MONTAGUE — After several minutes of discussion on the issue, the Montague City Council approved its 2026 deer hunting season dates by a split decision during its regular meeting Monday, with the measure passing 4-3. Paul Schultz, Laura LaGuire and Bob Hires dissented.
The meeting took place in the White Lake Senior Center, as the Montague Police Department has taken up temporary residence in the council chambers due to renovations taking place there. City Manager Jeff Auch said the renovations are on schedule and should be complete in mid-October.
The sole change to the 2026 season, and the one that led to the dissenting votes, was that hunting on public lands will only be open for six weeks, rather than the usual 12. Public lands that are part of the deer management area will be open through Nov. 15, while private lands are open through the end of the year as usual. The season begins Thursday, Oct. 1.
Schultz shared his dissent was due to discussions he has had with hunters. While Schultz himself said he's not a hunter and would just as soon not have any deer taken, he conceded that isn't realistic. Hunters have told him deer are overpopulated in the area, and Schultz said he does not want the issue to reach the point it has in Saugatuck in southwest Michigan, where the city council recently hired an animal control company to cull deer herds.
LaGuire agreed with Schultz's dissent and with two public commenters, who shared concerns that once the city cuts the deer season on public lands, it will have a hard time reverting it back to the 12-week season if it's deemed necessary or desired.
However, council discussion also noted that fewer applicants to participate in deer season also led to the decision to cut the season on public lands. Council member Susan Newhof said that the city has only received two applications to hunt on public lands during the 2026 deer season, and one of those applications was from someone who did not plan to hunt past Nov. 15 anyway. She also shared that users of the bike trail previously expressed discomfort with the proximity of the trail to the public land used for deer hunting.
It was also discussed that the city has cut the amount of land open for deer hunting over the years. Schultz confirmed with Auch that land near the industrial park and land near the farmer's market used to be available for hunting but now is not. The council later unanimously approved the public land south of the bike trail for deer hunting and two parcels of private land (the combined Keck/Acuna parcel, which was combined in order to meet the six-acre minimum necessary, and a Weesies parcel near Walsh Road, both of which have been approved in past years). The council also approved four applications to hunt during the season - two each on private land and public land.
Newhof, who said her council term is up this year and is not seeking re-election, later expressed her objection to the deer management program in general, referring to it as "a deer killing program" and saying she doesn't view deer eating vegetation in people's yards as an issue. She urged the city to use a data-driven approach to the program in the future if they choose to continue it.
In non-hunting business, the council unanimously approved the appointment of George Horn to the city's Board of Review and the appointment of Bill Tarr to a subcommittee examining golf cart and off-road vehicle traffic in the city.
The council also unanimously approved a resolution to close the city's account with Lake Michigan Credit Union. Auch said the city has approximately $283,000 in the account but has learned it can get more beneficial interest rates at other institutions. The city will likely spread that money around to multiple banks.
During public comment, Consumers Energy's Rich Houtteman noted that the company is doing tree trimming and will let anyone know if work will be done near their property. Wood on anyone's property will be left for the property owners. Wiley Fry of the Montague Commoners then followed by noting that the Commoners' Firewood Fridays series is starting up this week and invited anyone not interested in their wood from the Consumers work to donate it to the Commoners.
