It’s Deer Season
By Gary Moore
Actually it has been deer season in Vermont and New Hampshire of one kind or another for over a month. However, it is the traditional firearms season that floods the woods of the twin states with hunters in search of a buck.
The Granite State firearms season opens Thursday, November 12 while the Green Mountain State hunt opens Saturday, November 15.
I did not get out with my bow or muzzleloader in either state as I usually do. Between medical appointments for Linda and me, board meetings and working out of state, I just never found the time. I barely managed to get the property ready for winter.
Come Saturday morning I will be in one of my tree stands. Linda has chemo on Thursday and wears a pump for forty-eight hours. She has to go to the hospital to get her pump disconnected at 10:30 Saturday so my morning hunt will be short, but I will again be in a stand in the afternoon.
Vermont’s season begins Saturday and ends Sunday, November 30.
A hunter may take one legal buck during this season if they did not already take one during the archery deer season. The definition of a legal buck depends on the Wildlife Management Unit. A map of the WMUs is on pages 24 and 25 of the 2025 Vermont Hunting & Trapping Guide available from license agents and at highway rest areas.
In WMUs C, D1, D2, E1, E2, G, I, L, M, P, and Q a legal buck is any deer with at least one antler three inches or more in length.
In WMUs A, B, F1, F2, H, J1, J2, K, N, and O a legal buck is any deer with at least one antler with two or more antler points one inch in length or longer.
Vermont hunting licenses include a buck tag for this season and a late season bear tag (for Nov. 15-23).
Hunters are required to report deer in person at a big game reporting station during the regular season. This requirement allows biologists to collect important information from as many deer as possible.
Biologists are collecting middle incisor teeth from all regular season bucks to evaluate regional differences in ages and antler characteristics as well as to help estimate population size, growth rate, health, and mortality rates. Each tooth will be cross sectioned to accurately determine the deer’s age, and the results will be posted on the Fish and Wildlife website next spring.
“Knowing the ages of harvested deer is critically important, and more information allows us to make better management decisions,” said Nick Fortin, Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s deer project leader. “To accurately estimate deer numbers, and to better assess our current management strategies, we really need to get teeth from as many deer as possible.”
Hunters who get a deer on opening weekend can help Vermont’s deer management program by reporting their deer at one of the biological check stations operated by Fish and Wildlife Department. They include: Lead & Tackle – Lyndonville, Maplefields – Plainfield, R&L Archery – Barre and Wright’s Sport Shop – Derby.
Hunters who do not go to a biological reporting station are asked to provide a tooth from their deer. Tooth envelopes and tooth removal instructions are available at all big game reporting stations.
New Hampshire’s deer season runs from November 12 through December 7 in most of the state. In Wildlife Management Unit A, the northernmost in New Hampshire, the season closes on November 30.
For the third year, deer hunters have the option of registering their harvest online this fall. To register your deer online, or to learn more about what to do following a successful harvest, visit www.wildlife.nh.gov/hunting-nh/deer-hunting-new-hampshire/how-register-your-deer. Physical registration stations will also remain an option for those who prefer the experience of registering in person.
To allow for collection of biological data, online registration will not be available during the first 3 days of firearms season, November 12, 13, and 14. Hunters must register their deer in person at a registration station on these days.
Hunters are reminded not to use urine-based lures. These products can potentially spread Chronic Wasting Disease, a neurological disorder that is always fatal to white-tailed deer and moose. Synthetic lures are strongly recommended. If the bottle or package does not say “synthetic” the product is likely natural urine.