ESCANABA — Local businesses are getting a financial boost from hunters preparing for Michigan’s firearm deer season. The season officially started Friday, and hunters were ready.

At Elmer’s County Market, sales were steady for the days before Nov. 15, with the 13th and 14th being the busiest days.

Elmer’s Pricing Manager Matt Meerstein said the previous weekend was a little busier with hunters preparing for the season. On Monday, he said the store expects to see the busiest time for the season on the Wednesday and Thursday leading up to the 15th.

“We’ll see our biggest influx here in the next few days, probably starting more so with Wednesday. It’ll be a little bit busier today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday), but Wednesday and Thursday, it’ll be pretty crazy in here,” Meerstein said.

Bacon, meat, adult beverages, chips, and other snack foods are some of the items most commonly purchased at Elmer’s by deer hunters in the area.

White’s ExxonMobil also sees an increase in hunters shopping before the season.

“I definitely see a big difference,” said Store Manager Shelby Vance. She said the business is seeing a roughly 40 percent increase in sales, likely due to the season.

She said hunters are coming in to buy corn and apples that the store acquires from Mel’s Lawn, Garden and Feed Center.

In addition to corn and apples, Vance said hunters are grabbing beer and a variety of snacks on their way to hunt.

Outdoor stores such as L&M Fleet Supply in Escanaba started seeing an increase as early as the beginning of October.

“We’ve had a 100% increase over last year. This year looks like a lot of people are seeing more bucks,” said L&M Fleet Supply General Manager Jim Beauchamp.

He explained that last year was not a good year for hunters, but he says this year is looking a lot better.

Even the months leading up to the fall were busy for the store.

“We did see an uptick all summer, but it really kicked off October 1st,” he said.

Beauchamp predicts a successful season, saying the deer population is making a comeback based on his conversations with fellow hunters and his personal experience.

“This is probably the best year in 20 years I’ve seen for bucks at my blind and everybody I talked to,” Beauchamp said.

He said customers are buying various supplies and equipment, but the most sought-after items are deer attractants and ammo.

According to Beauchamp, one very popular attractant is Lucky Buck. He says hunters he’s spoken with have had great success with the product. L&M currently has a limited supply of Lucky Buck.

In addition to guns, ammo, and attractants, L&M sells hunting apparel, deer blinds, flashlights, water, chairs, beef jerky, granola bars, and other snacks.

Hotels in the area also see an impact, but not as much as they used to.

“That’s really changed over the past couple decades. Now, it’s kind of people will really like hunting on private land,” Owner of Terrace Bay Hotel Jarred Drown said.

He said it’s becoming more common for folks to lease out their properties for the season, resulting in less traffic for local hotels and motels.

“The hotels definitely see way less impact, but what you do see (is) a nice impact on, you know, we’ve got our restaurant, So the restaurant and bar, you see a nice little uptick for that,” he said.

He said the hotel’s bar and restaurant, Freshwater Tavern, is beginning to see more hunters come to hang out and drink or grab dinner, and he expects Thursday (yesterday) to really kick off.

With the season in full swing, local meat markets, including Sodermans Meat Processing, are hard at work.

While firearm season will undoubtedly increase the workload at Sodermans, the processor has been very busy since the start of bow season.

“Our bow season alone, this year, we’ve very taken in 200 more deer than we did last year during bow season. So, if that’s an indicator (for) what it’s going to be like for rifle season, we’re gonna be really, really busy. The numbers will definitely be quite up there,” Owner Laura Soderman said.

Owner Troy Soderman credits the mild winter for the amount and quality of deer this season.

“They’re big body deer, bigger horns on them, more nutritional deer, but there’s a lot of deer,” he said.

Last year, Sodermans processed approximately 1,400 deer from rifle season alone. They expect this year to be another busy, successful season.