December, in my mind, is the ficklest month of the year when it comes to weather. There are times the transition of fall into winter can get a bit confusing, while the weather makes up its mind to go one way or another. As a kid, I can remember when winter arrived, it usually brought lots of snow, and stayed until spring, but it seems like that predictability is all in the past these days.
Being outdoors a lot, I’ve seen a steady transition, at least in my neck of the woods, of matters tending to get milder and featuring changing wind patterns I had never experienced before. This year seemed to feature all sorts of strong winds, even during summer, and continually strong winds which had a perverse way of suddenly changing direction sure made the recent November firearms deer season a tad challenging for me. More than once, I got into position to hunt and with the wind blowing the direction predicted per a weather report, only to have it abruptly switch, sometimes back and forth for as much as 360 degrees!
Yep, folks, deer can pick up your scent from a half mile away, sometimes further, depending upon how strong the wind is, and your hunt has been squashed for sure, the same as sending up some smoke signals to give your exact location away! Also, trying to send out deer vocalizations to lure in deer into range, which is my favorite method, doesn’t work worth a hoot in a 30mph wind.
The December Muzzleloader season is a favorite timeframe of mine, and I took part in the very first one held in 1975 and have dearly loved that unique atmosphere ever since. Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, the muzzleloader deer season took an abrupt change about 3 years ago, when any legal firearm could be used in southern (Zone 3) Michigan, alarming some avid and dedicated black powder (aka “smoke-pole”) folks I know, and I had some mixed emotions myself. However, I’m fully aware of the reason for the change, and why unused buck tags can now also be used to tag antlerless deer, which is to harvest more deer, especially antlerless deer, due to the burgeoning deer population in southern Michigan.
This year, it also applies to the entire Lower Peninsula for the same reasons. Only the Upper Peninsula maintains a genuine muzzleloader deer season, but then the U.P. doesn’t have the steadily growing deer densities found below the Bridge in the Lower Peninsula. I understand the reasons and fully support the move, because the Lower Peninsula truly has an over abundance of deer causing a record number of deer/vehicle collisions (which sadly, seem to be commonplace these days) and having a negative impact on agriculture production.
Author demonstrating the firing of a classic muzzleloader.
Well, folks, the choice is out there for the Lower Peninsula; if you want to still use a muzzleloader to keep a tradition alive, you can. Otherwise, you can also use any legal firearm during the muzzleloader deer season. The idea behind all this, is to allow more people to be out and about and shooting more deer. While muzzleloaders have steadily gained in popularity, especially since the advent of the scoped, inline versions, not all deer hunters are into using muzzleloaders. Drawing in more hunters is a simple matter of physics, and quite frankly I haven’t heard many complaints from deer hunters being able to use any (legal) hunting arm of their choice.
One of the longest associations I’ve had with one of my firearms is a T/C caplock .54 caliber muzzleloader I began using during the early 1970’s because I was none too fond of the limited accuracy, especially at longer yardages, which shotgun slugs provided back then. My favorite load for that rifle remains to be a .530 caliber, 220-grain patched roundball backed by 100 grains of (genuine) 2f black powder. It has accounted for its share of deer over the years, including an 8-point buck I dropped in a corn-stubble field at about 150 yards, and it is still ticking and remains to be a favorite deer gun whenever the mood hits me. Yep, I have some modern inline muzzleloaders I’ve frequently tested in the field over the years, which are truly accurate pieces, but they just don’t offer the same warm nostalgia to the hunt as my trusty old traditional muzzleloader.
When Michigan’s first muzzleloader deer season arrived in December 1975, it was simply a wonderful extension to how I had already been hunting deer during the firearms deer season for years. In many ways, that applies to deer hunters today in the Lower Peninsula, allowing them to stick with what they have been using all along, and not having to switch horses, so to speak, in midstream.
Michigan’s 2025 muzzleloader deer season runs December 5 – 14 statewide, and from what I’ve already seen thus far, the weather will be a bit fickle. I’ve experienced December hunts which featured a lot of rain, some of it freezing, and I’ve seen snow depths, even in my Thumb area, which required snowshoes to quietly access the hunting site. It can be “like a box of chocolates”, with a different flavor from one day to the next, and as is often said, in Michigan, just wait 15 minutes for the weather to change, and in my mind especially in December.
I do appreciate weather reports these days, because they are very reliable, fickle wind directions aside, and I keep a close watch on what to expect. Deer in December place a major focus on food sources, as well as having bedding areas in adequate winter cover. Deer instinctively sense matters and know when a storm is coming and will feed heavily just prior to the onset and will then hold tight in the bedding areas to conserve energy. Right after the storm ends, they will be out and about feeding again. Although hunting right next to a food source can do the trick, I prefer to usually set up between a food source and the bedding area, and intercept deer while they are enroute.
The muzzleloader season is a great time to fill out an unused buck tag, and I’ve seen some real dandies taken by hunters. However, I can assure you that the bucks are at their leanest condition of the year due to the previous physically demanding November whitetail rut, causing food sources to be very important as well. A doe on the other hand will be at her plumpest physical state for going into winter, and I never hesitate to put them in the family larder, because it represents the very best venison.
Yep, folks, the possibility of bagging a late season buck is a fine thought, but my priority will be to harvest antlerless deer and do my part to help matters in the future. Hunting after all, plays a key role in deer management, and it is an opportunity for you to take part in.
I’m also looking forward to the December 15 – January 1 late antlerless deer season. It all works for me!
than 40 years and has had his weekly radio show, “Tom Lounsbury
Outdoors” for more than 20 years. Tom grew up on a farm in
Michigan’s Thumb, and it is where his first outdoor adventures began
as a kid accompanying visiting pheasant hunters into the field during
the “pheasant hunting heyday” of the 1950’s and 1960’s. It is a passion
he still has to this day and being the 4 th generation to own the family
farm, he has put most of it into conservation programs with a focus on
wild pheasants, which in turn helps all wildlife.
Being an outdoor communicator, Tom appreciates all the outdoor
adventures he experiences in different places, and especially the
people he meets in which to share them.
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