Supporters argue scientific benchmarks should come before wildlife management decisions.

Carrie Jones

Jul 26, 2026

TREMONT—A Southwest Harbor woman whose property line borders Tremont has begun a petition collecting signatures calling for a one-year pause on the proposed Tremont deer hunt.

“Tremont’s vote did not, by itself, create the hunt. The town voted to move forward with it,” Charlotte Gill explains in a social media post on her business’ page. “But changing the hunting regulations requires action by the State of Maine, and the proposal is now in the State’s formal rulemaking process. That is why public comment is open NOW.”

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) held a public hearing, July 20, about a proposal to allow a limited deer hunting season in Tremont after 100 years of no deer hunting on Mount Desert Island.

If approved by the state, the hunt would begin in November 2026 and run for three seasons. Any deer killed in the town would not count toward the hunter’s state bag limit.

The IFW will accept written comments until July 30.

“The State is still considering the proposed rule before it becomes final. So commenting now is NOT asking the State to overturn Tremont’s vote. It is participating in the next legal stage of the process—the very stage specifically designed for the State to hear information, concerns, evidence and arguments from the public before making its final regulatory decision. That distinction matters,” Gill wrote.

Mount Desert Island is currently closed to all deer hunting, but the state Commissioner can open a town to deer hunting if the town agrees, Nathan Bieber, Maine state deer biologist, explained.

Tremont did agree at a May 2026 vote, approving a limited deer hunt in its town with a vote of 314-227.

Gill is calling for the answer to certain questions that she links to deer management prior to the plan moving forward. Those questions include what the current deer population is, how many need to be removed, how success would be measured.

“How will we know whether we reduced the population—or simply frightened deer into neighboring communities?” she asked. “These are not anti-hunting questions. They are management questions. If we cannot tell the public approximately how many deer we have before we start killing them, exactly what number are we managing?”

The responsible order, she said, is to study first, plan second, and then manage.

In the petition she asks that during the moratorium the following occur,

• “Establish a credible baseline deer population.
• “Determine the age, sex, and reproductive structure of the population.
• “Establish a scientifically defensible population goal.
• “Study deer movement and likely displacement from hunting pressure.
• “Analyze actual deer-vehicle collision data.
• “Evaluate Lyme-disease claims with measurable objectives.
• “Seriously evaluate fertility control and other reasonable nonlethal alternatives.
• “Evaluate targeted professional removal if lethal control proves necessary.
• “Establish public-safety, notification, and humane-treatment standards.
• “Define exactly what success means.
• “Define how success will be measured.
• “And define when the killing stops. Then bring the facts back to the public. Maybe the facts support a hunt. Then debate THAT hunt—with numbers, goals, and safeguards. Maybe professional removal makes more sense. Maybe fertility control can contribute.”

All other animals that can be legally hunted in Maine can also currently be hunted on MDI.

The Tremont plan includes the following:

• All hunting will be archery and shotgun only.
• Hunting can only take placed from a fixed position, ground blind or elevated stand.
• Landowners must provide stand locations.
• Only property owners and Tremont residents may hunt.
• Only anterless deer may be taken. An anterless deer is defined by the state as any deer having antlers less than three inches in length as measured from the skull.
• Hunters will be required to register with the town office to prove residency or land ownership and will be given a permission slip which must be shown when tagging a deer at the mandated tagging station.
• The tagging station location will be either Gott’s Store in Southwest Harbor or Hansen’s Outpost in Tremont, location to be decided.
• The special hunt will take place during the month of November beginning with the 2026 hunting season and will last for a total three years.
• All other applicable state hunting rules and guidelines must be followed including shooting distance from dwellings.

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LINKS AND INFORMATION TO LEARN/DO MORE

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO COMMENT

COMMENT DEADLINE: July 30, 2026

CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING:

Becky Orff

353 Water Street, 41 SHS, Augusta, ME 04333

207-287-5202

207-287-6395

Maine Relay 711

Becky.orff@maine.gov

You can find Gill’s petition here: https://c.org/gFG7NmDRqr

State Weighs Limited Deer Hunt in Tremont.

Carrie Jones and Shaun Farrar

Jul 22

Read full story

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