Deer season permits

[Fenix]

My family and I enjoy hunting together. I know that hunting isn't for everyone, but we do hunt responsibly, and we actually eat what we kill. We're in Maine, and up here we have different permits for deer season. The permits get really specific with where, when, and what you're allowed to hunt. Some are so popular that we have a lottery drawing to determine who's lucky enough to get the permit. There are separate fees for both, so it gets expensive, no doubt about it.

What happens in your area? Do you ever need to register for a lottery in order to have the right to buy a permit? My family and I follow the permitting rules, but they're becoming more cumbersome as the regulations tighten and the permitting rights narrow.

 

[Honey]

My family and I have never done hunting. In fact, we have never even thought about it. Your and your family's interests in hunting, as you said, feel so exciting! Thanks for telling us that such activities also require permits from the state or local government.

 

[Eric]

I think lotteries mainly kick in when populations are low relative to the number of hunters. In Michigan where I am currently, we've had an overpopulation problem in recent years. The state depends on hunting to cull the deer population but hunting isn't doing enough to keep the population in check, in part due to a trend of declining interest in hunting among younger people. In an effort to reduce the deer population in the lower peninsula, the Michigan DNR recently began allowing hunters to use either tag on their combo license to take antlerless deer during the firearm or muzzleloader seasons. The state has actively encouraged hunters to take more does earlier in the hunting season, which also has the benefit of increasing buck rutting behavior, making it more likely that hunters will harvest multiple deer.

It is important to properly obtain your deer hunting license since the funds generated from license sales go toward conservation efforts. Tagging/reporting your deer harvest probably also plays an important role helping DNR track deer population levels and for setting harvesting restrictions for future years. However, I can tell you that not everyone bothers with permits, especially hunters who have access to large areas of privately-owned land where the risk of getting caught without a license is relatively small. I'd also imagine that DNR is somewhat less concerned with enforcing licensing/tagging requirements during overpopulation years, like what Michigan is currently experiencing, when unpermitted deer hunting is providing a benefit in terms of controlling deer population levels, despite it being illegal.