Deer hunters who applied for a Vermont muzzleloader season antlerless deer permit by the Aug. 15 deadline can now go to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department website to see if they will be receiving a permit in the mail. The department posted the winners on Sept. 15, after conducting a randomized computer drawing.
“Hunters may check our website to find out if they will be receiving a muzzleloader season antlerless permit,” said Adam Murkowski, Vermont’s deer biologist. “Knowing the answer will help them in planning their hunt and making informed harvest decisions this fall.”
Permit winners will be listed in two categories: regular lottery winners and landowners.
It is a violation for a landowner to apply for a landowner antlerless permit if they are posting their land against hunting.
A total of 17,050 December muzzleloader season antlerless permits are authorized for use in 13 of Vermont’s 20 Wildlife Management Units (WMUs). The permits will be in postcard format and will be mailed to recipients in November.
Additional unallocated permits will be available for sale on the Vermont Fish & Wildlife website by the end of September. Although it is possible to have two antlerless permits in one year, the department reminds hunters that the first one must be used before a second may be issued.
Hunter success with muzzleloader antlerless permits has been as low as 10 percent in some WMUs and as high as 35 percent in others. Each year WMU-specific success rates are taken into consideration when issuing antlerless permits in order to better manage the harvest of antlerless deer.
“The winter of 2013-2014 was moderate in severity, following mild winters the previous two years, which allowed good winter survival and reproduction in the spring,” said Murkowski. “It is important for hunters to continue to manage their local deer herds for deer herd health to ensure the number of deer remains appropriate for the available habitat.”
For more information visit www.vtfishandwildlife.com.
