VAN BUREN COUNTY, Mich. — The countdown is almost complete. Firearm deer season in Michigan starts in less than two days.
In Van Buren County, hunters now have public land to hunt at the Paw Paw River State Game area.
"It created public hunting land opportunities where those opportunities were very minimal previously," said Rachel Lincoln with the Michigan DNR. "So in Van Buren County, there was almost no hunting lands available for public use."
The PawPaw River State Game Area opened up in May at a cost of $900,000 to help offer more opportunities for public land fishing, trapping and hunting.
"The Paw Paw River State Game area is uniquely special because it borders on pieces of land that are owned by other conservation agencies and nonprofit organizations that focus on conservation," said Lincoln.
According to Lincoln, a big factor of conservation relies on hunters and the purchasing of hunting licenses. However, the numbers of hunters in the state has decreased. Twenty years ago, that number was 800,000. Now, it's at about 600,000.
Those lowering numbers are causing an increase in the Michigan deer herd. Wildlife biologists with the DNR say the population continues to grow, and it's having an impact on crashes in West Michigan.
Erin McDonough, Executive Director of the Insurance Alliance of Michigan, says Kent County tops the list for car related deer crashes.
"Deer-involved crashes are at an all-time high here in the state of Michigan over the last decade," said McDonough. "In 2023, there were 2,171 crashes. There's two other counties on the west side of the state that are also in the top ten list. So you have Allegan County, which was fourth on the list, and Ottawa County, which is sixth on the list."
With fewer restrictions on deer hunting this year, an added late firearms season and more public hunting options, the state hopes hunters can help reverse impacts of plentiful deer.
There are hundreds of thousands of acres of publicly-accessible land in Michigan. Click here to find a hunting area near you.