A special archery hunt to reduce the deer herd in Eastport will be held during the last two weeks of December this year, after the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) Advisory Council approved the hunt at a meeting on November 21. Before the council voted, though, IFW Commissioner Chandler Woodcock amended the proposal so that it will only be for one year, instead of the three years that the city had proposed. According to Chris Bartlett, the chair of the Eastport Deer Committee, the commissioner felt that the department and the city could evaluate the hunt after it is completed this year to see how it might be improved for subsequent years.
      Thirty permits are available for qualified applicants authorizing the harvest of one anterless deer during the period from December 19 through 31. All hunting will be archery only and will be from a fixed ground blind or elevated tree stand, which must be located at pre-approved sites. No baiting will be allowed.
     The city will administer the permit selection, with residents and immediate family members who have an archery license receiving up to 22 of the permits. Property owners who intend to hunt and/or allow hunting on their property will be entitled to one of the 22 permits. A minimum of eight permits will be issued to non-residents of the city.
     As of November 21, the city had received only two applications from Eastport residents and 18 applications from non-residents, according to City Manager Elaine Abbott. If fewer than 22 residents apply, the remainder of those permits will be available to non-residents. A lottery will be held to determine who will receive permits, if there are more applications than permits available. The deadline to apply for a permit is Monday, November 28.
     Deer committee members have been compiling a list of landowners who will allow tree stands or blinds on their property for the hunt. Some landowners have placed restrictions on their acceptance, including who they will allow to hunt on their property.
      Most of the city-owned land on the island will be open for hunting, except for properties around the schools, cemeteries, the dog park and the city garage.
     At its November 21 meeting, the port authority board approved allowing tree stands on two of its properties: the former BASF land at Broad Cove and the Morgan property near the Cornerstone Church. The port authority's property at the Estes Head port terminal will not be open for hunting.
      Under state law, archery hunters must obtain an archery license from the state, which requires that they must complete a bow hunter education course or have held an archery license in any year after 1979. Although the deer committee's plan had included a requirement that hunters pass a proficiency test, the city council deleted that requirement.
      The special archery hunt was proposed by the deer committee after many months of work and was approved by the city council in August.