PRINCETON – State wildlife officials voted Thursday to slash the number of permits issued to hunters to shoot antlerless deer during the 2008 season, but elected to continue allowing doe hunting on the day reserved for young people.
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will issue 14,425 fewer antlerless-deer permits this year than in 2007 – a 21 percent reduction – in an effort to help the whitetail population rebound from a brutal winter.
More than 66,000 antlerless-deer permits – also known as “any-deer” or “doe permits” – were issued in Maine during the 2007 season. The department plans to issue 51,850 any-deer permits this year.
Deer populations throughout Maine, but especially in the northern parts of the state, were hard hit by the heavy snows that began falling in early December and continued well into March.
Initial estimates are that up to 30 percent of the deer herd may have starved to death, frozen or fallen victim to predators in parts of northern Maine, where deer are on the northern cusp of their natural range.
The relatively short-legged white-tailed deer struggles to find food and navigate through woods or fields when snow depths exceed 2 feet. And in much of northern Maine, there was still 5 feet of snow in the forests in early April.
The permit schedule, which the DIF&W Advisory Council approved unanimously, means that hunting for does or any antlerless deer will be prohibited in roughly two-thirds of the state. Wildlife management Districts 1 through 14 as well as 18, 19, 27 and 28 will be bucks-only this year.
In another change, that restriction also will apply to archers hunting in bucks-only districts.
But the council, acting with the support of DIF&W leadership, decided to let young hunters continue targeting doe deer on Youth Deer Day throughout the state. The annual event is intended to cultivate future generations of sportsmen and women.
DIF&W Commissioner Roland “Danny” Martin said none of the small number of speakers at two public hearings or those who submitted written comments disagreed with the department’s decision to reduce the number of any-deer permits.
But pretty much everyone who voiced an opinion opposed the plan to restrict Youth Deer Day participants who are hunting in a bucks-only district, Martin said.
“As a result, youth will be allowed to continue to hunt as usual,” Martin said.
Raymond Poulin Jr., who represents Piscataquis and Somerset counties on the council, said he has always been impressed with Youth Deer Day, especially when he sees the excited faces of young people who shot their first deer.
“I’m glad the public supported it as well,” Poulin said.
Mark Stadler, who heads the department’s wildlife division, said it is possible that a lower-than-normal number of any-deer permits will be issued again next year based on the severity of the 2007-08 winter. Biologists fear that in the hardest-hit areas, most of the fawns and yearlings did not survive the winter.
The high mortality figures have underscored the importance of protecting mature groves of fir trees that provide deer with critical shelter from the deep snows and frigid temperatures. Critics and some agency biologists contend that the voluntary agreements negotiated between DIF&W and timberland owners are not doing enough to protect these so-called deer wintering areas or deer yards.
There have been no formal proposals, however, to further restrict timber harvesting in deer yards.
kmiller@bangordailynews.net
990-8250
Comments
comments for this post are closed