Maine considers longer coastal archery deer season in Sagadahoc County

Bath and other Sagadahoc County shoreline communities could be pulled into a longer coastal archery deer season as Maine weighs a hunting window that would run from mid-September through mid-December. State officials say the change is meant to give bowhunters more time in places where deer are harder to manage because development is dense, land access is limited and some areas, including islands, are difficult to hunt safely.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife published its rulemaking notice on June 10 for Chapter 16.07, the expanded archery deer areas. The public comment period runs through July 10, and the department has scheduled a hearing for June 30 at its Augusta headquarters and online. If adopted, the change would add land area, join and consolidate several existing expanded archery zones along the southern and central Maine coast, and add some coastal islands.

Maine already uses expanded archery as a separate hunting season layered around the main statewide deer calendar. Regular archery season runs in October, firearms season follows in November, and the expanded archery program gives hunters a longer window where deer populations can handle more pressure. The state says the program was created for places where harvest potential is limited by factors such as discharge ordinances and where additional hunting can be done without undermining human safety.

The agency says some southern and coastal areas now hold about 15 to 40 deer per square mile, compared with 1 to 5 in northern Maine. In those crowded coastal settings, deer management is tied to everyday nuisance and safety concerns, including vegetation loss, damaged gardens, crop damage, tick-borne disease and car crashes. Residents in some communities have also complained about people shooting where they should not be.

For Sagadahoc County, the proposal matters because the coastal band under consideration already stretches from Kittery to Bath, with other stretches from South Thomaston to Camden. That puts Bath in the middle of a management zone the state says needs more flexible hunting rules, not just for hunters but for property owners, drivers and nearby businesses that deal with deer damage and traffic risks.

Maine’s deer management materials say the goal is to keep deer at socially acceptable levels and reduce significant damage to habitat, while using harvest data to guide decisions. The department also says winter severity rises with distance from the coast, and that coastal islands often remain in the expanded archery program because access is difficult and deer numbers need to be kept in check. Verona Island’s town government has already voiced support for the proposal, calling it a first step toward addressing local deer numbers, while regional game wardens and biologists reportedly backed the plan unanimously.