Deer Hunting Season Opens... in Farmington?

[Lowell]

This story has overtones of Robin Hood slaying the king's deer. It seems that deer had been observed with arrows protruding. The article also says that bow hunting of deer is actually legal in a small part of Farmington Hills.

For a month, various residents have seen deer with arrows protruding from them near Eight Mile and Orchard Lake roads, but police hope the illegal hunting is at an end after speaking to two suspects.

“Our best educated guess … is that there’s been three deer that have been shot with arrows,” said Farmington Hills Police Chief Chuck Nebus.

A few years ago while visiting relatives in Rochester Hills who had a large field behind their house, we saw a bow hunter dragging a slain deer.

Does anyone know the extent of legal [and illegal] hunting in metro communities?

I suppose arguments could be made for supporting this. Deer are abundant hereabouts and frequently seen along the several hundred forested acres of the Upper Rouge River that flows though the back of my property and where, further downstream, this story takes place. Three, including an 8 point buck in pursuit of two does, just bounded through as I am writing this and are, gasp, rutting across the river. Oakland County is third in the state in car-deer accidents with close to 2000 per year.

Will deer hunting will join urban farming as part of the re-agrarianism of Metro Detroit? lol

[Pam]

Will deer hunting will join urban farming as part of the re-agrarianism of Metro Detroit? lol

I hope not. There would be more risk of people getting hurt by mistake than in a more sparsely populated region.

[Downtown Lady]

Will deer hunting join urban farming as part of the re-agrarianism of Metro Detroit? lol

I hope not. There would be more risk of people getting hurt by mistake than in a more sparsely populated region.

I totally agree, Pam. The thought of arrows flying in a residential area does not inspire me to say lol.

[Pam]

I totally agree, Pam. The thought of arrows flying in a residential area does not inspire me to say lol.

Or bullets flying! I think most deer hunters prefer guns to a bow and arrow.

[Meddle]

Real hunters don't let their prey wander off injured. They track it and make sure it's down. These sound like kids or inexperienced urban 'he-men'.

As to firearms, as far as I know, they can only use muzzle-loaders in urban areas, not rifles. Much less range and risk of stray rounds hurting someone. That was 10-15 years ago, so rules may have changed.

[DetroitPlanner]

I hope not. There would be more risk of people getting hurt by mistake than in a more sparsely populated region.

You would be surprised at how many deer there are in some very urban parts of the metro as evidenced by this deer crash map. Granted this is not a full relationship to getting hit by a bow!
http://www.semcog.org/uploadedFiles/...erCrsh2010.pdf

[Pam]

You would be surprised at how many deer there are in some very urban parts of the metro as evidenced by this deer crash map. Granted this is not a full relationship to getting hit by a bow!
http://www.semcog.org/uploadedFiles/...erCrsh2010.pdf

I know there are deer in the burbs. I've seen them. My point was there are more people there than the typical hunting areas.

[DetroitPlanner]

I know there are deer in the burbs. I've seen them. My point was there are more people there than the typical hunting areas.

Point was well taken. The map shows how many there are in places like Joy Rd and Greenfield where you would never expect a deer crash. Where there are deer there could be hunting.

[detroitsgwenivere]

A family member of mine processes deer crash claims at an insurance co. Shs sais the number of crashes involving deer is more than double than what is reported to the state.

[lilpup]

Point was well taken. The map shows how many there are in places like Joy Rd and Greenfield where you would never expect a deer crash. Where there are deer there could be hunting.

provided there aren't any occupied buildings or farm buildings within 150 yards unless permission to hunt is obtained from occupants of said buildings

[surenowinlife]

Our home backs up to Hines Drive.You would be surprized by the amont of wildlife we see in our own backyard.The deer have been eating my partners garden for the past few years and now they don't even run off when my dog barks at them thru the screen.

[reddog289]

I live near the lower branch of the Rouge, I laughed when I saw the 3 deer one day' hanging around" the Auto Zone in Inkster. I know a guy from West Bloomfield who bagged a few deer in his yard, He said he did it cause he was tired of seeing them rotting on the side of the road.
I used to hunt, But I can't even think of headed east down Mich Ave to go to deer camp.

[Novine]

I see deer all the time in the burbs. They tend to stick to the river and stream corridors where they can work their way along wooded areas running between and behind developed areas.

[Johnnny5]

Bow hunting poses very little threat to anyone other than the target and the bow hunter himself. As mentioned above a hunter must be 150 yards from any home or out building and an arrow is not capable of traveling anywhere near that distance. Also most bow hunters now hunt from elevated stands and a miss leaves the arrow harmlessly in the ground.
I'm an avid hunter and even I can not remember a single instance where a non-hunting bystander has been injured by a hunters arrow anywhere in the State of Michigan. Vehicle traffic and deer/car collisions are probably 1000x more a threat to a community than a bow hunter.