Preliminary reports say hunters saw a 15 percent increase this year
MARQUETTE -- It wasn't a great firearm deer season, but it was an improvement over last year.
Preliminary numbers from the 2010 regular firearm deer season show that there was about a 15 percent increase in deer reported at the DNRE check stations.
However, the season still didn't meet the 10-year average for the Upper Peninsula.
"We just don't have the people that are coming through the U.P., coming from downstate, coming for deer camp like they used to historically," explains DNRE wildlife biologist Terry McFadden. "It could be anything from the economy, gas prices, things like that. It's probably a combination of factors that influence that."
Overall, the DNRE says many deer hunters reported seeing more fawns this year than they had in the past.
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