06 MARCH 2019
After a lengthy review of Vermont’s deer hunting laws, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department presented a series of proposed changes designed to increase hunter satisfaction and improve management of Vermont’s deer herd to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board on February 27.
A formal set of recommendations will be submitted to the Board on March 20 in preparation for the public meetings in March and April.
“The department and the Fish & Wildlife Board began a comprehensive review of deer regulations in 2013 in response to public input and to the need to improve deer management in some parts of the state,” said Fish & Wildlife Commissioner Louis Porter. “We listened to comments and suggestions at our annual public deer hearings, and we assessed the effects of earlier regulation changes.”
“The proposed changes to Vermont’s deer season framework are integrally related as a package and should be considered collectively, as each season (archery, youth, early antlerless, regular November, and muzzleloader) influences the other seasons. This framework is designed to provide a quality hunting experience for as many hunters as possible while allowing for more effective deer management.”
Highlights of the proposal presented to the Board include continuing buck age management through regional antler point restrictions and an annual limit of one legal buck, extending the archery season, increasing archery hunting in high deer density areas, crossbows for all ages of hunters, and allowing first-time adult hunters to participate in youth season proposed for late October.
The draft “Deer Management Rule Change Proposal” is available on Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s website (www.vtfishandwildlife.com) and will be discussed at public deer hearings starting March 25. Comments may be submitted at the hearings and by email to: [email protected].
Hunters travel to other states to kill bucks, not save them financially.
By: Devin Bates Updated: Mar 21, 2019 10:39 AM EDT 21 Vermont_moves_forward_on_overhaul_of_dee_0_20190321024509
Video Vermont wildlife officials voted to approve a long list of proposed changes to the state's deer hunting rules Wednesday and will begin hearing from the public.
The changes approved by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board include establishing an annual limit one buck.
Other measures include an extended archery season, expanded archery zones in suburban areas with high deer density, permitting crossbow use for all ages, and establishing antlerless and novice seasons.
They would be the first major changes to deer regulations in decades. Officials say they're necessary to maintain a healthier deer population.
Hunters and other Vermonters interested in weighing in on the changes can do so at a series of hearings that begins Monday.
"We're trying to be a little proactive here and anticipate that we're going to continue to lose hunters for at least a little while," said Nick Fortin, who leads the project with Vermont Fish and Wildlife. "In the future, we're going to have fewer hunters, we're also going to have shorter, milder winters which will have less impact on deer so we're going to be more dependent on hunters to manage our deer population."
One hunter at the meeting expressed concerns about allowing younger hunters to use crossbows, adding that it's also often the weapon of choice for poachers.
Tim Biebel, who chairs of the Fish and Wildlife Board, said he's eager to hear what other hunters around the state have to say about the new regulations.
"What I love most about deer hunters is they're a passionate bunch," Biebel said. "Every one of them has a different opinion on how to do it, and trying to get a general feel for how they feel about the proposal is important, and that'll come out through the hearing process."
More information about the proposed changes as well as a schedule of hearings can be found at the Department of Fish and Wildlife website.
First - how do they know that we are going to have milder and shorter winters? I am assuming that the Vermont Fish and Wildlife are in full support of the global warming theory?
Next - they know they will have less hunters? Well - isn't establishing a one buck limit suppose to promote more mature bucks - allow for more hunter participation time - bring in new hunters and revamp the sales approach to hunting licenses? It has done that in the states that surround WV that are one buck limit states -right? Lets take a look - OH had around 390K resident hunters last year and in 2016 they had 404K hunters ----- oops that didn't work - lets move on to PA it will be better -- so 2018 there were 975K hunters and in 2016 there were 981K resident hunters - dang wrong again! Its got to get better - KY had 352K resident hunters in 2018 and in 2016 they had 357K resident hunters --- wow good gracious I am messing this up big time because the numbers should be increasing because some fella's have told me it would increase the number hunters. Lets move to NR licenses OH 2018 100K NR licenses sold and 2016 there were 103K CRAP AGAIN! PA NR hunters 101K for 2018 and 2016 is 105K drats! Ok now all kidding aside will get to KY and yes they have shown an increase in NR hunters from 2016 to 2018 by about 5K. We can talk about revenue from license sales and it pretty much falls the same way that the other states are seeing less revenue as WV is - all except for KY and they have been seeing gains in revenue. I just read a letter though from the sportsman to the KY DPMT of Fish and Wildlife about raising the fee for residents and not non-residents - they sure seem displeased with that - so it will be interesting to see how that turns out in the near future. They talked about how residents were losing land to hunt - to the outfitters and non-residents who were rushing in to overtake their hunting land.
I know in the title of this thread it is - Another one who gets it - but is there really any state that is really getting it? I mean hunter numbers are dropping and I really don't think any of us are getting it!
Sorry Gobber if any of this is offending anyone but we need a wake up call! Here in WV of all places we had a hunt that was terminated! We need to start doing something better and that is directed at each one of us.
I’ve watched this movement shift around the current issues to argue their stance. But, trying to say others don’t believe the biologists is wrong. It’s just some of us don’t sway with the wind.
Looks to me like OH has loss 31k resident hunters since 2008. They have increased NR hunters since 2008 but when you look closer they have starting losing NR hunters since 2014 by about 6K. PA has been losing resident hunters as well down by about 6K and their NR resident hunters are down by like 23k. Both are losing revenue as well.
The one difference is KY has seen a big spike in NR sales but over the past few years they have seen a drop in resident hunters as well by about 5K. They have seen an increase in revenue because the way I read it they raised cost for residents but not NR. Is that the reason for a loss of resident numbers? I have heard there is a strong call to raise NR fees there - how will that play out with NR sales if it happens? Should be interesting.
Now let’s get to WV - during that same time period it looks as if we have lost about 20k resident hunters and not for sure how to determine the loss of NR hunters with stamps and licenses all being in there - but look at the dates of the biggest loss. What happen during that time? Let’s see we reduced the deer population and we drastically reduce the harvest amount - we were killing close to 200,000 deer a year with at least half being bucks! We use to kill 100,000 bucks - it’s been slashed by almost half - did we not expected to lose hunters by doing that? Let alone with what happen to the economy and jobs during that time period. And yes the buck limit was cut during that time period as well from 5 to 3. So why is revenue and hunter numbers dropping in OH and PA if the lower buck limit is so great? Why did Resident hunters in KY drop after the price increase? And what happens in KY if pressure from residents to raise NR prices happens?
Yes somethings needs to happen to increase some revenue but do we it at the cost of possibly causing a decline in hunter numbers even more? Because when I go on sites for PA, OH and KY and hear many of them complaining of see no deer and see their numbers are dropping as well - well it doesn’t give me much faith that we should be copying their plan either!
Oh JR I remember a while back ago I think it was you who made a post about WV being number 1 in deer and car collisions - I saw the new 2019 QDMA report - WV is no longer number 1! Didn’t even make the top 5 according to them - gee wonder what that means???
