• Over 200,000 people hunt in Maine each year, generating nearly $454 million in economic activity for the state.

• In 1998, hunting in Maine generated $329.9 million in direct retail sales, produced $129.9 million in total household income and supported 6,440 jobs statewide.

• In 2003, 72,600 any-deer permits were issued, the second most since the any-deer permit system was adopted in 1986. Last year, 76,989 permits were issued.

• In the past 10 deer firearms seasons, there have been no reported instances of a non-hunting person being injured by someone deer hunting.

• In Maine during 2002, there were 216 vehicular fatalities, 14 homicides, 16 snowmobiling fatalities (winter 2002-03), 14 vehicular-pedestrian fatalities, 10 boating fatalities and zero hunting fatalities.

• Some parts of northern Maine have as few as two deer per square mile. Generally, northern and eastern wildlife management districts average less than eight deer per square mile, while central and southern Maine average 15 to 30 deer per square mile.

• Some southern coastal sections of Maine where hunting access is restricted or denied average 30 to 100 deer per square mile.

Source: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

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SIDEBAR:

New perk gives hunters extra time at day’s end
By Terry Karkos
Staff Writer

Hunters will get a full half hour after sunset to hunt deer this season.

New legislation enacted for 2003 allows hunting until 30 minutes after sunset for all wild animals and birds, with the exception of migratory waterfowl, wild turkeys and raccoons.

Maine Wardens’ spokesman Mark Latti said, “We looked at the safety record and as far as shooting-related injuries went, the time of day wasn’t a factor. So it prompted us to make hunting times more consistent for all species.”

While there were no hunting-related deaths last year during hunting season, wardens responded to nine non-fatal hunting-related injuries. Four were self-inflicted wounds, he said.

“When you look back over the years, over 50 percent of hunting injuries are self-inflicted. People go over a fence with a loaded firearm or they rest the barrel of their gun on their boot or they’re not pointing their gun muzzles in safe directions. Some just defy logic,” Latti added.

Hunters are reminded that they must wear two articles of hunter orange clothing in good and serviceable condition, which is visible from all sides. One article must be a solid colored hunter orange hat and the other must cover a major portion of the torso, such as a jacket, vest coat or poncho and it must be a minimum of 50-percent hunter orange in color.

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Firearms deer season under way today
By Terry Karkos
Staff Writer

RUMFORD – Drivers on the road today should be wary of deer suddenly flushing from the woods as Maine’s largest hunting season begins.

Resident deer hunters can launch their salvos at 5:43 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, while nonresident deer hunters can take to the woods at 5:46 a.m. Monday, Nov. 3.

Last year, 41,581 nonresidents purchased Maine hunting licenses, the most since 1992.

The firearms season, which ends Saturday, Nov. 29, is followed by a two-week muzzleloading hunt from Monday, Dec. 1, through Saturday, Dec. 13.

While most deer will be found in southern and central Maine, hunters desiring big deer should concentrate on the eastern, western or northern parts of the state, said Mark Latti, spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

“Maine is noted for having deer that weigh over 200 pounds dressed, and they’ll be found in these areas due to a lack of hunting pressure and bucks that typically live to older ages,” Latti said.

Rugged terrain and hunters who only go a short distance into the woods have combined to create some of the biggest deer in Maine.

“In western Maine, it’s very difficult to hunt deer, and people are not willing to put in miles and miles through the woods and over ridges. But if they will go off the beaten track, that’s where they’ll find the big deer,” Latti added.

Due to severe winters, predation and loss of wintering habitat, deer populations are lowest in northern and eastern areas.

But Gerry Lavigne, deer biologist for the wildlife service, predicts that the more than 170,000 deer hunters in Maine should find the deer almost as abundant as last year.

“Last year was a banner year for deer hunters in the state. Deer hunters in Maine killed 38,153 deer, the highest total since 1968, marking it as the 10th best season ever,” Latti said.

The 2002 statewide harvest of bucks was one of the best ever at 20,694, second only to the record buck kill of 2000 (21,422). Maine residents registered 88 percent of the 2002 deer harvest.

The success rate for all hunters was 22 percent, up from the 16 percent the previous year.

“If normal hunting conditions and hunter effort prevail, the statewide deer harvest in Maine should be in the vicinity of 35,800,” Lavigne said.

While the winter of 2001 caused the statewide deer population to drop from approximately 292,000 to 241,000, the mild winter of 2002 helped boost the population to 259,000 entering the winter of 2003.

“The winter of 2003 was more severe than normal in much of the state, although not as severe as the 2001 winter,” Lavigne added.

Unlike the deer herd itself, sales of hunting licenses continue to be stable, with sales since 1995 hitting a low of 209,021 in 1997 and a high of 213,984 in 2000. Last year, 212,794 hunting licenses were sold in Maine.

This year, no any-deer permits were issued in northern and eastern Maine because biologists want to facilitate herd recovery in those regions, Lavigne said.

The any-deer permit system was designed to reverse a statewide decline in the deer herd that began in the late 1950s.

The Maine fish and wildlife service issues any-deer permits in conjunction with deer population management objectives set through public input. These permits allow hunters to harvest a doe.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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