Below is a copy of a press release sent out today by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) announcing a plan to reduce the allotment of “Any-Deer Permits” statewide, by approximately 46%. Hunters should be outraged.

Outraged because their investment over the years to fund the MDIFW has resulted in a near 50% reduction in the allotment of “Any-Deer Permits”. This equates to a direct reduction in your opportunity to put venison in your freezer next fall. Outraged that it took almost 3 years for leaders at MDIFW to actually try to do something about reducing deer harvest in order to boost the deer herd. Outraged that your success rate to bag a deer has fallen into the cellar.

There is something good, in that the new MDIFW Commissioner, Chandler Woodcock, made the unpopular decision to cut permits. (Unpopular mostly to those who might suffer from a loss of license revenue.)

I still do not like the language related in this press release about the reasons Maine has no deer.

“For the last few years, particularly after the harsh winters of 2008 and 2009, people have expressed concerns about the reduction in deer populations statewide, with some regions of the state experiencing more of a decrease than others,”

Is it that it’s just so easy to spew forth those words of blame about severe winters? How difficult is it to list the main reasons? And would the commissioner actually include predators? What’s also troubling is to send out a press release that reads that “people have expressed concerns”. Are you kidding me? This is way beyond concern. Tell it like it is. It lets everyone know you do know what’s going on………don’t you? Hunters are angry. They’ve been screaming for a reduction in antlerless deer permits for years and begging to bring back snaring and do something about overgrown populations of bears and coyotes. I think this is beyond being concerned.

The other issue I would like to address involves the wasted money MDIFW laid out for aerial deer counts. The appropriated amount of $100,000 spread out over 2 years came at a bad time. That’s why it was a waste in my opinion. I think every hunter who stepped a foot into the woods in the past 3 years knows there aren’t any deer and they strongly believe that MDIFW’s guesstimates of herd populations were much higher than reality. As has been the case for many years, MDIFW refused to listen to those in the field and so wouldn’t consider this a problem until they spent $100,000 to fly over 2 Wildlife Management Districts (WMD) to count deer. I laughed at what appears in this release about the counts.

The aerial surveys enabled wildlife biologists to gather empirical data on deer abundance in WMDs 17 and 25. When the results of the survey were analyzed with other data, it showed that WMDs 17 and 25 are below deer population objectives and that these areas in southern and central Maine need to be stabilized, as well as northern, eastern and western Maine.

Before we go praising the results of the flyovers, let’s examine what this really tells us. It tells us more than likely that all WMDs are below population objectives or at least that MDIFW doesn’t know what condition the deer herd is in all over Maine. Surprise!

Am I being hard on these people? You bet I am. It was at least five years ago when sportsmen in Northern Maine were beating down my email inbox asking me what could be done about a disappearing deer herd, and how can they get MDIFW to stop issuing “Any-Deer Permits” to help stop the downward spiral. And what about those dang predators?

It just seems that in Maine, and I’ve witnessed this in other states as well, action by fish and game experts comes far too late to be most effective and less expensive. It is nearly impossible to rebuild an extirpated deer herd than a reduced one.

Now the problems exacerbate. MDIFW has a revenue problem. With fewer deer, equating to lousy hunting, and now a reduction of some 22,500 hunting opportunities, what will happen to license sales?

While I can sit here and say, “it’s about time”, I can just as easily ask what took so long and why wasn’t something being done 30 years ago?

Here’s the MDIFW press release:

AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is proposing a reduction in antlerless deer permit allocation numbers for this fall’s hunting season as part of its ongoing efforts to manage deer herd numbers statewide.

Commissioner Chandler Woodcock is proposing 26,390 antlerless deer permits for the state’s 29 wildlife management areas this year, a reduction of 22,435 permits or 46 percent from 2010. The allocations are based on biological and harvest data, winter weather information, population density levels and other factors thoroughly researched and analyzed by department wildlife biologists.

Antlerless deer permits also are known as “any-deer” or “doe” permits. This year is the 26th year that an any-deer permit system is being used to regulate antlerless harvest during the firearm and muzzleloader season. Once the allocation numbers are finalized, the department will inform hunters when it is time to enter the any-deer permit lottery.

“For the last few years, particularly after the harsh winters of 2008 and 2009, people have expressed concerns about the reduction in deer populations statewide, with some regions of the state experiencing more of a decrease than others,” said Commissioner Woodcock. “We’ve listened, and in recent years, we’ve conducted additional studies, including aerial surveys, to determine the full depth of this situation. We need to help our deer herds grow. This year’s any-deer permit allocation is one step in that direction.”

The proposed allocation is not the final number and could be changed. Commissioner Woodcock’s recommendation has been discussed through two of three rulemaking steps before the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Advisory Council. Additional data still are being ascertained, including completion of this year’s winter severity index, in which biologists survey how deer fared during the winter, and will be presented to the council during its May meeting. It is not anticipated, however, that the permit number will swing dramatically.

“As is the standard operating procedure, we summarize and analyze annual harvest data, multiple-year harvest trends, age and sex ratios, annual mortality influences, reproductive trends, hunter effort and sighting data, and population indices each year,” according to state deer biologist Lee Kantar. “Thus the question of population trajectory is informed by a large amount of data that provides the input to our stepwise permit allocation process.”

Last winter, the department conducted an aerial double count survey similar to what was pioneered in Quebec and adapted by New Brunswick’s deer management program. The aerial surveys enabled wildlife biologists to gather empirical data on deer abundance in WMDs 17 and 25. When the results of the survey were analyzed with other data, it showed that WMDs 17 and 25 are below deer population objectives and that these areas in southern and central Maine need to be stabilized, as well as northern, eastern and western Maine.

“The aerial survey results provided some much needed data in reference to our most critical question to be addressed, that is where does the current population by wildlife management districts stand in relation to our publicly derived WMD population objectives?” Kantar said.

For 2011, the department is recommending that 17 of the state’s 29 wildlife management districts as “bucks only.” Districts not experiencing a reduction in antlerless deer permits this year are WMDs 21 and 29.

In the last five years, Maine has experienced a sharp decrease in harvest, from 29,918 in 2006 to 20,063 in 2010.

The public is invited to comment on the proposed antlerless deer permit allocation. Deadline for comments is May 13. Comments may be addressed to MDIF&W Deputy Commissioner Andrea Erskine, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 284 State St., SHS 41, Augusta, ME 04333 or email at andrea.erskine@maine.gov.

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