Vermont faced a decrease in the 2021 deer hunting season due to difficult conditions in comparison to the previous year, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department announced Wednesday.
The department estimated that roughly 15,600 deer were hunted in 2021, adding up to an approximate 3.1 million servings of venison, according to the report. The buck harvest went down to around 9,000, down from the 9,255 hunted in 2020.
The buck harvest’s 10-year average stands at 8,938 hunted deer, the report says. (RELATED: Maine Hunters Kill Nearly 39,000 Deer In Record-Setting Season)
The department estimated that a total of 6,600 antlerless deer were hunted in 2021, largely dropping from the 9,735 in the previous year, according to the report. However, this year’s numbers stand closely to the amount of the antlerless species hunted in years prior to 2020.
Red deer stag are pictured at sunrise on a winter’s morning in Richmond Park, south west London on December 2, 2021. (Photo by Justin TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
The report largely attributed the decrease in antlerless deer hunting to a drop in “muzzleloader” antlerless deer permits being issued. Nick Fortin, the department’s deer project leader, said hunting conditions and the pandemic made it difficult for hunters to spot deer or participate in the activity.
“Some decline in the harvest was expected this year, as we’ve been working to reduce deer numbers in some areas to keep them in balance with the available habitat,” Fortin said. “Hunting conditions were also challenging again this year. Warm weather and abundant fall foods limited deer movement and made it difficult for hunters to locate them. Changes in hunting participation and effort related to the pandemic likely affected this year’s harvest as well.”
Fortin said the department’s goal is “maintaining” a substantial number of deer in the areas by ensuring that the habitat remains healthy, in “good condition and productive.”
The 2021 White-tailed Deer Harvest report is expected to release its final numbers in March, the report says. The department said they will hold hearings to share “biological information” and be informed from people in attendance.