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Hunting: Is it Time For a Change in Maine's Deer Hunting Regulations?

December 31, 2008 - By nature, humans are resistant to change. That seems particularly true in Maine where the prevailing sentiment is, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." And deer hunters may be the most set in their ways of all. But what if "it" is broken?

For years, biologists and private groups like the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine's Deer Task Force have suggested ways to improve Maine deer hunting and management. Some ideas were whimsical while others were sound and reasonable. The overwhelming majority failed against strong resistance. The current arrangement is just too deeply entrenched in the minds of Maine deer hunters. Or was. After the widespread complaints I've heard from Maine deer hunters this fall, I wonder if this may finally be the year we're willing to consider some significant changes to the state's deer seasons.

HOW BAD IS IT?

In an average year, approximately 10 percent of licensed Maine deer hunters will be successful at taking any deer – buck or doe. That number will likely be measurably lower this year. Outside of New England, that would be considered abysmal. Nationwide, average success rates are three to four times that. Even within New England it's nothing to brag about. In 2007, Maine hunters killed 28,884 deer. By comparison, hunters in Massachusetts – a largely urban/suburban state roughly a quarter the size of Maine – killed 11,576 deer. In Connecticut, a densely developed state half the size of Massachusetts, the kill was only slightly lower – 11,062.

At a time when deer kill figures are rising exponentially across the country and trophy bucks are becoming increasingly more common, the quality and quantity of deer in Maine's annual take has remained static, or in some cases declined. Before leaving his post as deer project leader for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Gerry Lavigne reported a disturbing trend. Ostensibly, the annual adult (age 1.5 years and older) buck kill looked good. However, the number of mature bucks (age 4.5 years and older) killed was declining steadily.

Meanwhile, old friend Dick Arsenault at the Maine Antler and Skull Trophy Club alerted me to a similarly troubling trend. Increasingly, more entries were younger bucks from central and southern Maine. At first that seemed like a good thing. More young trophy bucks relative to the same number of mature trophies would mean more mature trophies in the future.

But that wasn't the case. Young bucks were displacing mature bucks in the kill, and were being removed from the population at a younger age. Both the statewide deer kill data and trophy club records clearly showed we were losing our big bucks – the ones non-residents pay so much to come here and hunt. All that was several years ago and nothing's improved since.

THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE

Several years ago, while I was serving on the Deer Task Force, Lavigne offered a couple things that stuck with me. He claimed that with the right regulations, Maine could easily support an annual deer kill of 50,000 – nearly double the current level. He also said that the area I live in, northern Cumberland County, could support twice as many deer without any deleterious biological impact. How?

Several years ago the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife convened a public working group to advise on a long-term management plan for Maine's big game species. The plan called for increasing deer numbers in northern and eastern Maine up to levels consistent with the biological carrying capacity – approximately half what the habitat could support.

For southern and central Maine, however, the plan subscribed to an artificial number based not on biology, but on what select working group members felt the general public would tolerate in that region. That objective was about a quarter of what the land can support, and by and large it has been obtained.

Meanwhile, the quality and quantity of wintering habitat continue to decline. This is largely due to a reluctance on the state's part to regulate, choosing instead a program of cooperative agreements with large landowners. Depending on who you talk to, these programs have either been a rousing success or a dismal failure. Deer hunters, by and large, view them as a flop. And based on continually declining deer numbers, it appears they may be right.

What can be done? In truth, there are several viable options that many hunters might find acceptable. Alas, space, time and word count constraints prevent me from enlightening you. Rest assured however there will be much discussion in the weeks and months ahead.

Have a good winter – and I'll see you in the spring.

Bob Humphrey is a freelance writer and Registered Maine Guide who lives in Pownal.

BOB HUMPHREY, Portland Press Herald, December 25, 2008


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