A hunter searches for a whitetail deer. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

No system is perfect.

Maine's antlerless deer let system has been in identify since 1986. The biologists who manage this valuable resource have done a more than adequate job of keeping the deer population at or near objective levels in southern and central Maine, while trying to increment the population in northern and eastern Maine in the face up of winter severity, changing woods direction practices and a booming predator population.

Meanwhile, deer hunters rarely concur on annihilation and the system is one of their favorite topics for debate. Some sit squarely in the "if it ain't broke, don't endeavor to prepare information technology" army camp while others – mostly those who seldom draw a permit because they live or hunt in northern regions – complain that a modify is in order.

Change is inevitable, and it appears the latter group may get their way, partly because the arrangement is no longer achieving objectives, even in southern regions. Some of the blame there lies not with the system but the hunters themselves.

There's an adequate number of permits issued each year to potentially accomplish harvest goals and maintain objective levels. But the hunters aren't doing their job. Some are eager to take the first deer that comes along, whether information technology sports antlers or not. However, a growing number hold onto those permits, hoping for a buck and waiting until the end of season to cash in their tags. Many wait too long.

Reasons for doing then vary. Modern hunters are much more than aware and educated. They've seen the positive results of antler restrictions in other states and have adopted the "permit them go so they can abound" philosophy, hoping to improve their chances of seeing and maybe bagging a bigger buck. At the same time, they understand that more does make more bucks.

Deer populations, at least in key and southern Maine, are also at or near all-time historical highs. Conscientious, bourgeois management has brought populations back to the point where they now equal – and quite possibly exceed – historic highs. Meanwhile, human populations continue to grow, and spread out across the landscape. White-tailed deer are an extremely adaptable species and have learned how to thrive among the trappings of humans.

It's a natural progression that repeats itself time and time again. At first, deer are delightful, showing up at bird feeders and traipsing beyond the dorsum lawn. Soon they become a nuisance, eating ornamental shrubbery and garden plants, crossing roadsides without alert and bringing with them parasites that carry potentially debilitating diseases.

Ofttimes by then it's also late and the damage is done. The posted signs are up and hunters – who fourth dimension and endless research have shown are the most effective and efficient means of controlling deer populations – are no longer welcome. Unchecked, the deer population grows forth with its associated problems.

Alter is already in the works. In July, the Maine Section of Inland Fisheries and Wild fauna convened a stakeholder working group to discuss and develop possible changes to the system. At a subsequent meeting they introduced a suite of proposals that volition go out for public annotate one time refined.

Rather than a whole new system, the proposals represent some modification of the current system. Stay tuned for more details on those proposals. For example, IFW would issue antlerless permits instead of any-deer permits, anticipating college fill up rates. Applicants would be limited to fewer choices in the lottery, with the intent of increasing the likelihood applicants will utilise for permits in areas they're more than likely to chase rather than selecting areas with higher allow numbers with the intent of swapping for some other area. Nether the proposal, swapping and permit transfer would become away, with the possible exception of transfers to youth hunters. While the same data would be used to determine permit numbers, those numbers would likely go down to compensate for expected college fill rates.

Possibly the most contentious proposal is to charge a allow lottery fee and a fee for each allow won in the lottery. When the whatever-deer let system was implemented back in the 1980s at that place was an understanding that IFW would never charge a fee. Times have changed since so. The existing organisation is non meeting objectives. Meanwhile, at that place are fees for the moose lottery and permits, fees for expanded archery permits and fees for turkey permits. Charging a fee would hopefully reduce the number of applicants that employ with little or no intent to harvest an antlerless deer and identify an appropriately meaning value on being able to harvest an additional deer. Funds would besides go toward deer management programs similar deer wintering habitat purchase and management. Times change. It'due south time for a modify, and fourth dimension volition tell what that change will be.

Bob Humphrey is a freelance author and Registered Maine Guide who lives in Pownal. He can be reached at: [electronic mail protected]

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