Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announced August 19 that bow hunting on Sundays during the private land archery deer season will be permitted in most deer management zones in the state. There are three districts in north central Connecticut where the hunting will remain prohibited.

DEEP Wildlife Division Director Rick Jacobson said the new opportunity for hunters “will support DEEP efforts to maintain healthy deer populations and ecosystems

“When the density of the deer population in a given area is too high – as it is in much of the state – it is not healthy for deer, other species, or forest lands,” he added.

The past session of the General Assembly approved Public Act 15-204, An Act Authorizing Bow and Arrow Hunting on Certain Private Property on Sundays. The new law authorizes DEEP to establish a season for Sunday bow hunting on private properties during the fall archery season in areas of the state with an overpopulation of deer. The law also requires that all such hunting must take place at least 40 yards away from blazed hiking trails. As with all deer or turkey hunting on private lands, hunters must have written permission from the land owner.

Sunday hunting will go into effect starting October 1, 2015. This will be a little more than two weeks into the 2015-16 fall archery deer season, which runs from September 15 through December 31 in most zones, and through the end of January 2016 in Deer Management Zones 11 and 12, which include communities along Long Island Sound.

DEEP determined that Sunday archery deer hunting on private lands will be permitted in all but three of the state’s Deer Management Zones (DMZs) based on its assessment of the deer population in each of the zones. The three zones where Sunday hunting will NOT be permitted – DMZs 2, 3, and 4A (see related graphic) — are in north central Connecticut, including portions of Hartford, Litchfield, and Tolland Counties.  The DMZs where Sunday hunting on private land will be permitted include 1, 4b, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Newtown falls within Zone 11.

The Deer Program administered by DEEP’s Wildlife Division has focused on stabilizing or reducing deer population growth for the best long-term interest of the deer resource, native plant and animal communities, and the public.

“Regulated deer hunting has proven to be an ecologically sound, socially beneficial, and fiscally responsible method of managing deer populations,” said Mr Jacobson.

Andrew LaBonte, a Wildlife Division biologist with Connecticut’s Deer Program, said efforts have focused on increasing harvest of antlerless deer, coordinating controlled hunts for overabundant deer herds, and assisting communities and large landowners with deer management issues.

“Permitting hunting on Sundays is just one more tool to aid in those management efforts,” he said.

Allowing deer hunting on Sundays also provides more opportunity for hunters to go out in the field during multiple days on the weekend, instead of just on Saturdays.

“Sunday hunting is expected to increase — by a small percentage — the current annual harvest of about 10,000-13,000 deer for all hunting seasons,” added Mr Jacobson.

Hunters are reminded that all deer harvested must be reported through DEEP’s online harvest (https://www.ct.wildlifelicense.com/HunterReporting/Login.aspx) or telephone reporting system (877-337-4868).

Information on hunting seasons, including Sunday bow hunting on private lands, can be found at ct.gov/deep/hunting.

Hunters should also note that the new Sunday bow hunting opportunity will not be reflected in the printed 2016 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide, as that guide was produced before the new law was approved.