AUGUSTA – Fewer people will be in the woods hunting does this November because of action taken Tuesday by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s rule-making council.

Having determined this was one of the hardest winters on the herd in the past 50 years, state deer study leader Gerry Lavigne met no opposition when he presented his proposal to issue 39,000 fewer any-deer permits than he originally recommended for next fall.

Lavigne explained why the lateness of the winter and the amount of snowfall in Maine, which had depths of 39 inches from north to south, mean the DIF&W needs to take action to nullify the effects of the winter on the deer herd.

The department’s Advisory Council, a rule-making body of public members, unanimously accepted Lavigne’s newest proposal to issue 54,000 any-deer permits statewide, instead of 93,200, as recommended in March. Last year, 75,525 any-deer permits were issued. The year before, 53,800 were available.

Lavigne’s proposal Tuesday also recommended bucks-only hunting in 12 of the 30 hunting districts in Maine, taking away any-deer permits from much of northern and western Maine.

Lavigne said eliminating the doe harvest in those areas would not fully offset the winter losses, but will slow the decline in deer there.

With the new allotment of any-deer permits, Lavigne estimates a deer harvest in 2001 of 32,847, including 18,710 adult bucks.

Last year, 36,885 deer were taken, including a record 21,422 antlered bucks.

According to DIF&W calculations, the winter was one of the seven most severe since 1950, but Lavigne said the mortality was not as bad as it was in 1971 when 35 percent of the deer herd was lost and the fall hunt was canceled.

“But there was mortality in every district this year,” Lavigne said.

As a result, in every hunting district of Maine, even along the York County coast, the any-deer permits were reduced by several hundred.

Lavigne noted that in order to increase the deer herd in northern and western Maine, DIF&W needs to help secure larger amounts of deer wintering areas through landowner agreements. In those areas, he said, there is no area that has more than 10 deer per square mile, and most have five or fewer.

Advisory Council member Matt Libby of Ashland asked if it would be better in northern Maine if more was done to stop coyote predation through the snaring program.

“If we get the wintering areas where they were in the ’60s,” Lavigne responded, “coyote predation would not be the problem it is today.”

In southern and central Maine, where the department wants to stabilize or decrease the deer herd, Lavigne said there are as many as 25 deer per square mile. Along the coast in York County, he said, are areas with more than 50 deer per square mile.

Advisory Council member Ellen Peters of New Gloucester asked Lavigne whether the amount of posted land was the reason for the high concentration of deer in southern Maine.

Lavigne said it would help to open more land to hunting, something DIF&W is working on through its Landowner Agreement Program.

On Tuesday, the Advisory Council also approved a bonus-deer permit, which would allow hunters to take an extra antlerless deer in those hunting districts where any-deer permits were left over after the regular drawing.

“This will help draw some of the hunters out of the woodwork in those districts where, for some reason, they have stopped applying for any-deer permits,” Lavigne said.

Lavigne said that even after this year’s severe winter, there is a likelihood bonus-deer permits will be available in Districts 23, 24, and 30 – between Augusta and Belfast, along coastal York County, and on offshore islands respectively.

Deirdre Fleming covers outdoor sports and recreation for the NEWS. She can be reached at 990-8250 or at dfleming@bangordailynews.net.