Maine deer hunters scored their highest annual harvest in a decade during last year's hunting season, and state wildlife regulators say those numbers support a proposal to increase the number of any-deer permits.
Mark Latti, spokesperson for the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said Thursday that last year's harvest of about 22,200 deer represented a 15 percent increase over 2016.
“So last year we had over 66,000 any-deer permits and with a warmer winter in southern and central Maine we're going to increase permits again in southern and central Maine,” Latti said.
Latti said the state has a responsibility to manage the deer herd.
“An increasing deer population means more car-deer vehicle accidents, also higher incidences of lyme disease, so we'll issue a lot more doe permits or any deer permits in order to control the population in southern and central Maine,” Latti said.
On June 26, the IF&W Advisory Council will hold a 6 p.m. public hearing at the Augusta Armory to receive comments on a proposal that would increase the number of any-deer permits for this year's season to 84,745, an increase of 28 percent, in 22 of the state’s 29 wildlife management districts.