Whitetail Deer Hunting Season Opens in Massachusetts

By Jim on December 2nd, 2008

Excellent article on deer hunting in MA as the season opens. Some good history in this article and a good overview of why hunting is such a critical wildlife management technique particularly in states like MA that suffer from a lack of hunters and an overpopulation of deer.

The size of the herd, an estimated 95,000-plus, remains constant, despite ever increasing kills. The increases are the result of relatively mild winters, good food conditions, and a deer project second to none in the nation.

The herd size is amazing and a direct result of an antler-less program initiated years ago after the harvest hit all time lows of below 2,000 animals in the 1950s and 1960s.

The herd size is much larger than when the Pilgrims landed in the Bay State and a mix of mature and young forests greeted them. Farming and cutting first changed potential deer growth. The season is lengthy compared to the old days when the entire deer hunting season was six days of shotgun hunting. Despite increased hunting days and harvests, herd numbers are at an all-time high.

The continuous growth of the herd, despite ever increasing days allowed for hunting is attributed mostly to the institution of an antlerless deer program two decades ago. Add a number of relatively mild winters and you have your answer.

Strangely enough, as the deer harvest totals increased over the years, the number of hunters afield had decreased dramatically.

The percentage of the total deer kill has seen the percentage of animals taken by bow and muzzleloader also increase each season, despite having fewer hunters.

Improved hunter skills and the vast improvement in gear have kept totals high despite fewer hunters afield.

I wish that some of the people who hate hunters down there in MA would take in some of these facts and take a moment to understand the role hunters play in keeping the numbers of deer in check:

Deer density ranges from 10 whitetails per square mile in northwestern Massachusetts to 50 to 60 on Nantucket Island, where the state’s highest Lyme disease in humans is recorded. A special hunt was instituted last year at the request of residents. While animals were taken, the total was not significant enough to drastically reduce the Lyme disease threat.

Biologists estimate the deer population increases by more than 30 percent annually.

MassWildlife maintains deer densities between 10 to 30 animals per square mile, depending on habitat and deer nuisance reports.

Biologists indicated that a higher deer per mile ratio could be reached, but higher populations lead to an increase in Lyme disease, car-deer collisions, habitat destruction, and nuisance reports.

There’s an amusing thread over at Northeastshooters about the start of whitetail season in Massachusetts. There are some funny stories posted in the thread, give it a read.