Deer count at Mackinac Bridge down 33% this year

The deer tally at the Mackinac Bridge is now a bit closer proportionally to the 2012 total than it was yesterday, but the figure still lags well behind where it was a year ago.

The Mackinac Bridge Authority says that as of 3:00 p.m. Sunday, 3,291 Upper Peninsula deer had been driven across the bridge by Lower Peninsula hunters.

It’s down 33% from the 4,895 deer that had been counted by this point in 2012..

The Mackinac Bridge Authority updates its running total at 7:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. each day of firearm season.