AUGUSTA (AP) – Maine’s regular firearm season for deer opened for residents Saturday with state officials predicting a big harvest.

“Over 170,000 deer hunters in Maine should find that deer are almost as abundant as last year,” said Gerry Lavigne, deer biologist for the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Hunters killed 38,153 deer in Maine last year. That was the highest total since 1968 and the 10th best season on record.

This 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.

Officials said deer populations are highest in the southern and central portions of the state, and lowest in northern and eastern Maine.

According to overall state figures, more than 200,000 people hunt in Maine each year, generating an estimated $454 million in economic activity.

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

Nonresidents may join the deer hunt beginning Monday.

This year, due to a change in state law, hunters will get a half hour after sunset to hunt deer.

Emphasizing safety, officials remind hunters they must wear two articles of hunter orange clothing.

Promoting courtesy, officials urge hunters to obtain landowner permission for hunting.

“Land access is the number one issue facing the sporting public these days,” said Sgt. Chris Simmons of the Maine Warden Service. “Private landowners are the most important element to outdoor recreation. Without them and the ability to access their property, opportunities to enjoy the outdoor would be severely restricted.”

Deer hunting success last year averaged 22 percent, officials said. Maine hunters registered 88 percent of the 2002 deer harvest.


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