Rich ground, long growing season, and the best nutrition in the state. Southwest Michigan grows heavy corn and soybean country broken by hardwood lots, river bottoms, and marsh. Deer densities are high and so is hunting pressure, which pushes mature animals nocturnal early and keeps them there.
Kalamazoo, Calhoun, St. Joseph, Branch, Van Buren, Cass and surrounding country. Observations from Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport (station KAZO).
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The southern tier gets more days of standing corn than the north because the growing season runs longer and harvest starts later relative to the opener. In a wet fall it is common for grain corn to still be standing well into November here, which means the firearm opener can land while deer still have full field sanctuary. That single variable changes southern Michigan firearm season more than weather does.
Agricultural weight: high. The corn harvest is a primary driver of deer movement in this region.
In this part of the state the constraint is rarely deer numbers. It is how many people are hunting the same block and how early the deer went nocturnal.
When the fields come off, the permanent cover along the St. Joseph and Kalamazoo systems absorbs the displaced deer. That cover gets better as the ag gets barer.
Soybeans usually come off before grain corn. The bean harvest is the early signal that the pattern is about to move.
Michigan deer country changes a great deal over a few hours of driving. If you hunt more than one part of the state, the plan that works here may be the wrong one an hour away.
The most agricultural deer country in Michigan. Corn, soybeans, and sugar beets run to the horizon and the woods come in small pieces: fencerows, ditc...
The transition. South and east of here the country is farm ground, north and west it turns to state land, swamp, and second growth. Central Michigan g...
Big woods, national forest, orchards, and openings. There is far less row crop up here than in the southern and eastern parts of the state, so the cor...