Big bucks in Maine, where hunters have best season in years

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - It was a big year for deer in the Pine Tree State.

Maine’s hunters had their most productive season in more than 10 years, according to registration data, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said Tuesday. Preliminary numbers indicate hunters had taken 30,299 deer as of Monday, the agency said.

The deer season for hunters who use muzzleloaders is still going on, so hunters will likely top the 2004 total of nearly 31,000, but fall short of the 2002 total of more than 38,000, the agency said.

The state hiked the number of deer permits it distributed this year by 28 percent, to nearly 85,000. The deer herd showed strong survival over last winter, in part because of moderate weather, which allowed the state to distribute more of the hunting permits.

The season actually started off slow this year due to poor weather, but hunters eventually made up for it, said Nathan Bieber, the state’s deer biologist.

“Better hunting conditions including tracking snow throughout the state for the last two weeks of the season compensated for the slow start,” he said.

Maine used a new online registration system this year to track the deer harvest. The permits the state gives out are “any deer” permits that allow a hunter to harvest a deer of either sex. Maine wildlife officials regard the annual hunt as important to limit car crashes and help control the spread of Lyme disease.

The higher permit numbers and a growing deer herd in the center and southern parts of the state helped hunters overcome the fact that the weather was bad for much of the season, said David Trahan, executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine.

“Some areas, particularly in the south, have more deer than we have had in the past,” Trahan said. “And there are definitely hunters out there.”

Maine has the largest deer herd in New England, and the main firearms season for the animals ended on Nov. 24. Hunting with muzzleloaders, as well as a limited archery season, continues until Dec. 8. The hunt began in September.