CROSWELL — Bulky headphones hang crookedly over Shawn Petersen’s trucker hat — one ear exposed, one not. Men and boys in blaze-orange vests and camouflage uniforms walk up to him and ask about his crops and harvest schedule.
Four years ago, the first-generation farmer saw about 50 deer feasting in his fields every night. Estimated at roughly $200 of damage per deer, “the crop damage obviously added up,” Petersen told Michigan Farm News.
Nowadays, his Croswell farm hosts Hunt Michigan Collaborative (HMC) hunts, which connect new and seasoned hunters with farms that need deer management assistance.
The program has also improved Petersen’s crop.
“There’s less deer damage or soybean damage from the deer in the fields, and in my opinion, I’ve seen more healthier, bigger bucks around as well,” said Petersen, a St. Clair County Farm Bureau member.
“There’s still plenty of deer around, but it does seem to help my yields.”
On Sept. 12, the HMC/National Deer Association (NDA) Farm Tour program hosted seven “farm tour hunts” across five Michigan counties (Kalamazoo, Gratiot, Sanilac, St Clair and Washtenaw). Almost 100 participants and leaders hunted, said Frank Pizzo, an HMC board member who served as a hunt guide for the Croswell hunt, including a 370-acre parcel of Petersen Farms LLC.
Pizzo said HMC works alongside the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to secure Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) permits, allowing hunters to assist with antlerless deer management in targeted areas.
The program wants to connect new people to hunting while addressing some of the most pressing deer management challenges identified through Michigan’s Deer Management Initiative, such as limited private land access, declining hunter participation, high deer densities, and crop damage.
Venison meat harvested during the early-antlerless deer event can then be kept by the hunter or donated to programs such as Hunters Feeding Michigan.
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