The crack of shotguns are echoing across the Island in the early mornings as the final week in the two-week-long shotgun hunting season approaches. But some have reported that it’s been a slow season so far.
The season, heralded as the most effective way to manage the Island’s invasive deer population, kicked off a half an hour before sunrise on Monday, Dec. 2, and will continue until half an hour after sunset on Saturday Dec. 14.
Throughout the season, hunters are venturing into the Island’s designated conservation lands such as the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest, certain Land Bank properties, and some private properties thanks to residents looking to help decrease the deer population. For some hunters, the season brings a beloved pastime, while for others, it’s part of a vital process to reduce the Vineyards invasive deer population, a critical step in a broader effort to reduce the prevalence of tick-borne illnesses such as alpha-gal, babesiosis, and lyme disease.
Last year, the Agricultural Societies Community Deer Cooler program – established in 2019 – stored a record of 90 deer. A total of 846 deer were harvested Island wide.
At the opening of the shotgun season this year, public health biologist Patrick Roden-Reynolds, who helps run the deer cooler, said he’s only checked in about 12 deer for the 2024 shotgun season.
“It has been pretty slow,” he said. “I usually have about 10 to 20 deer in the first night, but this year about a dozen in the first week… A lot of hunters are saying there aren’t many hunters. They are in decline nationwide.”
As of right now, Roden-Reynolds says 6 to 10 deer per square mile is an ideal balance to both reduce ticks and limit deer impacts on rare plants, but currently the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife say on average there are 30 to 50 deer per square mile in the Eastern parts of Massachusetts and the Islands, and an even greater average likely resides in areas closed to hunting.
“There are certain people on the Island who think, ‘let nature take its course.’ But right now, it’s like 800 to 1,000 deer taken off the Island every year [from hunting] and just imagine if that population wasn’t taken off — the vehicle collisions and diseases that would be happening,” said Roden-Reynolds.
“If like 120 people are hitting deer with their cars a year, then those deer already aren’t living good lives,” he added.
For Brian Athearn, manager of the deer cooler program, the key to last year’s successful deer hunting seasons can be attributed to the influx in homeowners opening their properties to hunters to mitigate deer impacts on their land.
“It’s important for homeowners to understand that shotgun hunters are a very efficient way to sandwich animals out of your property,” said Athearn. “If there’s families that are interested in doing that then they should, reach out to us or come down to the shack. With all this alpha gal stuff — which I have — people are getting more supportive of us hunting deer on their property and there’s a lot of shotgun guys hungry for some properties to hunt on.”
To use the Deer Cooler, hunters must first register. A Venison Donation Program gives hunters the opportunity to donate venison to local partners.
Also, to better understand the alpha-gal tickborn illness, researchers have launched a five-minute anonymous survey to gather insights from hunters about alpha-gal syndrome. The focus is on tick exposure and how likely you are to contract an illness upon contact by tracking individuals who operate in the lone star tick’s habitat and evaluate the impact of the syndrome on those who are unlikely to change their diet from mammalian products until they start feeling the alpha-gal symptoms. The survey, distributed at the Agricultural Society’s Deer Cooler, will help clarify data on testing and support future alpha-gal management strategies.
