Michigan’s efforts to manage its deer population are showing mixed results, according to a representative from the Michigan Farm Bureau who says more focused strategies are essential moving forward.
The organization’s lobbyist Justin Tomei explained to Brownfield that maintaining stable deer numbers requires harvesting roughly 40 percent of Michigan’s estimated two million deer annually. “We need to be up over around 800,000,” Tomei stated when discussing the target harvest numbers needed for proper herd management.
Despite some advancement in deer population control measures, Tomei emphasized that the state must implement more precise approaches to achieve the desired results. The declining harvest figures for 2025 highlight the ongoing challenge of balancing wildlife management with agricultural and environmental concerns.
