Extra deer permits available
Billy Hutchins of Penobscot tagged out this seven-point buck on the morning of Nov. 13. Additional deer permits are now available, but with geographic stipulations. Photo by John Boit.
The state’s Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife has issued additional deer hunting permits, but you’ll need a boat to take advantage of them around the Blue Hill peninsula.
The extra permits are available for purchase in Wildlife Management Districts 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 29 on a first come, first served basis. The permits are for “antlerless” deer, meaning female deer and young bucks with antlers less than three inches long.
No additional permits are available for mainland hunting in zone 26, encompassing the Blue Hill peninsula and as far north as the Bangor area. But zone 29, which covers islands off the coast from Portland to Mount Desert Island, is included. So hunters who can get there by boat, and with a permit, have the chance to take another deer. Or, hunters can head to nearby allowed zones on the mainland.
The state has a total of 123,695 deer permits available this season. See the chart below to see how many permits are available this season by zone.
The number of permits by zone as listed by the state’s Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife.
With the additional permits now available, hunters may buy up to three extra antlerless deer permits in total. Hunters who won a permit through the state’s lottery system may hold a total of four permits.
Below is a map of the state’s hunting zones, or Wildlife Management Districts.
Zone 26 is, for the most part, made up of Hancock County. But additional deer permits have been issued for other wildlife management districts, including zone 29, which consists of coastal islands from Portland to Mount Desert Island.
