anybody from Maine?

[bowhunter42]

I'm watching north woods law on TV and they were talking about how you could only shoot one deer a year in Maine is this true?

[Maine Hntr]

I don't live in Maine but my parents have a place there on some land so I do try and get out hunting a few times a year there, it is true that only one deer per year is the bag limit but there are permits that can be obtained in certain WMD's where the populations are higher and they allow an expanded archery season which allows you to harvest an additional animal. There's also a bonus antlerless permit like most states allowing the harvesting of a doe... I don't know if you've been reading the whitetail reports by state that are posted here on Realtree.com but they have been very interesting and they just recently did Maine, and they hit the nail on the head talking about a dramatic decline over the years in deer population and overall the state earned a D- for whitetail hunting. The #'s simply aren't there in the state like they used to be however if you are at all familiar with the state it provides beautiful hunting country and if you're lucky enough to come across a deer there's a good chance it'll be a monster.

P.S. - I enjoy the North Woods Law Show

[bowhunter42]

Thank you for the answer. Watching the show just got me curious about it all. I also enjoy that show just saw it for the first time last night!

[Teddesp]

From Maine...

I was born and raised in Maine and recently got my first deer last season... Most of my hunting trips with my grandfather consisted of him telling me there used to be deer everywhere and didn't consist of actually seeing deer. They don't give out doe permits up north to my knowledge but other southern zones have them. I hear there's a plan to get the deer herd back up again but who knows, we can only hope.

[Maine Hntr]

I hope the plan is true, they could take a lot of the other states laws and implement them. It may be hard on hunters for the first couple years of new laws but if in the long run it gets deer populations up where they should be for a state with such land mass that would be great.

[msman825]

I'm Orig from MS but been living in Owls Head ME for 9 years now Only 1 buck pre year dont matter, bow-gun-smoke pole your done you can get on a list for nanny tags but there picky about which zones

[JimT]

Maine kinda has two seasons. During the expanded archery season while hunting in the expanded zones you can shoot one buck and as many doe as you want as long as you keep buying a $10.00 tag. The problem with the expanded hunts are access. Most of the land is posted in those zones and the public lands are hunted heavily. For the state wide archery season in October you are allowed one deer of either sex. For firearms and muzzleloader you are allowed one buck or a doe if you get drawn for an any deer permit. Deer hunting in Maine is less than stellar. I am going into it full bore again this year but do not really have any expectations. Last year I saw a grand total of four deer in two months. I see more then that on the first day of my annual NC trip every year. I do not have high hopes for the deer to come back any time soon. Some of the people in charge of bringing back the herd are a big part of why we are this level right now. The guys that gave out 90,000+ doe permits several years in a row while the state had a sustained herd of under 200,000 are going to fix this how? Back when this started happening I was sitting on the tailgate of a buddys truck having breakfast after a morning hunt. He just kinda looked over at me and said to me, "Do you hear that?" I said "Ya, it is hard to miss." Shot after shot after shot rang out. He said that in six or eight years there will not be any deer left in the state. He was sadly correct in his assumption. The state is blaming the coyotes and such, when the facts are that they allowed hunters to shoot the **** out of the herd while the timber industry leveled the deer yards.