Maine’s deer harvest tops 30,000 for the first time since 2004

From 2000 through 2017, the state’s deer harvest has averaged 26,010 animals per year, with a low of 18,092 in 2009 and a high of 38,153 in 2002, according to a compilation of data provided by DIF&W.

The higher-than-normal harvest shouldn’t come as a surprise: This year the state also issued the most any-deer permits in its history, allowing hunters with those permits to take a deer of either gender.

“Muzzleloader [season] could be another 750 to 1,000 or so,” Bieber said in an email.

DIF&W issued 84,745 any-deer permits spread over 22 of the state’s 29 wildlife management districts across the state, an increase of 28 percent. Last year, there were 66,050 permits.

The wildlife department uses the any-deer permit system to manage the deer population. The department says, “the ability to adjust the state’s deer populations derives from the ability to increase, or decrease, the number of breeding does on the landscape. White-tailed deer are at the northern edge of their range in Maine, and winter severity is a limiting factor concerning population growth. By controlling the harvest of female deer in the 29 regional wildlife management districts throughout the state, biologists can manage population trends.”