The bow hunting season across Martha’s Vineyard and the rest of Massachusetts opened on Monday and runs through November 28, operating from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset, MV Times reported. State wildlife officials structured this year’s calendar to address overpopulation concerns, pairing standard autumn permits with experimental early and extended winter windows across Dukes and Nantucket counties.
Early Autumn Hunts Across Dukes and Nantucket Counties
While standard seasons traditionally open in the fall, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) instituted an early deer hunting season running from September 21 to October 1. Announced last December, the trial allowed primitive firearms and archery equipment on both islands to reduce dense deer populations. Martin Feehan, MassWildlife deer and moose project biologist, noted that hunters harvested 119 deer across Martha’s Vineyard, Chappaquiddick, and the Elizabeth Islands during that initial week—a span that included a northeast storm. Across Nantucket and Tuckernuck, hunters took 73 deer during the same early window.
Winter Permit Extensions Increase Deer Harvest Totals
The state also extended the calendar into the new year, running a winter season from January 1 to February 14 that yielded 172 deer on Martha’s Vineyard alone. Combined with the autumn early season, the island recorded 291 deer harvested through these supplementary windows. Feehan stated in an email to the Times that these primitive archery and firearm additions have successfully increased harvest numbers to combat overpopulation. That total of 291 accounts for nearly 40 percent of the 763 total deer harvested across the island throughout all of 2025.
Deer Management Helps Control Tick Populations
Beyond ecological management, island residents target high deer numbers due to tick populations that rely on deer as primary hosts. Patrick Roden-Reynolds, island tick biologist and manager of the Agricultural Society’s deer cold storage facility, registered roughly 55 deer at the start of the season. Thirty-five of those carcasses went to the society’s Venvenison Donation Program, a partner of MassWildlife’s Share the Harvest initiative that distributes meat to the island’s food equity network via Island Grown Initiative. Friesla mobile deer processing units arrived on the island via the steamship last weekend to support Tick Free MV and the society, aiming to provide local facilities for butchering deer and eventually livestock. Tick Free MV offers financial incentives of $100 for a buck and $150 for a doe to hunters who donate their harvest.
Hunter Education Course Opens in November
Hunters seeking certification can enroll in the MassWildlife Hunter Education and Safety course scheduled for November at the Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Gun Club. Participants must complete all three sessions on November 8, 14, and 15.
