MONTPELIER, Vt. – The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board is inviting public comment on proposed changes to Vermont’s deer, moose and turkey hunting regulations, as well as the rules for transporting wild game meat from out of state. Public hearings will be held on March 17, 18, and 20 as well as May 6 and 8. Public comment may also be provided online.

The proposed deer hunting changes, recommended by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’s biologists, are the most extensive of the four. They come five years after state biologists last updated Vermont’s deer regulations. Deer is Vermont’s most popular game species with about 60,000 resident hunters and 7,500 out-of-state hunters heading into the white-tail woods each fall, and just over a fifth successfully harvesting deer.

Several of the proposed changes aim to balance Vermont’s deer herd to what available habitat can support by encouraging hunters to harvest more antlerless deer, primarily adult female deer called “does,” in certain parts of the state.

“Deer hunting is incredibly important to many Vermonters’ culture and sense of identity, and it is also absolutely essential for keeping deer numbers in line with what is sustainable for our habitats,” said Interim Commissioner of Fish and Wildlife Andrea Shortsleeve. “The updates our biologists are proposing will help hunters continue to balance Vermont’s deer herd with the available habitat as our forests get older, winters get warmer, and land use patterns change.”

The main proposed changes to Vermont’s deer hunting regulations would:

• Allow hunters who obtain antlerless permits to harvest antlerless deer during the regular November season. Currently, only antlered deer, primarily adult males called “bucks,” can be harvested during the November season.
• Set the archery season as October 1 through December 15, including during the regular November season. Currently the archeryseason closes during the regular November season.
• Create special additional archery hunting zones with a September 15 opening date in select areas where deer numbers are high.
• Allow hunters to hold two antlerless permits from different Wildlife Management Units at the same time. Currently, hunters can only hold one antlerless permit.
• Allow hunters to harvest a second legal buck during the season if they have already harvested one buck with three or more points on one antler and one or more antlerless deer. Currently, hunters can only harvest one buck per year.
• Reinstate an antler point restriction in Wildlife Management Unit D1 where mature buck numbers are low.
• Return the state’s youth deer hunting weekend to the Saturday and Sunday prior to the start of the regular November season.

“In a nutshell, there are some very specific parts of the state—like the Champlain Valley—where we need hunters to harvest more does,” said Shortsleeve. “Doe numbers are one of the main factors that determine the deer herd’s ability to grow. In much of Vermont the herd is already pretty well balanced to the available habitat, but in some areas there are just too many deer. In those places, our forests are suffering as a result.”

In addition to the proposed deer regulation changes the board also invites public comment on proposals from department biologists on the moose and turkey hunting seasons, and on transporting wild game meat from out of state into Vermont.

The proposed new moose regulations would increase the season from six to nine days and expand the use of firearms for a small number of hunters. The proposed new turkey regulations would expand the fall archery season to the start of October. Existing regulations on bringing wild game meat from deer and elk harvested out of state into Vermont are proposed to now apply to moose and other species in the deer family as well.

The proposed new deer and turkey hunting regulations and the game meat transport regulations would take effect in 2026, if approved. The proposed new moose hunting regulations would come into effect between fall 2025 and 2026, if approved. The full proposed changes for all three hunting seasons and the game meat transport regulation can be read in their entirety on the board’s website under the “Active Rulemaking” heading.

The department will accept public comment on all four proposed regulation changes through May 25, 2025, via email toANR.FWPublicComment@vermont.gov. Additionally, public hearings will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the following dates and locations:

• March 17, Mt. Anthony Union High School, 301 Park St., Bennington, VT 05201
• March 18, Lakes Region High School, 317 Lakes Region Rd., Orleans, VT 05860
• March 20, Union 32 Middle & High School, 930 Gallison Hill Rd., Montpelier, VT 05602
• May 6, Winooski Middle & High School, 60 Normand St., Winooski, VT 05404
• May 8, Springfield High School, 303 South St., Springfield, VT 05156

Photo caption: A hunter takes aim with a rifle during Vermont’s regular November deer season. Under the proposed new regulations, hunters who procure an antlerless permit would be allowed to harvest antlerless deer during the November season. Credit: VTF&W Photo