Sportsmans Corner: Deer hunting season expanded in Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket

The population of whitetail deer on the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket have been an issue for decades and reached a point where significant actions are being instituted to begin a process of reducing deer densities by expanding hunting opportunities.

On Monday, the Healey-Driscoll administration announced new regulations to expand the deer hunting seasons on both Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, with a six-week winter primitive firearms and bow hunting season from Jan. 1 through Feb. 14. The Islands have the highest deer densities in Massachusetts, which can lead to the spread of tick-borne disease, increased deer/vehicle collisions, habitat damage and coastal erosion. 

The administration co-hosted an informational gathering with state Sen. Julian Cyr and state Rep. Thomas Moakley on Martha’s Vineyard Monday to discuss the new regulations. These will also establish an early fall deer season on the Islands, allowing an additional 10 days of hunting with primitive firearms and archery equipment. The season will run from Sept. 21 through Oct. 1 in 2026.  

Additionally, Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Tom O’Shea announced at the Fisheries and Wildlife Board meeting, also held Monday, that the administration will hold public listening sessions in early 2026 to consider additional tools to manage the deer population, including allowing for expanded hunting seasons or hunting on Sundays. Massachusetts is one of two states in the country that does not allow Sunday hunting.

“Hunting has always been woven into Massachusetts’ history – supporting families, boosting local economies, and helping keep our deer populations healthy,” said Gov. Maura Healey. “These expanded regulations carry that tradition forward, creating more opportunities for hunters while protecting public health and ensuring we’re maintaining balance in our wildlife populations.”

“Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are facing rapidly increasing deer populations. Overabundant deer negatively impact forest health, increase deer-vehicle collisions on roadways, and increase public health risks through tick-borne illness,” said O’Shea. “By expanding opportunities for licensed hunters to harvest deer, we can achieve healthier deer populations while protecting biodiversity and increasing public health, safety and food security.”

“Tick-borne diseases spread by the black-legged or deer tick, including Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, borreliosis caused by Borrelia miyamotoi and Powassan virus, have been and continue to be a significant public health concern on the islands,” said State Epidemiologist Catherine M. Brown, DVM. “Since any measurable impacts in disease burden are likely to take time, it is important that residents and visitors on the Islands be aware of the presence of ticks and consistently take steps to help prevent tick bites. Prevention steps include use of tick repellents, daily tick checks and letting your health care provider know about tick exposure if you develop any illness.”

While the statewide goal for deer across Massachusetts is 12–18 deer per square mile, MassWildlife estimates there are over 100 deer per square mile on the Islands in areas closed to hunting. When deer populations are too high, they eat too many young trees and plants. This harms forest health and negatively impacts many other wildlife species. 

“Protecting biodiversity is especially important on the Islands, because they have unique habitats and species not found elsewhere in the state and they are already vulnerable to climate change,” said MassWildlife Deer Project Leader Martin Feehan. “High deer numbers also worsen coastal erosion along the shorelines of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.” 

Licensed hunters play an important role in wildlife management in Massachusetts, positively contributing to forest health and biodiversity, public health, safety and food security. Through MassWildlife’s Hunters Share the Harvest program, hunters can donate venison to Massachusetts residents facing food insecurity. Since the program’s inception in 2022, more than 90,000 meals have been distributed to families in need.

While MassWildlife was already scheduled to implement the January hunt for the first time on the Islands in 2026, the emergency regulations announced today add an additional two weeks into February and an early season in September. Public hearings will be scheduled early in 2026 to determine if these changes will be made permanent.  

Meanwhile, here on the mainland, the two-week shotgun deer hunting season ends tomorrow, Dec. 13 and the primitive arms season starts Monday and runs through Dec. 31. Locally, the MassWildlife biological checking station at the Orange Gun Club checked in 99 deer during the first week of shotgun hunting, when all deer had to be reported at one of the state’s biological check stations.

Those hunters who used the Orange Gun Club station had praise for the hoist system that made weighing deer very easy. Hunters for the rest of deer season can report deer online or bring the deer to one of the stations at MassWildlife facilities. A list of check stations still operating is available on the MassWildlife web site.

It appears that the local deer population is up and deer taken were reported as having quite a bit of body fat and being in excellent shape. That was true of the nice mature doe harvested by Stacy Clark during our Saturday hunt. The snow cover got hunters out in the woods, and it seems as though the tally should be up and there is still a lot of hunting to come in the primitive arms season.

That season, sometimes called the black powder season, has evolved from a three-day season with smooth-bore muskets and flintlocks to now allowing any firearm that loads through the muzzle. Some of those firearms are quite sophisticated, with modern shotgun primers replacing percussion caps and the use of sabot sleeves and modern bullets producing single-shot guns that are as accurate as a rifle. The increased popularity has helped drive interest and the season now lasts over two weeks.

My deer story is short and sweet. The nice rack buck that was encountered while this hunter was one of those moving through as “drivers” on a hunt ran off without my firing a shot because of my not doing enough looking up and scanning while walking. Still some time get some venison, but my nephew Jared picked up the slack and downed a nice buck that will provide the meat for meat pie! Way to go Jared!

Mike Roche is a retired teacher who has been involved in conservation and wildlife issues his entire life. He has written the Sportsman’s Corner since 1984 and has served as advisor to the Mahar Fish’N Game Club, counselor and director of the Massachusetts Conservation Camp, former Connecticut Valley District representative on the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board, a Massachusetts Hunter Education Instructor and is a licensed New York hunting guide. He can be reached at mikeroche3@msn.com.