Waterbury, VT – Vermont’s antlerless deer hunting lottery applications for the muzzleloader season are now available on the Fish & Wildlife Department’s website and at license agents statewide. The permits are only for “antlerless deer,” which is defined as deer without antlers or with antlers less than three inches long.

Permit numbers and wildlife management units (WMU’s) open to antlerless hunting will not be finalized until August when the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Board finishes the regulatory process authorizing season rules.

A hunter who wins an antlerless deer permit in the lottery may take one antlerless deer by muzzleloader in the designated WMU during the December 6-14, 2008 muzzleloader season. Antlerless deer permit applications are now available on Fish & Wildlife’s website (www.vtfishandwildlife.com). Go to  Buy Your License  and select  Online Antlerless Lottery Application.

We appreciate that most hunters are supportive of scientific deer herd management,  said Dr. Shawn Haskell, the biologist who chairs Vermont’s deer team. 

They realize a certain number of antlerless deer must be removed in some areas of the state in order to keep the deer population in balance with its habitat. Wildlife biologists make WMU-specific recommendations annually, based on winter severity, habitat conditions, deer population goals, and past harvest success rates. 

Only about 20 percent of hunters with antlerless permits actually take deer, and only 80 percent of those are adult females.

The wildlife management units (WMU’s) proposed to have muzzleloader antlerless permits this year are A, B, F1, F2, H1, H2, J1, J2, K1, K2, M2, N, O2, and Q. The 22,050 muzzleloader antlerless permits proposed to be issued to help slow the growth of the deer population in these units and are expected to net a harvest of about 4,300 deer.

Applications must be received or delivered in the Waterbury Fish & Wildlife office by 4:30 p.m. on August 22, 2008. The cost is $10 for residents and $25 for nonresidents. A person may submit only one application.

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Board will hold two public hearings on proposed deer hunting rules before finalizing regulations for 2008. The first will be held Monday, June 30th, at the Lyndonville Fire Department, 316 Main Street. The second hearing will be Tuesday, July 1, at the Rutland Middle School Cafeteria, 67 Library Avenue, Rutland. Both hearings will be from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.