MARQUETTE -Sunday’s opening day of the firearm deer hunting season was improved over last year in some areas of the Upper Peninsula, based on reports from deer check stations, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Regional temperatures reached the low 50s, with sunny skies, though lingering snow that had fallen earlier in the week remained on the ground in some spots.

In 2014, much of the northwestern U.P. was buried under 3 to 4 feet of snow by opening day, in the wake of a strong winter storm that began Nov. 10 and continued for three days, followed by lake effect snow showers.

Weather appeared to have made a difference this year. At the Marquette DNR check station, one deer was checked on opening day last November. This year, the Marquette station checked six deer, closer to the 10-year average of 10 deer brought in on opening day.

“Last year, we didn’t really have a deer season here at Marquette,” DNR wildlife technician Bill Rollo said in a news release. “That deep snow shut things down in a lot of areas. Even if we have a poor season this year, it will be better than last year.”

Last November, firearm deer hunters in the U.P. harvested 14,734 bucks and 1,574 antlerless deer for a total of 16,338 deer, down 38 percent from 2013.

After three consecutive severe winters in the region, DNR biologists said hunters this firearm deer season should expect to see fewer deer in the U.P., especially in the 1 – and 2 -year-old age classes.

Numbers of deer checked Sunday at stations across the U.P. varied from the six checked at Marquette, nine at Escanaba, three at Crystal Falls and and one each at Baraga and Shingleton.

At the Mackinac Bridge, toll booth workers count the number of deer they see on southbound vehicles. The annual count began at 7 a.m. Sunday. Counts are tallied three times daily.

As of 7 a.m. Monday, bridge workers had counted a total of six deer, compared to zero at the same time in the season last year.

At Escanaba, the nine deer checked was the same number as in 2014 on opening day.

At the DNR check station in Sault Ste. Marie, DNR wildlife biologist David Jentoft said no deer were checked there Sunday. At a buck pole in Newberry, seven bucks were checked.

As of Sunday, 1.2 million deer hunting licenses had been purchased by Michigan residents, including 59,694 by residents living in the U.P. Statewide, 124,338 residents bought hunting licenses on Saturday and 22,766 on opening day.