LANSING, Mich. — Bowhunters heading into the Halloween weekend have already reported more than 42,000 deer across Michigan, four full weeks into the archery season.
Bucks make up roughly two-thirds of the take so far, with 28,094 antlered deer and 14,546 antlerless deer reported. The count jumped by 6,375 since the Oct. 26 update, and Newaygo and Montcalm counties each added 212 deer, the biggest county gains in that stretch.
Hunters can file a harvest report in a few minutes online through the state DNR harvest report page using their kill tag license number and birth date, through an eLicense account, or with the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish mobile app.
The season is also bringing reports of epizootic hemorrhagic disease, a virus carried by biting midges that can sicken and kill white-tailed deer. The Department of Natural Resources has launched a map, updated as reports arrive, that shows suspected EHD cases in each 36-square-mile township-range block along with counties where the disease is confirmed.
The heaviest activity is in Jackson County and the southern part of the state around and below I-94, with smaller clusters of one to 10 cases in Mid-Michigan counties. Lab testing has confirmed the disease in 15 counties so far this year, among them Jackson, Ingham, Washtenaw, Oakland, Kalamazoo, Saginaw, Oceana and Lapeer. That is in line with the 16 counties confirmed in 2025 and 15 in 2024.
Confirming a case requires the DNR to collect a carcass within 16 hours of death, so the agency says the disease is likely present in more places than lab results show. EHD die-offs have come and gone in Michigan since 2006, and research after a major 2012 outbreak found deer numbers rebounded within five years in one hard-hit area.
Filed under: Ann Arbor MI Hunting News
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