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Commission keeps youth/muzzleloader overlap as discussion item; moves proposed January antlerless hunt to action
Summary
After reviewing harvest data and safety concerns, the commission agreed to hold further discussion on the youth‑only gun vs. muzzleloader overlap and voted to advance a proposed January 3‑day antlerless firearms hunt to an action item at the next full meeting.
Commissioners debated two separate deer‑related proposals: whether to resolve an overlap between youth‑only gun deer season and the early muzzleloader weekend, and whether to create a new three‑day antlerless firearms hunt over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
Joe McDermott, the department’s deer program coordinator, presented harvest data showing the youth weekend produced about 5,700 deer (approximately 2,000 above average) while the muzzleloader weekend was about half as effective as typical. McDermott said the combined effect was an overall small increase in harvest (roughly 500–600 additional deer) during the period discussed.
“The youth hunters were more successful. They shot almost 5,700 deer, which is 2,000 more than average,” McDermott said. (Joe McDermott)
Commissioners raised safety and user‑conflict concerns and asked law enforcement to review citation data to identify any overlap‑related incidents. Several commissioners recommended collecting more evidence over additional seasons before moving to action. On that basis, the commission decided not to advance the overlap to action and to retain it as a discussion item for future agendas.
Separately, the commission voted to move a department proposal to create a January three‑day antlerless firearms hunt (zones 1–3, proposed for Martin Luther King Jr. weekend) to an action item for the next commission meeting. Staff presented five‑year averages indicating the three days in question correlated to roughly 770 antlerless telechecks on average, with shed‑buck telechecks under 3%.
What’s next: Law enforcement will be asked to provide citation/overlap data; staff will prepare an action‑item package on the January antlerless proposal for the next meeting.
