AUGUSTA (AP) – After a long winter with record-setting snow packs, Maine 2008 deer harvest was the lowest in decades.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife says preliminary figures put the deer kill at 21,062, or 27 percent below the 2007 total.

Deer biologist Lee Kantar says deer yarded up on average for 140 days, compared to the normal 84 days. The result was extremely low survival rates for fawns, reflected in a 45 percent decline in the fawn harvest.

Kantar says the current winter looks similar to last year, which could mean a further decrease in any-deer permits and a reduced deer harvest in 2009.

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