Did you know what deer were once used for in Michigan? It wasn’t as a main course at a fancy restaurant or to fill out the population of a game preserve. Nope, deer were actually used as currency! Seriously! Skin from the animals was traded by settlers for goods and services. Can you imagine trying to pay for your groceries with venison meat? Now that would be one tough checkout line!
Thankfully, modern-day currency has replaced shed antlers and hide, but it’s still pretty cool to think about how integral deer were to early Michiganders’ lives. So the next time you’re out in the woods and see some bucks grazing in the meadow, remember that these graceful creatures played an important role in the state’s history
