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Any-Deer Permits Decrease

September 15, 2009 - AUGUSTA -- The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife issued hunters fewer any-deer permits Friday than the year before because of a second straight harsh winter.

In permit-lottery results announced Friday, the department granted just over 45,000 any-deer permits to hunters for the upcoming season, about 6,000 fewer permits than were issued for the 2008 fall whitetail deer hunting season. Any-deer permits allow hunters to shoot either bucks or does.

The area affected most heavily was wildlife management District 17 -- an area which includes popular hunting locations in and around Madison, Clinton and Newport.

District 17 hunters were issued just over 4,000 permits for 2009, after receiving 8,900 a year ago.

"This year's harvest is going to be a scary thing," said Lee Kantar, the department's lead deer biologist. "This is going to be a low harvest year -- very low compared to what we've seen over the last decade."

Kantar projects this year's overall harvest to be less than 19,000 deer -- which would put the season on par with record lows seen in the 1970s following harsh winters. Just over 21,000 deer were shot by hunters in 2008.

Conditions from previous winters have the greatest impact on the number of deer harvested annually and also on the number of antlerless deer, or doe, permits issued.

"You have to look at the driving force -- which winter is, even if people get tired of hearing that," Kantar said.

Winter severity is measured in total snowfall accumulation, how much time that snow spends on the ground, temperatures and the winter's overall length, among other factors.

District 23, which incorporates Augusta, Unity, Windsor and Belfast within its borders, also lost a significant number of permits versus one year ago.

Coastal districts southwest of Augusta -- Districts 22 and 25 -- actually gained doe permits for this season.

BY TRAVIS BARRETT
Staff Writer
Kennebec Journal
09/12/2009


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