The state Department of Natural Resources today reminded Michigan deer hunters that private land antlerless deer licenses will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis beginning Wednesday, Aug. 16, at 10 a.m. Private land antlerless deer licenses may be purchased at any of the 1,500 license dealers around the state or online at www.michigan.gov/dnr.

Hunters are advised to note that several important changes have been made this year regarding private land antlerless deer hunting.

Fewer private land antlerless deer licenses will be available in many northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula Deer Management Units (DMUs). Hunters may wish to purchase their licenses early. Eighty-one of 98 DMUs throughout the state will have 582,200 private land licenses available.

To purchase a private land antlerless license for a given DMU, hunters must provide the contact phone number of the private landowner granting permission to deer hunt in the DMU. For Zones 1 and 2, the landowner granting permission is required to have 40 or more contiguous acres within the DMU.

Hunters also will be limited to a maximum of three private land antlerless deer licenses, of which no more than two may be from Zones 1 and 2 combined. Hunters may purchase one private land antlerless deer license each day, up to the season limit of three.

The seven-county bovine tuberculosis area in the northeast Lower Peninsula, identified as the special regulations units in the 2006 Michigan Antlerless Deer Hunting Guide, is exempt from the 40-acre requirement and the limit on private land antlerless deer licenses that a hunter may purchase.

For complete information on these regulations and other changes, refer to the 2006 Michigan Antlerless Deer Hunting Guide available at license dealers and on the DNR Web site.