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[buckeye dan]

Expanded Hunting Seasons in Vermont?

Barre, Vermont - July 17, 2009

As the sun is about to rise on another hunting season, Vermont hunters are gearing up for change. The Fish & Wildlife Department may expand the muzzleloader season for antlerless deer. That means does could be shot prior to the regular rifle season. It's a proposal garnering a lot of attention across the state.

"Pro and con, yeah, depending on which part of the state you're at. In the Northeast Kingdom they have a smaller deer population so the expanded season isn't going to go over as well as it will here," hunter Rick Barnett said.

"People see the advantage to shooting the doe earlier in the year because it's a huge waste of energy for the bucks during rut time to go doe to doe breeding them all," said Jon Sanborn of R & L Archery.

The state will also consider lengthening the early archery and shotgun seasons for deer. And moose hunters may see implementation of a new archery-only season. Hunters may also be allowed to kill more deer in certain parts of the state. For example, wildlife officials say the southeast corner of Vermont simply has too many deer.

"We would focus on key areas where deer populations are especially high," said John Buck of Vt. Fish & Wildlife.

There are currently an estimated 120,000-150,000 deer in Vermont. Those numbers are right where wildlife officials want them to be and are up from years past.

"Right now they're pretty much right on the money as far as seasons go and the population," hunter Paul Cruickshanks said.

"Sizes are up, antler sizes are up, hunter morale is up. It's up all around," Barnett said.

But the state says there are too many deer in suburban areas. One of the proposals under consideration is a plan to implement a special archery, crossbow, or shotgun season in specific suburban areas, where deer have become a nuisance.

"It would be something very site specific and we'd have to work on it on a case by case basis," Buck explained.

The department hopes to implement its big game plan next January. Public meetings on the proposal will be held next week. The first meeting will be held Monday night at 7 p.m. at Montpelier High School. The other will take place Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Rutland High School.

Source: http://www.wcax.com/....asp?S=10747077