Michigan’s Liberty Hunt offers a wonderful opportunity to introduce kids

Michigan’s first Liberty Hunt was held in 2001, which would allow kids aged 16 and younger as well as adults with qualifying disabilities, to participate in the special two-day deer season, which usually occurs during the second weekend in September. My youngest son Joe, at age 15, was able to participate in that first Liberty Hunt, as well as the following Liberty Hunt in 2002. After that I would make a point of “adopting” a kid for that special hunt each year, and yep, folks, there are a lot of kids out there wishing for an adult to take them hunting.

Introducing kids to this unique pastime is something I have found to be quite fulfilling, to say the least, and when and if all the pieces come together and a shot is presented, I’m just as thrilled as the kid! I am there as the mentoring hunting guide and all I carry are binoculars, a couple deer calls and a field-dressing kit. I will recommend when to shoot and I always tell the kids it is up to them as to what to shoot, buck or doe, big or little, and what makes them happy makes me happy. The kids I have taken hunting have been happy with any deer and haven’t turned down an “on the platter” shot at a plump doe, with bucks of any size being frosting on the cake, and yep, folks, I have called in some dandy bucks on my hunting grounds for kids. This doesn’t bother me a bit, either, because a deer belongs to the hunter who legally and ethically tags it. I have never seen any deer out there wearing my initials branded on it.

In 2012, kids aged nine and under were allowed to participate under a Mentor hunting license, something I fully support and wish it had been available for my 3 sons, who had to wait until they were 14 years old. They were ready well beforehand, and I appreciate the fact that parents are allowed to make the decision if their kids are ready to participate. Of course, this has brought out a lot of naysayers, which the Liberty Hunt has brought out since its onset, especially regarding kids shooting bucks. The naysayers claim the kids have an unfair advantage in removing bucks, especially big bucks, that won’t be available (for the naysayers) during the regular seasons. They also claim that the adult mentors are usually the ones doing the actual shooting to kill “trophy” bucks.

Well, folks, I’ve been watching matters closely over the years, and official reports I have reviewed regarding violations in this regard have been minimal, but the facts are continually surrounded by a whole lot of rumors. As for depleting the deer herd, an example are the figures from the 2021 Liberty Hunt (that had a large turnout of deer hunters due to the pandemic) which accounted for less than 2% of the overall deer harvest, and only 2.5% of the state’s annual buck harvest. Of course, according to the naysayers, any buck being taken is one too many.

Previous Liberty Hunts allowed participants to take only one deer, either a buck or a doe (antlerless), but in 2023 participants were allowed to take only one buck, but also as many antlerless deer as they had tags for, which I thought was marvelous. However, the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) recently decided to bow down to the naysayers and beginning in 2025, Liberty Hunt participants can only harvest antlerless deer, and as many as they have tags for. So much for having frosting on the proverbial cake and being able to harvest a buck if an opportunity presents itself has always been a drawing card for Liberty Hunt participants. Nope, folks, I don’t support that blindsiding move by the NRC at all!

Fortunately, 2024 Liberty Hunt participants could still harvest one buck and as many antlerless deer as they had tags for. My 15-year-old grandson, Orlando, managed to bag a dandy 11-point buck on the back of our farm, thanks to the guiding efforts of his father, Josh. Just before dark on the first day, the buck was lured out of the heavy cover by using “social” doe bleats, and Orlando put him down on the spot using his Mossberg bolt-action rifle in .450 Bushmaster. We already had a meat processor with a cooler lined up, something which is very important when temperatures are over 80 degrees!

Most of my hunting ground entails dense prairie grass which is over head-high, and if a wounded deer gets into it, things can get to be a bit challenging, especially after dark, and why appreciate my being able to use a dog to assist in recovering matters. I also never venture into that dense maze after dark without a compass, because it is easy to get turned around and become disorientated while tracking. Yep, folks, I’ve been there and done that once without a compass and had no idea of where I was in heavy-duty cover I had planted myself! What made my night, was being able slightly hear distant traffic noise on the highway north of my location and allowing me to head back out in a straight line.

Ray Hoody of Port Hope owns and operates “Hotshot Outfitters” and offers all sorts of full-service guided hunts on over 30,000 acres in the tip of the Thumb. Hoody fully supports getting kids involved in the outdoors and is none too happy with the NRC’s decision regarding the 2025 Liberty Hunt. This year he had 15 kids, and their adult mentors lined up, as well as two adults with qualifying disabilities. Being a class act, he ended up with a 100% success rate which entailed both bucks and does.

According to Hoody, the mid-September timeframe with its milder temperatures is ideal for getting the kids involved in the outdoors, and many of his disabled adult clients can’t hunt in the colder temperatures found during the regular deer seasons. He feels the NRC’s decision per the 2025 Liberty Hunt is not only a low blow to the kids, but also to disabled adults who appreciate probably their only opportunity to tag a buck.

The 2025 Liberty hunt is still a year away and I’m pretty sure the NRC is going to feel some heat coming their way, and hopefully their present decision isn’t a done deal.

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Tom Lounsbury

Tom Lounsbury has been an outdoor writer and photographer for more
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.