Between December 9 and 13, Kent County Farm Bureau worked with the Kent County Road Commission, Grand Valley State University and Calvin University Wildlife Biology students, Hunters Feeding Michigan, CHOICE ONE Bank, West Walker Sportsman's Club, Kent Conversation District, and Reeman Farm Equipment to host a Doe Pole competition. If we'd known Saturday 12/13 was going to be that cold, we may have chosen a different week--thank you to all the volunteers and researchers for your work and good humor! Thank you to all the hunters for helping reduce the deer herd in four counties--and for your patience with the line for weigh-ins in the last 2 hours of the contest!
This was our first time hosting a Doe Pole, and we learned a lot about how to do it next time, but the most fun was working with our partner organizations and watching the students work on their research projects. GVSU was continuing their research on the deer herd for the Kent County Deer Management Coalition (check out their reports and maps), and Calvin was continuing their tick study (that identified the Longhorned Tick at Grand Mere State Park earlier this year).
Twenty-one individuals and teams entered the Doe Pole, bringing in at least 51 deer from Kent, Ionia, Ottawa, and Allegan counties. Over half of the deer were donated and the meat will provide nutritious, high-protein meals for West Michigan families.
Without further ado, here are the top 5 contenders in each category:
YOUTH LARGEST
Piper Rasch 117lbs + 20 location points = 137
Elijah Niles 111lbs + 20 location points = 131.5
Austin Klahn 109lbs + 10 location points = 119
Abigail Klahn 101.5lbs + 10 location points = 111.5
OVERALL LARGEST
Will Finkler, Kyle Rasch, Carl Dietrich 140bs + 20 location points = 160
Will Finkler team 136.5bs + 20 location points = 156.5
Hunter Phelps 134.5lbs + 20 location points = 154.5
Luke Hancock 127lbs + 20 location points = 147
Dave VanderWilp & Dan Maynard 125.5lbs + 20 location points = 145.5
Ryan Rasch 123.5lbs + 20 location points = 143.5
BEST 3
Will Finkler, Kyle Rasch, Carl Dietrich 398lbs + 20 location points/deer = 458
* Their 3 does were: 140, 136.5, and 121.5 pounds *
Dave VanderWilp & Dan Maynard 348lbs + 20 location points/deer = 408
Luke Hancock 367.5lbs + mix of location points = 407.5
Kyle Ruiter 337lbs + 20 location points/deer = 397
Jon Schultze 328lbs + 20 location points/deer = 388
Thank you to everyone for participating. We look forward to next year!