59% increase in any-deer permits = Happy hunters!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAny-deer permits will increase by 59% this year, and that’s great news for Maine’s deer hunters. “The winter of 2015-16 was of below-average severity in most of the state,” DIF&W noted, “which resulted in higher survival rates for our over-wintering deer.”

The agency is recommending that 45,755 permits be issued this year, to meet their doe quota of 5,297 animals. Last year they issued 28,700 permits. I’ll give you the numbers for last year and this year at the end of this column.

I’m disappointed by the slight increase in my district, WMD 16, which had seen a decrease of 1000 permits over the past two seasons. This year we’ll get just 110 more permits. I thought the decrease here last year was unnecessary, as we were seeing lots of deer, especially young deer. While I chose not to kill a deer last year, I saw 38 of them while hunting. And there are lots and lots of deer here now.

DIF&W Analysis

Here’s how DIF&W explained their decision.

“Using biological and harvest data from deer and winter weather information, harvest levels are established for each WMD to move the district toward the management plan population objectives. Permits are then allocated based on success rates to accomplish the desired objectives. Deer permits are then allocated to applicants by district using a random drawing.

Similar to past years, our recommendations include managing 11 WMDs in northern and downeast Maine with a buck harvest only (no ADPs). These WMDs have relatively unproductive deer habitat and are below population goals. As was the case last year, we recommend issuing a small number of ADPs in WMDs 3, 6, 14, and 18 in order to minimize deer impacts to their overwintering habitats, minimize nuisance issues, and to provide additional hunting opportunity where the population can sustain a light doe harvest.

Given the unusually mild winter and associated lower than average winter mortality rates in 2016, this year we also recommend issuing a relatively small number of ADPs in WMDs 7, 12, and 13. Maine’s South-Central and Southern WMDs continue to remain highly productive, therefore we recommend issuing a substantial number of permits in WMDs 16, 17, 20-26, and 29.

Although WMD 15 contains relatively good deer habitat, this unit has remained below population goal. Therefore, we are recommending a decrease in ADPs in this WMD in hopes that a reduction in the doe harvest will allow the population to increase.”

2015 and 2016 permit numbers (2015 numbers are in parenthesis)

WMD 1 – 0 permits (0)

WMD 2 – 0 permits (0)

WMD 3 – 50 permits (50)

MD 4 – 0 permits (0)

WMD 5 – 0 permits (0)

WMD 6 – 100 permits (100)

WMD 7 – 505 permits (505)

WMD 8 – 0 permits (0)

WMD 9 – 0 permits (0)

WMD 10 – 0 permits (0)

WMD 11 – 0 permits (0)

WMD 12 – 370 permits (0)

WMD 13 – 735 permits (0)

WMD 14 – 180 permits (70)

WMD 15 – 960 permits (1980)

WMD 16 – 1,710 permits (1600)

WMD 17 – 4,620 permits (2275)

WMD 18 – 140 permits (140)

WMD 19 – 0 permits (0)

WMD 20 – 8,865 permits (5300)

WMD 21 – 8,535 permits (6350)

WMD 22 – 3,410 permits (1925)

WMD 23 – 4,425 permits (2250)

WMD 24 – 6,310 permits (4250)

WMD 25 – 3,190 permits (1770)

WMD 26 – 150 permits (150)

WMD 27 – 0 permits (0)

WMD 28 – 0 permits (0)

WMD 29 –1,500 permits (600)

TOTAL – 45,755 (28770)

 

 

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.