Summer, for most of us, is a busy time. It’s easy to let things fall through the cracks, especially November plans. If you are a deer hunter there is an August date that you might not want to forget: August 15th. That’s the deadline for sending in your application for an antlerless deer (doe) permit. Since the Fish and Wildlife Department no longer mails paper applications automatically, there is no reminder. It’s an easy thing to overlook. The deadline for submitting a regular paper application has gone by, but you can still apply online. Applying online is easy and painless. Just go to the MDIF&W website, www.mefishwildlife.com, and follow the instructions. You’ll need to have your big game hunting license number. There are two numbers on your license. Don’t mistakenly use the MOSES number. It’s the other number.

As you might expect, the number of doe permits being issued in 2011 are way down due to our declining deer numbers. In fact, MDIF&W is expected to issue only 26,390 doe permits in the state’s 29 wildlife management areas. This is a reduction of 22,435 permits, which is 46 percent lower than last year.

If you are not sure in which wildlife management area you want to apply you can get help with this on the MDIF&W website. Doe permits are free. The drawing for these permits will be held in early September. Deer hunting season (firearms) begins with Youth Deer Hunting Day on Oct. 22. Youth may take a buck statewide or an antlerless deer (doe) only in the wildlife management areas where any-deer permits will be issued this fall. This year, Maine Residents Only Day is on Sat., Oct. 29, and deer season runs from Oct. 31 through Nov. 26.

Good luck in the draw!

• On my Sunday night radio program Maine Outdoors, on the Voice of Maine News-Talk Network, a caller caught me off guard with this question: “ Is it illegal to give fish away to a person who does not hold a state fishing license?”

That’s a new one. I said that I didn’t know but would check into it. Here’s the deal. Apparently, and totally unknown to me, it has always been illegal to give away a game fish to someone without first attaching the name and address of the angler donor. This is the same long-existing requirement should you give away some of your deer meat to a friend or neighbor. Fish shouldn’t be any different, I suppose. It’s a possession issue. Otherwise a game warden would have no way of knowing whether the fish you have in your possession was taken legally.

In an attempt to clarify this issue, or to put some teeth into the already existing fish-gifting practice, the Maine Legislature this spring enacted An Act to Allow an Angler To Gift a Freshwater Fish to a Person Who Is Not Licensed to Fish. Basically, the new law says that if you don’t have a current state fishing license, you can’t possess any game fish unless it is “plainly labeled with the name of the person who gave the fish and the year, month and day the fish was caught.”

Exactly how to label the fish could prove a challenge, however. If the gift is a Big Ole Togue, you might try scribbling your name right on that tough, slimy skin with a Sharpie Permanent marker. Don’t try this with any brookie that you plan to give me, though. I like to eat the skin, if it’s pan-fried in butter. How about a big mess of white perch? Hmmm. A problem of logistics. You could put them all in one of those white,plastic paint buckets and label the bucket with your John Hancock. The easy solution may simply be a new designer tag, mass produced with your name already embossed and a blank space for the year,month and day. Or, better yet, don’t give the fish away. Clean ‘em yourself and just invite Aunt Mary over to your place for a fish fry.

Yes, life sure does get complicated. Doesn’t it?

V. Paul Reynolds is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WQVM-FM 101.3) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His email address is [email protected] and his new book is “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook.”