Too Many Deer; Too Many Ticks; Too Few Martha’s Vineyard Hunters
- Nelson Sigelman
- Sep 26
- 13 min read
Updated: Oct 2
The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife (DFW) is relying on hunters to reduce the growing Martha’s Vineyard deer herd. Islanders broadly have a stake in the hunters’ success.
Deer help to fuel the Island’s worrisome increase in all varieties of ticks. The menu of illnesses that ticks transmit poses a threat to public health on Martha’s Vineyard. Unchecked, the increasing risk of contracting Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), Lyme disease, Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichiosis, Babesiosis, Powassan Fever, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Tularemia may affect the Island’s seasonal economy.
Finding a tick crawling on your leg, arm, or clothing is alarming. For some people, finding an embedded tick is cause for panic. The likelihood of tick encounters can discourage folks from visiting the woods, beaches, or the many favored walking trails. Public health officials are worried.
I am a deer hunter, and I’ve relied on permethrin-treated clothing, insect repellent, and a doxycycline backup to fend off deer ticks and give me a sense of personal security. But the lone star tick’s well-documented, relentless advance across the Vineyard landscape scares me.
A mere bite from this newcomer may trigger a recently identified and not yet fully understood mild to severe allergic reaction (AGS) to mammalian-derived products. I’m not ready to become an involuntary vegan.
What to Do?
Island social media naturalists think that flocks of noisy guinea hens could eat enough of the suckers to make a difference, but studies show they prefer a juicy grub or worm to a scrawny tick.
For a while, people kept posting about introducing opossums to the Vineyard to control ticks. Nonsense. It's not their preferred diet.
We need coyotes; it's a common refrain: they’ll eat the deer. No, we don’t. By the time the coyotes get done eating all of the Island’s turkeys, rabbits, free-range chickens, cats, and yappy small dogs, they’ll be so fat and slow they’ll be unable to take down a deer.
The more excitable among us suggest spraying insecticide (goodbye butterflies and bees). That’s an idea rooted in desperation.
Habitat management is a method to reduce tick numbers. Controlled burns are one tool, but they may only be used in limited areas. Opening up areas that ticks prefer would help, but Island land managers who wish to even put in a trail, let alone remove thick vegetation, face rigorous and costly environmental review. And tick biology is a numbers game.
A single female deer tick lays a mass of approximately 2,000 to 3,000 eggs after becoming fully engorged on a blood meal. The more fecund lone star lays a cluster of 3,000 to 8,000 eggs, which gives rise to the notorious tick bomb, when hundreds of tiny nymphs cluster together in search of a blood meal (for instance, an ankle).
Small rodents and mammals help ticks to survive. But deer provide the primary breeding opportunity for a blood meal with which they thrive. More deer equal more ticks. The biology is clear: reducing deer numbers reduces the number of ticks.
Deer Density, Increased Risks
I recently spoke with Martin Feehan, the DFW Deer and Moose Project Leader. He said that the Island deer population is “north of 50 deer per square mile in areas that are open to hunting,” and in areas that are closed to hunting, “it is very likely that they exceed even 200 deer per square mile.” Feehan would like to see more Island properties open to hunting. DFW’s ideal number is 12-18 per square mile.
Deer density estimates often elicit disbelief, particularly among hunters who wonder why they’re not seeing a deer behind every tree. Feehan said that because deer have evolved as a “preyed species,” even though there are no natural predators on the Island, they haven’t lost their wariness. “It's still part of their evolutionary history to stay pretty hidden,” he said.
The deer standing out in a field at Seven Gates, off North Road, around sunset, are only the tip of the iceberg. There are plenty more hidden inside the wood line, he said.
Closed areas include dense neighborhoods where deer have learned to hide and survive, in some cases by only moving at night. Last January, I set up a trail camera in a small stand of trees surrounded by houses behind my friend’s house off North William Street in Vineyard Haven. I received a photo of a group of does in the middle of the afternoon, and one very nice buck later that night.
On September 16, a friend who lives off Daggett Avenue in Vineyard Haven texted me a photo of two bucks. “Ten feet from my front door five minutes ago,” he said.
One spring day, I saw three does standing in the Oak Grove Cemetery, located off West Spring Street, in the late morning.
A five-year study by the University of Maryland and the USDA, published on September 19, 2022, in the journal Urban Ecosystems, reported that deer in suburban environments often bed down and spend the night within 54 yards of residential properties.
The report highlights are described in a story published in the University of Maryland's College of Agriculture & Natural Resources newsletter, "Hey Suburbanites, Meet the Neighbors. . .Tick-Carrying White-Tailed Deer." Biologist Patrick Roden-Reynolds, director of the Dukes County tick program, was one of the study's authors.
According to the report, "The study results offer important guidance for suburban communities seeking to reduce the risk of tick-borne illnesses. An abundance of deer in residential areas serves as a reservoir for ticks, increasing their numbers and the risk of human exposure to tick-borne disease. Reducing tick populations, by removing deer or treating areas where deer bed down, for instance, can help to reduce that reservoir and limit the spread of disease."
Jennifer Mullinax, assistant professor in the UMD Department of Environmental Science & Technology and senior author of the study, said, “We used to think people mostly got Lyme disease when they walked in the woods. But recent studies have shown they’re getting Lyme disease in their own backyards, and now that we know the deer are living right there too, it makes more sense.”
Apart from ticks, deer pose a danger to vehicle drivers. According to data provided by the Dukes County Regional Emergency Communications Center, there have been an average of 300 deer-vehicle collisions over the past five years: 2020 (277), 2021 (233), 2022 (300), 2023 (325), 2024 (302), and Jan. 1 to Sept. 24. (206).
Regional Communications Center Assistant Director Christopher West said there are also some incidents involving deer that are listed as motor vehicle crashes instead of deer strikes. He estimated that number to be around 200 to 300 additional strikes over the 5 years.
Deer are also helping to alter the Vineyard landscape. In a comment published under a story in The MV Times on the loss of tick research funding, Tim Boland, retired director of the Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury, said, "Several studies throughout the Northeast and through the mid Atlantic indicate our local forests are not regenerating due to high deer browse. Here, we see a non-related massive die-off of American Beech and Pitch Pine, but there is very little indication that oak seedlings are regenerating. On my own property, a small experiment shows all new acorn produced white oaks are completely eaten to the soil line. As a result invasive species opportunistically move into dead zones, not favored by deer, a new monoculture of exotic plants becomes established. A visit to areas in Virginia and Pennsylvania with up to 110 deer per sq. mile leaves a bare understory below the browse line and intensive erosion. Without intervention, a sterile, less diverse island flora will result, along with the significant health risks associated with large deer herds."
Irrespective of any skepticism regarding state estimates of deer density, there’s no question that the Island has a growing deer herd, and it, in turn, is feeding hordes of ticks, changing our landscape, and posing risks to drivers. Hunters are on the frontlines of the battle to reduce the herd.
Regulatory Roadblocks
DFW has come under fire from some who think the agency is not doing enough to open up hunting opportunities. However, years ago, the archery (three weeks), shotgun (one week), and muzzleloader (three days) seasons combined lasted 27 days in Wildlife Management Zone 13, which comprises the Vineyard and Elizabeth Islands.
The upcoming 2025 deer hunting season for Zone 13 and Zone 14 (Nantucket) begins on October 6 and ends on December 31. That’s 75 days to hunt.
Additionally, for the 2026 hunting season, a special winter season (archery/muzzleloader) will be introduced, running from January 1, 2026, to January 31. The winter season tag allows a hunter to take one buck, in addition to the two allowed during the regular season, and an unlimited number of does.
DFW has also repeatedly asked state lawmakers, so far without success, to reduce the 500-foot hunting setback, eliminate the requirement to prove a medical restriction that limits the use of a bow in order to hunt with a crossbow, and permit Sunday hunting.
A frequent complaint is the ban on Sunday hunting. Don’t blame state wildlife managers. They have repeatedly introduced legislation to lift the restriction.
Feehan said that from the agency's perspective, Sunday hunting is an equity issue. The ban impacts someone who has to work five or six days a week. Hunters who can't take time off to hunt, that hits them the hardest, he said.
The 500-foot setback limits the use of crossbows by hunters to harvest deer in congested neighborhoods. If it were reduced to even 300 feet, the size of a football field, depending on the circumstances and with the permission of surrounding property owners, a responsible archer could safely hunt deer within a neighborhood.
A modern scoped crossbow is well-suited to the job. Learning to shoot a manual bow takes months of practice and skill. Crossbows are accurate and shorten the learning curve.
Feehan said gun hunters could make the jump to a crossbow very easily and use it to deadly effect in areas where firearms are not allowed or around homes. Shooting down from an elevated platform or tree stand, a hunter could safely harvest a deer from a backyard.
The existing crossbow restriction is rooted in the bow-hunting community’s past antipathy to the use of crossbows. But that has changed (many of those aging hunters can no longer draw back a 60-pound bow). For example, this year, New York changed its crossbow regulations. Massachusetts needs to adjust its regulations and do the same.
Changes This Season
Deer are social creatures. This archery season, hunters may use a deer decoy to lure deer within range.
They may also hunt over natural food plots. Growing a stand of corn in the woods is fine, but baiting with corn remains illegal. Putting out bait such as corn or apples attracts rodents, disrupts natural patterns, and may help spread disease, according to DFW.
Additionally, land trusts, farms, and individual landowners can apply for a deer damage permit to remove deer outside of hunting season. Those deer must be donated to DFW’s “Hunters Share the Harvest Program.”
Adding a January hunt may bump up the deer tally. DFW does not expect a repeat of February 2005 when the agency, at Nantucket’s request, agreed to hold a one-week winter hunt. It didn’t go well.
Hunting on the Islands is not like hunting in off-Island woodlands. Brillo-pad vegetation of scrub oak and briars is very challenging. Nantucketers were unhappy about the orange-clad hunters wandering freely on both public and private properties. The hunt lasted one year (AP, Dec. 17, 2005, “State Shoots Down Nantucket Deer Hunt”).
Feehan said that DFW studied what went wrong in 2005 and has made adjustments. The hunt spans the entire month of January, reducing pressure. It is not unique. Rhode Island, Connecticut, and parts of New York also hold hunts. The earlier hunt was conducted with a shotgun, while this hunt is restricted to bow and muzzleloader use.
“We very carefully developed this not to replicate those issues that occurred during the 05 hunt, because we want this to be successful for the long term,” he said.
One factor in reduced harvest numbers is the absence of large off-Island “gangs” that previously visited the Vineyard to hunt in the Manuel Correllus State Forest. The prevailing view is that they stopped coming because it’s expensive to travel to the Vineyard and rent a house, plus, hunting opportunities are better closer to home.
Feehan thinks the Island could do more to encourage and welcome local and off-Island hunters to harvest more deer. Ways to do that could include incentives for hunters to shoot more does. He also wants to see more property owners and managers allow hunting. Make hunters feel welcome, he said, because they’re providing no-cost deer management for the Island.
DFW states that public hunting is the most cost-effective means of reducing deer numbers, providing valuable outdoor recreational opportunities, and serving as a source of high-protein meat for the community.
Feehan said that calls for alternatives to public hunting, such as sterilization and professional “lethal removal,” fail to take into account their limited effectiveness, except in small, closed communities, and the enormous costs of maintaining those programs. White Buffalo Inc., a nonprofit that bills itself as “the leading expert in population control of white-tailed deer,” has provided services to many municipalities ( “City of Pittsburgh turns to USDA sharpshooters …”).
The company says sharpshooting “is often implemented in suburban and urban settings with access to both public and private lands. Costs can range from $200 to $400 per deer for sharpshooting, and processing is an additional $70 to $125 per deer.”
Is the Island community ready to accept professional hunters shooting deer over bait at night? I don’t think so, nor does the state.
Hunting Effort Lags
However, even as the deer population is increasing, hunting effort is decreasing. One gauge is the number of doe tags hunters purchased in Zone 13.
A Massachusetts hunting license with archery and muzzleloader stamps costs $46.50 for a resident adult and $143.50 for a non-resident. It comes with two buck tags. Doe tags are an additional $10 each. In some western hunting zones, doe tags are allotted by lottery. There is no limit on doe tags on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
I start the season with four doe tags and purchase additional tags as needed.
In 2019, DFW estimated there were 52 deer per square mile in areas open to hunting in Zone 13. That year, hunters purchased 2,307 doe permits and harvested a record 1,119 deer of both sexes.
In 2023, DFW estimated the number of deer per square mile at 55. Hunters purchased 1,565 tags and harvested 846 deer.
DFW’s harvest figure for 2024 is 798 deer. That’s not a good trend.
What can be done to reverse it? I think that one answer is for an Island nonprofit or community group to underwrite low-cost or no-cost processing. A hunter drops off a deer and picks it up later as packaged venison.
Free Processing Would Help
Nantucket, which has a substantial deer population, is also seeking answers. According to a recent story in the Nantucket Current (Aug. 28, “Could Expanded Deer Hunting Solve Nantucket's Food Insecurity Problem?”), a newly formed citizens group, the ACK Deer Management Project, wants to pursue an initiative where hunters can keep the backstraps of the deer, the most desirable cut of meat, and donate the rest, allowing them to fill their own freezers with choice cuts and take more deer to help feed islanders in need.”
This option acknowledges that processing deer requires a significant amount of time. On average, it is about five hours to skin, butcher, vacuum-pack the meat, and dispose of the deer carcass. It’s a laborious process.
The few people on Martha’s Vineyard willing to process deer charge a minimum of $200. After two or three deer and meat in the freezer, many hunters are finished for the season.
Hard work
Non-hunters may wonder why, if there are so many deer, hunters aren’t shooting more. The answer is simple. Deer don’t stand around waiting to be shot.
Seeing lots of deer in backyards and fields belies the fact that these remarkable animals are very good at sensing danger and patterning hunters. When pressured, they move to a safer habitat or become nocturnal.
Many factors affect individual hunting effort and success, including weather, work responsibilities, deer feeding habits, and movement (which can be influenced by a good or bad acorn year).
Prime hunting time is the few hours at sunrise and sunset. I often spend two hours in a tree stand. That means waking early and having late dinners.
Days may go by before a deer is seen, let alone comes into range. Hard work follows a successful shot: Recover the deer in prime tick habitat. Field-dress the animal as soon as possible. Store it below 40 degrees to preserve the quality of the meat.
When temperatures are cool, a hunter can hang a deer in a shed or garage for several days. However, if temperatures are above 40 degrees, as they often are in October, November, and even December, a hunter without access to a cooler who shoots a deer needs a place to store it.
The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society, in collaboration with the Dukes County Tick Program and the Island Grown Initiative (IGI), operates a community deer cooler and charges participating hunters a small seasonal fee. However, it falls short of being ideal due to the lack of water for rinsing out animals before they are hung.
IGI also accepts donations of whole deer to the DFW-sponsored and subsidized “Hunters Share the Harvest” program. In return, the seasonal cooler fee is waived.
This season, the Martha’s Vineyard Hunt Club will also be a participating processor in the share the harvest program. However, unlike the IGI program, hunters will have the option to pay a discounted processing fee and retain some of their venison, allowing them to share it with their family and friends.
All of that helps. But not everyone wants to spend the time it takes to harvest a deer only to give the entire animal away and receive nothing in return for their time. Not to mention the costs involved. A crossbow bolt and broadhead costs, on average, $25 and is not always recovered undamaged.
A bounty program in which hunters received $100 per doe was discontinued because only a few hunters were participating in it. Biologist Patrick Roden-Reynolds, who operates the Agricultural Society’s deer locker, said the bounty system was not that effective.
He told the Vineyard Gazette in January, “It was a slow bleed of money for really not taking much extra deer off the Island.”
Roden-Reynolds said that only three hunters used the bounty system in 2024. He said the money would be better spent on expenses for the deer locker and Island Grown Initiative’s venison donation program.
I think more hunters would be willing to keep hunting if they could shoot a doe, drop it off for processing at no charge, and then have the option to donate the animal or keep all or a portion of the venison to distribute to their family, friends, and strangers as they please in return for the time they spent to harvest the animal.
For more information on state regulations and programs, go to mass.gov/orgs/division-of-fisheries-and-wildlife.
