By Richard P. Smith

Barb Loy's experience during the 2003 muzzleloader deer season illustrates there are still plenty of trophy bucks around during December.

The Schoolcraft resident was hunting in Kalamazoo County on Dec. 18 when she killed the highest-scoring typical antlered buck known taken by a woman in our state with a muzzleloader, according to state record-keeper Commemorative Bucks of Michigan (CBM). Although she was hunting in southern Michigan, similar experiences are possible in any region of our state.

Loy was hunting from a Shadow Hunter ground blind on the edge of a cut bean field that evening. The blind and the .50-caliber Knight muzzleloader Loy had in her hands actually belonged to her father, but she was using both with his blessing. Loy had her young son James with her in the blind.

Around 5:15 p.m., not one but three big bucks entered the field to feed. The one in the middle appeared to have the largest antlers, and that's the one Loy shot at a distance of 75 yards as it stood broadside. The 13-pointer had a gross typical score of 171 1/8 inches and netted 164 6/8. The previous state-record typical blackpowder buck taken by a woman was a 10-pointer shot in Branch County during 1998 by Esther Frantom that netted 163 inches.

Loy's buck has a typical 12-point frame, with a short non-typical point measuring 1 1/8 inches off the left brow tine. The brow tines are the longest points on the rack. The right one is 10 6/8 inches in length and the one on the left is 9 7/8 inches long.

No one had seen this buck previously, so it may have just moved into the area or it had been primarily nocturnal until then. Keep that in mind when hunting during the late season. Even if you haven't seen any trophy bucks earlier in the year, one could show up during December like this one did for Loy.

The deer Loy killed was one of an estimated 2,277 antlered bucks bagged in the Southwest District during last year's blackpowder deer season, according to the Department of Natural Resources. Most of the bucks that were tagged had antlers smaller than Loy's, but in each case, the hunters were probably happy to score. The same is also true for the more-than-twice-as-many hunters (6,083) who killed antlerless deer during the hunt.

Although there are more antlered bucks left by December than most hunters realize, the last month of deer season is a great time to use unfilled antlerless permits, whether you are hunting with a muzzleloader or bow and arrow. In parts of the Lower Peninsula, there are even some counties that are open to hunting antlerless deer with centerfire firearms during the latter part of the month, but more on that later.

Photo by Ken Thommes

The fact that the harvest of does and fawns is consistently higher than the tally for antlered bucks during late seasons reflects how important a component antlerless whitetails are during December hunts. Some hunters simply prefer to hunt for bucks during October and November, saving antlerless tags for December. Does are also easier to kill during December. Intense hunting pressure on bucks during the previous two months has eliminated many of them from the herd. Those bucks that are left are usually extremely wary, making them tougher to get a shot at.

In every district in the state during the 2003 muzzleloader season, for instance, the estimated antlerless harvest was two to four times higher than the number of antlered bucks taken. More importantly, the harvest of both bucks and does was higher last December throughout the state than the year before. In some cases, the kill was up significantly. The presence of cold weather and snow statewide contributed to the increased late-season harvest, but so did high deer numbers in some areas.

The DNR estimated that 42,273 whitetails were bagged in our state during the 2003 muzzleloader season compared to 29,026 in 2002, an increase of 13,247, or 45.6 percent. The greatest increase took place in Region 3, where 25,404 deer of either sex were tagged by blackpowder hunters, according to the DNR, compared to 16,779 the year before, an increase of 51.4 percent. Last December's tally for Region 3 included 19,265 antlerless deer and 6,139 antlered bucks.

The improvement in Region 2's muzzleloader kill was almost as good as southern counties, at 44.8 percent. There were an estimated 11,129 bucks and does bagged in the northern L.P. with frontloaders during 2003, compared to 7,687 for 2002. Last December's total for Region 2 included 8,580 antlerless deer and 2,549 antlered deer.

The 2003 muzzleloader kill in Region 1 went up by 25.9 percent, 5,740 versus 4,560. Last year's total was made up of 3,839 does and fawns, and 1,900 antlered bucks.

I shot one of the does that were taken in the Upper Peninsula on the evening of Dec. 9 in Menominee County with a .50-caliber muzzleloader. I shot the doe from a blind on the edge of an alfalfa field while hunting out of a camp operated by Dean Hulce. If you are interested in a late-season hunt in some of the U.P.'s best deer country, give Hulce a call at (906) 563-9170.

There was no snow on the ground at the time I shot the doe, but a storm front was approaching, so deer were actively feeding. It started raining lightly on the evening of Dec. 9. The rain turned to snow by the next day and over a foot of snow fell in parts of the U.P. That snowstorm improved hunting success during the remainder of muzzleloader season in Region 1.

I bagged two more does with bow and arrow during the latter part of December in Delta County, one while posted on a migration trail and the other in a cutting. The DNR does not have estimates for the number of deer harvested by bowhunters during December in Michigan. The archery season tally the DNR generates includes success during October, November and December combined.

If this December is as cold and snowy as it was last year, late-season hunters can expect to do at least as well as they did during 2003. If weather conditions are mild, hunting success can be expected to decline.

Late-season hunters who tried their luck in the western U.P. enjoyed the best success in our state last year, according to DNR estimates. The percentage of hunters who killed at least one deer during the muzzleloader season in that district was 22.6 percent. Among hunters who took at least one antlered buck, the western U.P. was also the best district in the state during the December hunt at 8.4 percent. When only antlerless deer are considered, the success rate was 14.8 percent, which was the third-highest in the state.

The Western U.P. District is made up of Menominee, Dickinson, Delta, Iron, Gogebic, Ontonagon, Alger, Marquette, Baraga, Houghton and Keweenaw counties. Highest deer numbers are in Menominee, Delta, Dickinson and Iron counties. Moderate deer numbers can be found in Ontonagon, Gogebic, Houghton and Marquette counties.

Even though the late-season success for deer of either sex in the eastern U.P. (15.7 percent) was lower than most other districts, buck hunting success in the east U.P. during the 2003 muzzleloader season was the second-highest in the state at 6.5 percent, according to the DNR. Counties in that district are Schoolcraft, Luce, Chippewa and Mackinac. Luce County has the lowest deer numbers and Schoolcraft has the highest.