Did you have any idea that New York is one of the best states for deer hunting?

I grew up in Michigan and deer hunting remains to be one of the most popular sports and past times. If you were wondering just how seriously Michiganders take deer hunting all you have to do is look at Michigan's state flag. It has two deer on it. Okay, if we want to get technical it's elk not deer on Michigan's coat of arms but I'm sure you get the idea.

According to Deer and Deer Hunting, my home state of Michigan ranks third on the list of best states for deer hunters. Michigan falls tight behind Georgia and Texas.

The state of New York just barely made the list coming in at number 9. I don't think anyone is surprised that we didn't rank high on the list but we certainly could if we had more hunters. Deer Friendly estimated that we had just shy of 1 million deer in new York in 2018.

The criteria for the list was not based on how many deer are in the state but rather how many deer hunters took home. The numbers are based off of a average of five years. Texas brought in roughly 737,000. Michigan brought in roughly 345,000 and New York didn't trail far behind with 217,000.

Are you surprised? It seems like we all know a hunter or two in our lives. There's a perception that the hobby of deer hunting is declining and for a while it may have been but new numbers from Outdoor Life.

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