Nine-year-old Jacob Andes of Iron Mountain shot his first deer, an 8-pointer, at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 15 in Dickinson County. Successful hunters are encouraged to send photos to The Daily News at news@ironmountaindailynews.com. Please include the hunter’s name, community of residence, the number of antler points and the county in which the deer was taken.

IRON MOUNTAIN — Warm weather on the opening days of the firearm deer season contributed to an apparent drop in the Upper Peninsula harvest.

With the 16-day season having ended Thursday, hunters have until Sunday to report late-season harvests to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ online tracker.

Totals across the Upper Peninsula are trending down from 2022, which was the first year of mandatory reporting.

Menominee County is again the leader in the region. Its reported firearm harvest as of 5 p.m. Friday was 2,139 antlered and 835 antlerless, which compares a 2022 firearm total of 2,492 antlered and 1,256 antlerless.

Delta County shows a 2023 firearm harvest of 1,958 to date, including 1,518 bucks. That compares to a 2022 total of 2,499, which included 1,716 bucks.

Dickinson County’s firearm harvest to date is 717 bucks and 245 antlerless, which compares with 974 bucks and 366 antlerless in 2022. For Iron County, the 2023 numbers are 665 antlered and 265 antlerless, compared to 1,032 and 555 in 2022.

Marquette County shows a 2023 firearm harvest to date of 866 antlered and 43 antlerless, which is down from 1,413 antlered and 105 antlerless a year ago.

Brian Roell, wildlife biologist at the DNR’s Marquette office, said warm and windy conditions on opening day were less than ideal.

For all of the U.P., the reported Nov. 15 harvest totals dropped from 3,841 in 2022 to 2,696 this year, a 30% decrease. The buck count dropped from 3,400 to 2,489, a 27% decrease.

About 80% of the deer harvested in the firearm season are taken in the first couple of days, Roell noted. Tough winters the past two years may have lowered the birth weights of fawns and taken a toll on adults as well as fawns, he said.

Some hunters are unaware of the mandatory harvest reporting requirement, or choose to ignore it, Roell added. The agency will keep working on ways to get the message out, he said.

Michigan’s muzzleloader season opened Friday and runs through Sunday, Dec. 10.

Wisconsin’s muzzleloader season opened Monday and ends Wednesday. That will be followed by a four-day statewide antlerless hunt where all weapon types are allowed, running through Dec. 10.

Hunters may use any unfilled antlerless harvest authorization, but it must be used in the zone, county and land type designated on the permit.

Applications for the 2024 spring turkey season in Wisconsin are due by the end of Dec. 10. Wisconsin black bear applications are also due Dec. 10.

Michigan’s spring turkey application period starts in January while the bear application period is in May.

Wisconsin’s lake trout season in Lake Superior is open and runs until Sept. 30 or until the harvest cap is met. To harvest a lake trout, anglers must purchase a 2023-2024 general fishing license and a Great Lakes trout and salmon stamp. Licenses and stamps can be purchased online through the Go Wild system or at any license sales location.

Ice safety is urged on all waterbodies, especially at this time of year. Frigid overnight temperatures often leave a thin layer of ice across smaller bodies of water, but that ice is not strong enough to support the weight of a person or machine.

“After we have these first cold nights, we start to see the early ice forming. It may look solid to the naked eye, but it’s not,” said Lt. Jacob Holsclaw, Wisconsin DNR off-highway vehicle administrator. “There can be cracks and changes in the ice thickness that you won’t see until it’s too late.”

Tri-County Snowmobile Club will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Waucedah Township Hall in Loretto.