Press Releases

March 10, 2008

2007 Deer Harvest Nears Expectations; Winter Conditions Affect Population

For more information, please contact State Deer Biologist Lee Kantar at 207-941-4477

Augusta, Maine – Another fall Opening Day, another fall opening with unpredictable weather. Welcome to deer hunting in Maine!

Despite another turbulent and wet day in parts of the state, Mainers were able to harvest 1,859 deer on Opening Day, an increase of 37 percent from 2006. This led to a total fall harvest of 28,884 deer (although at the time of this release a few registration books remain outstanding). This is slightly lower – about 2 percent – that the preseason predictions and higher than the 20-year average of 28,700.

Colder weather and tracking conditions in many parts of the state made this season a pleasant and productive one.

Maine’s deer season stretches from September through December, and is broken into several segments that include the Regular Firearms Season, the October Archery Season, the Expanded Archery Season, the Muzzleloading Season, and Youth Deer Hunting Day.

The total deer kill for each of the past 10 deer seasons:

2007 – 28,884; 2006 – 29,918; 2005 – 28,148; 2004 – 30,926; 2003 – 30,313; 2002 -- 38,153; 2001 -- 27,769; 2000 – 36,885; 1999 – 31,473; 1998 – 28,241.

Youth hunters had their second best day ever (1,065 deer) and proved that neither warm temperatures nor rain could keep them out of the woods.

Together expanded and special archers had a slight downward trend of about 6 percent from 2006 and in total harvested 2,236 deer. Expanded archery continues to play a critical role in keeping deer numbers in check in areas with firearm restriction ordinances.

Blackpowder enthusiasts came up strong in 2007 with a harvest of 1,964 deer, which is a 50 percent increase from 2006 and by far is the highest muzzleloader harvest that Maine has seen – the first season was in 1981! Colder weather and tracking conditions in many parts of the state made this season a pleasant and productive one.

Again this year more deer were killed in Penobscot county (3,283) than any other county this past year. Other counties where more than 2,000 deer were killed include Somerset (3,131), Kennebec (2,822), Oxford (2,584), York (2,531), and Cumberland (2,391).

Hunters this year killed 16,103 adult bucks and 12,781 antlerless deer. The antlerless kill of 12,781 was down 7 percent from the predicted antlerless kill of 13,640. The decrease was mostly a product of a reduced fawn harvest.

This year, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife issued 66,375 Any Deer permits. An Any Deer permit allows a hunter to harvest a deer of either sex. By controlling the number of female deer in a population, the department can manage deer population trends. Any Deer permits are issued through a lottery system.

Harsh Winter for Deer Populations

To those people who have spent time in the outdoors this winter, it will come as no surprise that this year is on track to be one of the most severe winters for deer in the last 57 years, according to IF&W State Deer Biologist Lee Kantar, based in Bangor.

“If winter conditions persist we will need to brace ourselves for a large decrease in Any Deer permits as well as a reduced harvest in 2008 in order to compensate for an expected increase in winter mortality,” Kantar said.

IF&W has been monitoring the effects of this year’s winter on the deer population by completing weekly checks at weather collecting stations at 28 locations throughout the state. The data are compiled and compared to past years to determine the severity of the winter and what its impacts are on the deer population in different parts of the state.

IF&W’s winter severity index is based on a calculation of snow depth, deer sinking depth and ambient temperatures, according to Kantar.

“The biggest driving factor is snow depth,” Kantar said. “The deeper the snow the more it restricts mobility and taxes a deer’s energy budget.”

Deer that are yarded up mostly rely on fast reserves from the previous fall to survive a winter. Good deer yards help slow the downhill slide of fat reserve use by providing thermal protection and some limited food sources.

“The longer that winter stays, and the later it takes for spring to arrive and green up, the harder it will be for deer to hang on,” Kantar said. “Fawns are very susceptible this time of year because they have not had time in their young lives to maximize body condition and size. They are still growing so they do not have the benefit of putting on much fat for the winter. It will be a brutal year for them.”

IFW wildlife biologists will be meeting in the next few weeks to determine the preliminary number of any deer permits that will be available for next year.

DEPARTMENT INFORMATION

Press Releases

2007 Deer Harvest Nears Expectations; Winter Conditions Affect Population