Third Round of Antlerless Deer Permits Will Go On-sale Thursday
Another round of antlerless deer permits will go on-sale soon.
Hunters seeking an additional anterless deer permit will have the opportunity to purchase one next week. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife says the third round of "over the counter" sales begins Thursday, November 17, at 10 A.M. The queue will open at 9 A.M., allowing the user to "get in line" to purchase a permit.
WMDs with permits available to purchase November 17:
- WMD 24
- WMD 25
- WMD 29
All hunters can purchase up to three permits online. A hunter who was awarded a permit via the lottery, and purchased a permit during the first and second rounds of online sales, can purchase one more tag on November 17. You do not need to fill tags before purchasing additional permits. Any hunters that didn't purchase a permit online, and or was not awarded one through the lottery, can purchase a permit at any time and don't need to wait until November 17.
Tags cost $14 ($12 tag + $2 agent fee). The $12 will go to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Maine Deer Management Fund. The newly created program works to enhance deer habitat. The funds are used for predator control, and to acquire or enhance deer habitat. In addition to antlerless deer permit fees, $2 from collected deer registrations will go to the management fund. Doe tags are expected to fetch over $750,000 for the fund. The collected funds will be matched 3:1 with money from the Pittman-Robertson Act.
Earlier in October, "over the counter" antlerless tags went on-sale. According to Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife data, over 20,000 permits were sold as of October 14. More than 16,000 permits were sold on Tuesday October 11. IFW says, "At the time the site went live at 11:00 AM, there were approximately 12,000 people immediately entering the queue. The page saw an inflow rate of up to 600 users per minute!"