Michigan Whitetail: 77% Buck Liberty Hunt Harvest, Full Report

It's estimated that over 2 million four-legged problems wander throughout the Mitten State, either eating farmer's crops or staggering onto our roads unflinchingly as two giant lights speed towards them. Of course, we are talking about Michigan's whitetail deer herd.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recognizes the problem and is taking steps to keep it at bay. Steps include adding new and enhancing existing seasons by offering the state's youth and those Michiganders who may need assistance in the field an opportunity to put a whitetail between the crosshairs before the official start of archery season on October 1, 2024.  Because most female whitetail deer have twins or triplets, which can exponentially increase the population annually, they've also asked pleaded with hunters directly and through media channels to shoot more does. Fill your freezer! But have they? Will they?

The 2024 Liberty/Youth Hunt took place on September 14 through 15, giving residents who qualify for the special season a Saturday and Sunday to get out in the woods. If the first hunt of 2024 indicates how the rest of the year will go, be ready to exchange insurance information with a deer carcass and listen to farmers complain about lost crops because Michigan has Buck Fever.

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How bad of a case of Buck Fever do we have in the Mitten State? Of the 5,087 whitetails harvested over the 2-day Liberty Hunt, only 1171 were antlerless. The remaining 3,916 were antlered.

RELATED: Michigan's 2024 Whitetail Deer Season: Schedule Updates

Are you curious which county had the most deer harvested and how many bucks and does were taken over the 2-day Liberty Hunt? Scroll on for the answers with a county-by-county countdown to the Michigan area that took the most whitetail in the first season.