Which Deer Check Stations Will Stay Open?

The Department of Natural Resources is showing symptoms of the state’s budget woes.

They’ll have fewer deer check stations around Michigan this fall — a lot fewer.

Barely a third of the check stations statewide will stay open.

The DNR says it doesn’t have the money to run as many check stations as in the past.

There are 125 of them statewide.

For the last few months, DNR Headquarters in Lansing tried to determine which ones would stay open.

Their official list is out today.

Only 45 of them will stay open — the other 80 will all be closed.

DNR officials said this summer that the U.P. probably wouldn’t be affected as much as the Lower Peninsula.

That’s because on average, the U.P. stations take in a lot more deer each season than most of the downstate stations do.

And that’s exactly what’s happened.

10 of the U.P.’s 19 deer check stations will still be open.

The Marquette, Baraga and Newberry check stations will be open Monday through Friday.

They’ll also be there on Opening Day, November 15th, and the first full weekend of the season, which is November 21st and 22nd.

The other 7 open stations will only be open on specific dates and times, so it would be a good idea to contact them to find out.

Some of those other 7 are at DNR Field Offices in Escanaba, Crystal Falls, Shingleton and Sault Ste. Marie.

The others are at the Rusty Nail in Cornell, the Root Cellar in Marenisco and the Mackinac Bridge Highway Station in St. Ignace.

The DNR also says that for muzzleloader season and the other deer seasons, the only check stations that’ll be open will be the ones at DNR Operation Service Centers.

So, for the U.P., those would be Marquette, Baraga and Newberry.