Whitetail deer season, Michigan’s greatest tradition, is finally back once again! Every year in the state of Michigan, opening day of firearm season is not only a get-out-of-school card, but it’s a day where innumerable students bond with their family and friends. Firearm season has been around for generations, upon generations, and it was officially first regulated around the 20th century. From the 20th century, to now, deer season has grown immensely and has become very popular.

At first, there were no deer in the lower Peninsula so all the hunters had to drive all the way to the U.P. However, there was no Mackinac Bridge back then so people had to wait up to 24 hours for their car to be shipped over to the U.P., and families would camp there up to two weeks.

Andrew Jordan stated, “I’ve always went out on opening day. My favorite thing about hunting is the excitement when you see a deer that’s worth shooting or a deer I’ve been baiting and watching on my trail cam. There is a special spot I go to every year and it’s kind of turned into a tradition with me and my uncle because everyone’s been busy the past few years on opening day. Overall, we take hunting pretty serious but up to a point, we are really out there to have fun and bond.”

Opening day isn’t just a great day to go out and shoot your first deer of the season, it’s also an imposing day to spend time with family. For multiple families, opening day is where a father and son or maybe father and daughter go out in the woods and spend quality time together for the first time in a long time.

Jonathan Starry added his experience on opening day, “My family has a deer camp that we all go to every year and we watch the movie, Grumpy Old Men. I have been deer hunting for four years, and I hunt up North at Houghton Lake at my cabin.”

In conclusion, opening day of rifle season has flourished over the centuries and has become more popular  deer day is a family day where you get to experience the amazing adrenaline rush of possibly shooting your first deer of the season and tracking it down.