The St. Louis School district is one of a few schools in Michigan that gets Nov. 15 off every year for opening day of hunting season, which is referred to as “Deer Day,” and many students look forward to it each year.
Deer Day’s main purpose is for students to get outside and go hunting. SLHS hunters are grateful for this break from school to go hunting. Senior and strong hunting advocate Harrison Miller has a positive outlook on Deer Day. In fact, he said, “I go out hunting in a blind I built.” Sophomore Jackson Shattuck is also a known hunter at SLHS. He said he enjoys Deer Day for the time off to spend hunting. He also wanted to add that he wants a shoulder mount of a buck in his room.
While some students enjoy spending time outside hunting, others use Deer Day for other purposes. One of these students is sophomore Abigail McCulley. In fact, she said, “On Deer Day, I usually just sit at home. I’m not a big hunter, but I don’t have anything against hunters or deer day; it’s just not my thing.”
It is clear that at SLHS, students celebrate their Deer Day in different ways. However, students have varying opinions on whether or not Deer Day should even be a day off at all. On the pro side, Deer Day could potentially prevent students from skipping school to go hunting. On the con side, it is very likely that students will skip school to go hunting regardless of the extra day off.
McCulley thinks the day off is good for the school. She said, “I think we should get the day off for Deer Day because it’s opening season and most of the kids at St. Louis hunt, so if we were to have school, the attendance would fall low and the state most likely wouldn’t count that day.” Miller also remarked, “I absolutely think we should get the day off. There is no point in making the student body attend at such an outdoorsy school. Most of the students including myself would just skip.”
