunters who tried their luck in the east U.P. with firearms last fall only produced a 20.4 percent rate of success on bucks.

Keweenaw County is in the west U.P. district. Last season's buck-hunting success was among the best ever seen in that area. For example, three out of five hunters in my camp got bucks by the second morning of the season, and a number of yearling bucks were passed up. One of the bucks that were bagged was 3 1/2 years old, one was 2 1/2 years old, and the third was a yearling. There aren't many deer in Keweenaw County, but the buck-to-doe ratio is excellent, and deer numbers seem to be increasing.

Although deer hunters in the northern part of the district did well last fall, some of those in the district's southern reach, where deer numbers are higher, didn't fare as well. The mild weather tended to limit daytime activity of bucks to some extent.

In the west U.P., the overall deer harvest during the 2006 firearms season was up by 5.2 percent (28,378 in 2006 and 26,965 in 2005). Like the other regions, the buck kill was up significantly (15.5 percent), while the antlerless deer harvest was down (19.7 percent). The reduced harvest of does last year will generate dividends in the form of more deer this year.

In the west U.P., the buck harvest last fall was 22,110 animals, compared with 19,147 in 2005. The west district's tally of does and fawns was 6,263 in 2006 versus 7,799 in 2005.

Counties that lie in the west U.P. include Menominee, Delta, Dickinson, Iron, Marquette, Alger, Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw, Ontonagon and Gogebic. Many bucks die of old age in this region due to declining hunter numbers and plenty of cover to avoid the hunters who are afield. The MDNR reported a trophy whitetail that was at least 9 years old ended up as a road kill in Marquette County last November toward the end of gun season.