Mancelona gears up for 64th Annual Buck Pole contest

REGION – Hunters from around Michigan and out of state are preparing for the 2018 firearms deer season, and in Mancelona, the Chamber of Commerce and volunteers are finalizing details for the village’s popular Buck Pole contest.

For 64 years, generations of deer hunters have been bagging their bucks and bringing them to Mancelona's buck pole, one of the oldest, most popular and best attended in northern Michigan. The annual contest is Mancelona's "claim to fame," and for years Opening Day was declared a local holiday and school was closed for the day.

"To enter the contest, hunters pay a $5 registration fee when they bring in their buck," said Mancelona Chamber of Commerce Director Joanie Moore. "They receive an official commemorative Mancelona Buck Pole patch and a digital photograph just for registering.”

But that’s not all they get.

“When we celebrated our 60th anniversary, hunters were given a bag filled with items just for registering,” Moore said. “The hunters liked what we did so we have built up on it, and now there’s even more incentive to come here.”

Registration bags will have a five-pound bag of locally grown Kitchen Farm potatoes, meat marinade from the Alden Mill House, and a variety (while supplies last) of hunting caps, ink pens from area businesses, note pads, hand cream, stickers and decals, calendars, pins, koozie cups, magnets, All Seasons Motel discount coupons and more, in a reusable Spartan-Nash grocery shopping bag.

The National Rifle Association has also become one of the many sponsors.

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