For Immediate Release
August 25, 2005
Any Deer Drawing Is September 2, Majority Of Hunters Apply Online For
Permit
AUGUSTA, Maine -- September 2nd marks the date for this year's Any Deer
permit drawing, and this year's numbers shows that hunters are warming
up to
the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife online application
system.
This past year, 85,451 hunters applied for an Any Deer permit, and
48,341of
those hunters, or 57%, applied online. That is up from 48% last year,
and
42% in 2003. The department will issue 70,725 any-deer permits.
"People are realizing the ease and convenience of applying online,"
said R.
Dan Martin, Commissioner, Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
"Not
only are we keeping customers who applied online last year, we are also
attracting many new customers. The increased efficiency of applying
online
also keeps Department costs down."
The online application system is fast and simple, and it saves the
department money in time and labor. Each paper application must be
processed
through several steps in order to enter the lottery, but with the
online
application, the hunter enters the information themselves. Hunters get
instant confirmation of entering the lottery, and can print their
confirmation.
Other online applications are growing in popularity as well. 48% of
turkey
hunters applied online, up from 43% in 2004 and 29% in 2003. 31% of
moose
hunters applied online this year, an increase from 26% in 2004 and 19%
in
2003.
The total number of any deer permits issued the past five years are
2004 --
76,150; 2003 -- 72,600; 2002 -- 57,349; 2001 - 54,000 and 2000 --
75,525 .
The department uses the Any-Deer permit system to manage the
white-tailed
deer population in the state. By controlling the harvest of female deer
in
30 regional wildlife management districts throughout the state,
biologists
can manage population trends.
Through these permit recommendations, the department wants to stabilize
the
deer population in the northern, central, and parts of southern Maine;
increase the deer population downeast and in the western part of the
state;
and reduce the deer population in the coastal sections of Cumberland
and
York counties. To accomplish that, the department is increasing the
number
of any deer permit numbers in five wildlife management districts,
issuing
the same number of permits in seven WMDs and, decreasing the number in
18
WMDs.
While this past year's winter was average in its severity in much of
the
state, northern Aroostook County as well as much of coastal Maine and
southern Oxford, Kennebec and Waldo counties saw a winter that was
above
average in severity.
