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Hunters: Today is the Day

November 01, 2010 - Early this morning — much earlier than this paper likely found its way to your front porch, I’d bet — thousands of Mainers shook themselves awake, grabbed their gear and headed afield in one of the state’s most cherished traditions.

Though archery enthusiasts have been in the woods for weeks, and though nonresident hunters can’t participate until Monday, today, for most of Maine’s deer hunters, is opening day.

Weeks of plotting and planning are over. Tree stands are set. Hunter orange clothing has been hauled out and checked. The gear has all been itemized: Compass, knife, matches, ammunition — check, check, check, check.

Maybe you’ll meet a friend or two for a morning hunt. Maybe you’ll go solo. Maybe you’ll knock off at noon and return to the chores you’ve been avoiding. Maybe you’ll stick it out until a half-hour after sunset, hoping for just one shot at the buck you’ve been watching for years.

Whatever the case, if you’re a member of this nonexclusive club, you’ll be out there, somewhere, today. All the planning is over. All the mistakes of the past are forgotten. All that’s left is a month of new opportunities. A month of solitude in the woods. A month to make more memories that will last a lifetime.

Yes, today’s opening day, for many Mainers.

It’s opening day for you. For me. For our friends and relatives. For everyone who thinks there’s nothing better than creeping through the autumn woods, looking for signs, hoping that this year, finally, is the year a big buck ends up in the right place at the right time.

We’ve been waiting all year for this day.

Have fun. Enjoy it. Savor it. Tell your friends about it.

And be safe.

Some deer data

As we mark another opening day of deer season, here are a few tidbits to consider.

• Today’s hunters may be in the woods much earlier, but can legally hunt only from 6:40 a.m. until 5:57 p.m. — a half-hour before sunrise until a half-hour after sunset.

• A total of 48,825 lucky resident and nonresident hunters will be armed this year with an any-deer permit. The coveted permit allows them to shoot does or fawns instead of bucks, if they desire.

• The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife expects hunters to tag 20,919 deer this year. The breakdown, according to pre-season estimates (which are dependent on normal weather and hunter effort) is that 5,922 does, 2,982 fawns and 12,015 bucks will be shot in 2010.

In 2009, just 18,045 deer were harvested by hunters in Maine.

10/29/10By John Holyoke
Bangor Daily News Staff


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