City grapples bow hunting, deer population issues

How to control the overabundant deer population in Eastport while some bow hunters may be abusing the law is an issue with which the city is beginning to wrestle. Although some residents seek to ban any hunting on the island, the problems caused by too many deer can range from being a nuisance by getting into gardens to causing accidents and carrying the threat of Lyme disease.

Game warden Joe Gardner of Edmunds says that the majority of complaints this year about bow hunters concerned trespassing on city property, near the port and the airport, but the last two weeks of the special archery season were "pretty quiet." The bow hunting season on deer runs from September 28 to October 27, although there is an expanded archery season to December 9 in designated areas of the state.

Trespassing increasingly has been a problem as more land in Eastport is posted not to allow hunting. Other issues in previous years include night hunting, exceeding the bag limit of one deer per season, and tagging violations. Gardner says that hunters sometimes have tagged a deer as having been shot in Perry when it was actually shot in Eastport, because hunting with a firearm is not allowed in Eastport.

With much of Eastport being a built-up area, Gardner says he's also had reports of arrows being found in the side of buildings. "Eastport has many areas where you can't safely hunt, but there are areas you can." He notes that, with the number of deer on the island and the number of new houses, a hunter has to be careful about where he is hunting. "A few can put a bad light on all," he notes.

Eastport Police Chief Matt Vinson says that he heard that a couple of hunters were driving around the town with their bows, shooting deer and leaving the deer on the land on purpose. "But we can't prove it." No arrests have been made, and Vinson points out, "We can't do anything till they do something illegal." Vinson says a wounded deer was found near Battery St., and Gardner understands that two or three deer that were shot by arrows and were not recovered by the hunters were found. He believes the incidents may have occurred because of poorly placed shots. Vinson reports that on one Saturday "it was almost like a traffic jam" with 9 or 10 people bow hunting on the island. The usual areas for hunting are by the airport, around Estes Head and behind the cemetery. Most of the bow hunters about whom there have been complaints have not been residents of Eastport.

Hunting is not allowed on city property, and hunters should obtain the permission of landowners before hunting on their property. However, unless the land is posted not to allow hunting or the landowner asks the hunter not to hunt on the land, no laws are actually being broken if a hunter is on private property without permission. "But it's strongly advised to get it, and it is common courtesy, especially in a place like Eastport," says Gardner, noting that hunters are easily visible in the city.

Ways to control deer population
Concerning the deer population on the island, Gardner says that it's clear there is an overabundance. Although it seems as though more deer have been harvested by bow hunters during the past few years, he notes that the lack of snow last winter probably resulted in more of the herd surviving.

With more landowners posting their land in Eastport, the game warden says the deer population issue will have to be addressed. "Something will have to be done to limit the herd."

He observes that people in Eastport have legitimate complaints about deer eating their gardens or shrubbery. For small gardens, fencing is an option to keep the deer out. Larger airports encourage hunting around the perimeter to avoid having deer on the runways, but Gardner does not believe that is a problem at the Eastport airport.

In addition there have been numerous vehicle accidents involving deer, although Vinson reports that the number is down substantially this year. Through the end of September there have been five this year; last year in October alone there were four.

Gardner says that some towns that had prohibited hunting ended up with problems from an overabundance of deer, with a risk of Lyme disease, and ended up hiring a professional to shoot a number of the deer, with the meat donated to local food pantries. Other towns have had a limited shotgun or bow hunting season to control the population. Gardner notes that the warden service does not trap and move deer because of the cost and because the survival rate is very low.

He observes that there has been talk of not allowing any hunting in Eastport, since some hunters have not been hunting responsibly. "If these violations continue, I wouldn't blame the city for petitioning the state to have it shut down," he says. "But I don't believe it should go that way. There is land on the island to hunt, and the health of the herd could sustain a harvest every year."

The game warden believes an understanding needs to be reached between landowners and hunters to allow hunting on the island to take place safely.