KENT COUNTY, Mich. — Firearm deer season in Michigan has come to a close and, while a final few hunters may be dragging their feet to report their harvests, conclusions on the season can be drawn.
So, how did hunters do?
Total regular firearm deer harvest (as of 9:00 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025)
- Michigan
- 2025: 129,733
- 2024: 136,524
- 2023: 137,074
- 2022: 154,940
- 2021: 196,811
- Kent County
- 2025: 1,422
- 2024: 1,474
- 2023: 1,890
For closer, up-to-date look at the Michigan DNR's deer harvest data, click here.
In both Kent County and the state of Michigan, deer harvest totals from regular firearm season continued to decline, though the former's drop was not as precipitous as the latter's.
Still, the state's fourth-largest county will have to pick up the pace if it is to meet its two-year goal of reducing deer-related car crashes by 1,050 and increasing its annual deer harvest by 1,900, a mark recently set by the Kent County Deer Management Coalition.
"Whether it's Grand Rapids, Kentwood or Walker, the deer are there," said Nate Geerts, a store manager at The Outdoorsmen Pro Shop, a West Michigan-based hunting and fishing chain.
"People see them walking down the road. People see them in their backyards," Geerts said. "They get hit by cars. They're lying along the roads. It's a difficult thing."
As for the drop in the harvest, the store manager has a few, familiar theories.
"A lot of hunters hold out for quality bucks versus quantity," he said, also listing old age and out-of-state opportunities as reasons for Michigan's decades-long decline in hunting.
Last month, the deer management coalition released eight recommendations on how to improve the health of Kent County's deer herd and reduce human conflicts with the animal.
Recommendations
- Population Management
- Urban archery hunting
- Location-specific deer harvests
- Hunter recruitment and access to land
- Habitat Management
- Roadside mowing
- Native landscaping
- Establish and enforce bans on deer feeding
- Engagement and Planning
- Monitor public perception on deer management
- Plan for long-term deer management
Kent
Kent County releases recommendations to combat deer-related car crashes
Geerts says access is the easiest way to boost the deer harvest in Michigan, whether by cutting the cost of doe tags or moving the extended late urban archery hunt to earlier in the season.
But access isn't always so easy.
"From a hunter's perspective, the biggest thing would be, you know, to get permission to be able to harvest a deer in somebody's backyard," he said. "It's a tough thing to come up with a resolution."
As a way to manage its deer herd and improve the ratio of bucks to does in the county, Kent County Farm Bureau is sponsoring a doe pole. Click here to learn more.
READ MORE: Kent County road worker has picked up nearly 50,000 carcasses
