{"id":849419,"date":"2026-09-16T05:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T05:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/849419\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T05:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T05:18:10","slug":"new-bowhunting-regulations-take-effect-to-help-control-deer-population","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/849419\/","title":{"rendered":"New bowhunting regulations take effect to help control deer population"},"content":{"rendered":"

ESSEX, Vt. (WCAX) – Bowhunting season for deer started Tuesday for some parts of Vermont thanks to new regulations<\/a> put in place.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an extension of the archery season for hunting does, or antlerless deer, in designated zones.<\/a> <\/p>\n

Warden Josh Truong says deer complaints are up in the Burlington area. To help control the population, new regulations expand the archery season in eight zones across the state where firearm discharge is not allowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe receive complaints on a yearly basis and historically there have been too many deer in those areas so this just means people can participate in controlling the population a little bit in those urban areas,\u201d Truong said.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 1, the normal season begins for everyone and Truong says any deer taken in September counts toward the total you can take for the year. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe regulations are meant to provide more opportunity and to concentrate the effort of the hunters on those areas to take antlerless deer,\u201d David Sausville, program manager for Vermont Fish and Wildlife Management, said. \u201cIf you want to control the population, you want to control the females because those are the ones that are having the young, obviously,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Vermont\u2019s deer population is always in flux but overall it\u2019s doing well according to fish and wildlife officials. It\u2019s the deer in the populated areas that are causing human conflicts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we look at the body conditions of the deer that are harvested in the area, if we find them within the parameters of a healthy deer population, that will be the success,\u201d Sausville said of the extended season.<\/p>\n

The extended season also can lead to fewer complaints for people whose flowers or gardens are being eaten by deer and lessen the possibility of a deer being hit by a car.<\/p>\n

The wardens have been receiving more reports in urban areas but no matter where you are, you still need to follow local ordinances. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf anybody wants to participate in this, I highly recommend they scout out a hunting plan ahead of time and talk to local town offices to let them know you hope to hunt in this area and review ordinances,\u201d Sausville said.<\/p>\n

There are also several other major regulation changes for the rifle and muzzleloader hunting seasons.<\/a><\/p>\n

Expanded Archery Zone (EAZ) Maps<\/p>\n

Bennington Area EAZ<\/a>: Parts of the towns of Pownal, Bennington, Shaftsbury, Arlington, and Sunderland.<\/p>\n

Brattleboro Area EAZ<\/a>: Parts of the towns of Brattleboro, Guilford, and Vernon.<\/p>\n

Burlington Area EAZ<\/a>: Parts of the towns of Burlington, South Burlington, Winooski, Colchester, Essex, Essex Junction, Williston, and Shelburne. Note: city ordinances prohibit the discharge of archery equipment anywhere in Burlington, South Burlington, and Winooski. Ordinances in Essex Junction limit where archery equipment can be discharged.<\/p>\n

Montpelier Area EAZ<\/a>: The city of Montpelier.<\/p>\n

Newport Area EAZ<\/a>: The city of Newport.<\/p>\n

Rutland Area EAZ<\/a>: Parts of the towns of Rutland Town, Rutland City, West Rutland, Proctor, and Clarendon. Note: Rutland City ordinances prohibit the discharge of archery equipment anywhere in the city.<\/p>\n

Saint Johnsbury Area EAZ<\/a>: Parts of the towns of Saint Johnsbury and Waterford.<\/p>\n

WMU A EAZ<\/a>: All of wildlife management unit A, which is all of Grand Isle County.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WCAX. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ESSEX, Vt. (WCAX) – Bowhunting season for deer started Tuesday for some parts of Vermont thanks to new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[215984,10740,9831,19565,79,27076,12531,34752,201],"class_list":["post-849419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-bow","tag-deer","tag-hunting","tag-regulations","tag-science","tag-vermont","tag-watch","tag-wcax","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}