In Maine, a state with widely varying winter weather patterns, the deer survival equation is both simple and complex. Weather always rules. Snow depths, protracted cold snaps, deer wintering areas and timing of the spring green-up all play a pivotal role.
There are adjustments that wildlife managers and policymakers can make to influence deer numbers, but ultimately, weather trumps all.
When whitetail numbers are up, wildlife regulators get the credit; conversely, when deer numbers are in the tank, the same folks take the heat.
Deer-wise, this was a very good year. In fact, the unofficial deer harvest tally before the blackpowder numbers were in stood at an amazing 52,709 deer tagged — an all-time high. The final number reached more than 55,000.
According to the Bangor Daily News, changes in harvest policy over the past several years, including the 2022 rule allowing the taking of both a buck and a doe in most wildlife management districts, were key factors in the state’s record-breaking harvest.
Certainly, that all figures — but the bigger question is why so many permits were issued. By all appearances in the woods this fall, the deer were clearly abundant enough to support them.
Let’s get anecdotal for a moment. In the 60 years that I have been hunting Maine deer, never have the deer been so plentiful — not only along the coast where I live but also in the North Woods where I hunt for a week every fall. Going to and from my hunting spots, it was a rare day not to see one or two deer crossing the road. Other hunters have shared similar observations: more young deer in numbers never before seen.
It is, I have been told, nutrition levels and mild winters that are the key determinants in the number of fawns produced by does. So it seems reasonable to conclude that, as previously reported, last winter was mild by all accounts, and foraging conditions were above average as well.
If you are a prideful deer hunter, like me, who takes the pursuit seriously, this was not a good year to get skunked. Despite many hours in the deer woods from September through December, success did not materialize. My excuse is that two were missed with my bow early on, and I couldn’t bring myself to rifle a skipper for my game pole. A number of these youngsters will hopefully be around next season, a little bigger and a little fatter.
What about you? If you are meatless as well, what is your excuse?
Unchanged by all of this good deer news is that the big, mature bucks seemed to be as stealthy, wary and elusive as ever. Some things never change, and that’s what makes hunting so downright exciting and challenging.