Michigan's High Holy Days

Last Wednesday was the opening day of the fifteen-day firearms deer season in Michigan or what I call Michigan's High Holy Days. I was approving a parade of vacation requests for November 15, while keeping track of who would be left in the City. High absenteeism during this 15-day period is pretty common for many businesses throughout the state. There are school systems and businesses in the state that close on opening day. The Legislature shuts down before opening day.

It hard to believe that with over 750,000 licensed hunters, Michigan is only third in the United States in licensed hunters according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). The MDNR estimates that hunters annually contribute more than $1.3 billion to Michigan's economy.

The MDNR estimates that 415,000 deer will be harvested this year. The total population of deer in Michigan is estimated at 1.6 million.

It is this high number of deer that places Michigan second only to Pennsylvania in the number of deer-vehicle accidents. In 2005, according to the Michigan Deer Crash Coalition, there were 58,741 reported car-deer crashes with nine motorists killed and 1,700 injured. State Farm Insurance reports that the average damage claim in these types of accidents is $2,800. I have had several close calls including a couple of near misses earlier this week.

Chelsea even has its share of deer-car accidents within the City. Many are in the vicinity of Freer Road and Washington Street. I have seen deer on Freer Road, Washington Street, Madison Street, and even on Pierce Street. In fact, I have seen as many as seven deer in the yard of my home on Grant Street.

The deer hunters in this state are very passionate about their sport. In one of the Michigan communities that I served, I received a union grievance from a public works employee. Apparently, the city had just trained its public works employees on the use of a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) for confined space entry into the sewer system. Approximately a week before the opening of the firearms deer hunting season, the Director of Public Works ordered that all employees had to have clean shaven faces in order for the SCBA to have a good seal on the face. The employee grieved this order by arguing that the City had violated his rights to successfully hunt deer. In his complaint, the employee stated that if he had to shave, he would have to use after shave lotion and since the deer could smell the after shave lotion fragrance and would be scared away, he was being denied the ability to have a successful deer hunt.

This grievance could have been denied for several reasons: hunting rights were not guaranteed by the collective bargaining agreement; the employee didn't have to use after shave lotion; and he didn't have to shave on the days when he was off-duty and hunting. We were pretty nice about settling the grievance. We told the employee that he didn't have to shave through the deer hunting season, but if he was required to enter a confined space at any time during that period, he would have to shave.

Buck fever is pretty serious here in Michigan and it is best to go with the flow and buy a hunter orange jacket if you go into the woods. Happy hunting!