Five to eight pointers brought in to Delta County check station Monday.
DELTA COUNTY -- Firearm deer season is well underway. Area check stations have been busy all weekend, but is the turnout as good as last year's opening weekend?
DNR officials saw nearly a hundred deer come through this check station outside Escanaba Monday. Hunters showed up with five to eight pointers.
For some area hunters, numbers looked good out in the woods.
"As far as bucks go, we saw some nice bucks, but didn't seem to be as many does and fawns," said hunter, Joe Thill.
"Deer wise, we’ve seen quite a few...20-30 at a time," said hunter, Joan Prentice.
Officials had predicted the buck kill would be down 10 to 15 percent due to last year's rough winter. However, so far, that doesn't seem to be the case.
"You wouldn't know it so far. The people we see, of course, are the happy ones, the ones that have been successful and there's going to be good hunting in pockets at least, as people go out and scout and move around," said DNR Wildlife Biologist, Craig Albright.
The check point saw nearly 1000 deer come through throughout the two weeks of firearm season last year. Officials believe it'll be just as good this time around.
"We started with 13 deer here on Saturday, and that rose to about 30 on Sunday, and I wouldn't be surprised if we're pushing 100 deer, and I expect that to stay that way through the week as people break camp and come to town," Albright said.
DNR officials encourage willing hunters to donate the head of the deer to be tested for Chronic Wasting Disease. Officials hope to collect at least 50 head for each county through the rest of firearm season.
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