JOE ANTONINI OF the Iron Mountain area shot this eight-point buck on opening day in 2019. (Submitted photo)

TRAVERSE CITY (AP) — A pandemic-prompted quest for outdoor recreation and desire to prepare for potential food shortages has deer hunters heading to the woods in big numbers.

A surge in deer hunting license sales foreshadows the state’s 2020 regular firearm deer season which begins Sunday. Michigan Department of Natural Resources reports compiled in October show a 17 percent increase in deer licenses sold. It followed a mid-September report showing 751,310 licenses sold compared to 584,802 in 2019. Women hunters increased nearly 35 percent and hunters ages 10-16 increased nearly 190 percent.

About 40 percent of license sales in a typical year takes place the week before the opener, said Chad Stewart, DNR deer and elk program leader. “We’re trying to figure out whether the early increase means more hunters this year or if it is a function of early buying of licenses that will even out,” he said.

Stewart attributes the hunting wave in part to the fact that COVID-19 restrictions limited activities people have been able to pursue.

“They may find they have more time to for the outdoors,” Stewart said. “And an escape to the outdoors is what people need.”

Nearly 50 percent of hunters in 2019 reported success. They bagged about 364,000 deer. Updated 2020 DNR deer regulations may increase kill numbers this season with new flexibility in how a deer license may be used. Under the new rules, hunters in all Michigan deer management units may take an antlerless deer with a single deer license,

or the deer combo license which offers two tags and the ability to take a doe or buck. Antler restrictions remain in place.

Hunters should be aware that chronic wasting disease and bovine tuberculosis have infected deer in certain Michigan counties. Hunters can check the DNR 2020 Hunting Digest to learn which counties are at highest risk for diseased deer.

Baiting and feeding are banned in the Upper Peninsula’s Core CWD Surveillance Area, which includes portions of Delta, Dickinson, and Menominee counties.

Because hunting license fees are dedicated to wildlife management and conservation efforts, the past years’ trend toward dwindling hunter numbers impacts funding. Staffing and financial challenges resulting from previous year declines in the hunter base resulted in the DNR reducing the season’s number of deer check stations, dates and hours of operations and number of deer heads accepted for disease testing. But anyone may submit their deer head for CWD testing at a USDA-approved lab for a fee.

Hunters should check Michigan.gov/DeerCheck for check station locations and hours of operation.

The Crystal Falls Field Office check station will be open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday.

The Norway Field Office check station will be open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 4, with the exception of Nov. 26 through Nov. 29.

The Norway office also has a 24-hour drop box that will be open through Dec. 4.

The DNR reminds Michigan hunters to follow state COVID-19 guidelines. These include wearing a mask when interacting with others and social distancing.