The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board recently approved new deer hunting rules including one that will allow hunters to harvest does with rifles during the regular November season.
The rules, passed on a 7-5 vote at the board's July 16 meeting, will take effect in 2026. Current rules still govern the hunting season this year.
But next year, for the first time since the 1980s, hunters in Vermont will be able to hunt female and antlerless deer using rifles and shotguns during the regular deer season if they purchase and receive an antlerless permit.
Currently, hunters can harvest antlerless deer during archery, muzzleloader, and other special seasons, but not during the 16-day November firearm season.
Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists have said the increased frequency of mild winters has led to increased deer survival. Changes to land use patterns have put more areas off limits to hunters, and fewer people are hunting. Now, more deer are competing with one another for limited food and habitat.
The new doe rule may be the tool the state needs to change the trend.
"We feel it's necessary," Nick Fortin, a wildlife biologist who leads the department's deer and moose projects, told the board at a June meeting, noting the practice is common in other states.
Hunters currently fill only about 14% of their antlerless permits, according to department data. Fortin expects that percentage will increase if hunters can use rifles. Plus, thousands of people hunt only during the November rifle season, opening up doe harvest to a new pool of hunters.
Because the department expects hunters will harvest antlerless deer at a higher rate using rifles, the state will likely issue fewer antlerless permits. As they are now, permits will be allocated by the wildlife management unit.
Department surveys indicate that a majority of hunters under 55 support the change, and a plurality of hunters 65 and older oppose the policy.
David Sausville, the department's wildlife management program manager, said in an interview that health indicators like antler diameter and fawn numbers help the state's biologists know when there are too many deer for certain regions.
And while there may be fewer deer than generations past, that doesn't mean Vermont's habitat can support the cervids.
"What I always try to reinforce with people is, 'You're right, you're not seeing as many deer as you did in the '70s,' but there's still too many deer in certain areas because they're impacting the habitat," Sausville said, "and we're not seeing the health indices in the deer that we would like to see."
Other changes
While the rifle doe rule drew the most attention during the public comment period, the board approved a number of other changes as well.
The new rules create an "earn-a-buck" program, which allows hunters to harvest two bucks during two seasons if the first buck meets certain antler criteria and the hunter also harvests a doe.
Starting in 2026, archery season will continue through the regular firearm season.
Also new, the department will designate expanded archery zones in deer-dense areas, which staff hope will create new opportunities for antlerless deer harvest.
In addition, hunters will be able to hold two antlerless permits at once in two wildlife management units.
This News item by Ethan Weinstein originally appeared in VTDigger and was republished in The Commons with permission.