(Spectrum News file photo)
ENVIRONMENT
Tremont votes to allow deer hunting
BY David Ledford Maine
PUBLISHED 8:00 AM ET May 14, 2026
TREMONT — Tremont residents made a historic vote this week to end a nearly 100-year-old ban on deer hunting.
Mount Desert Island has been closed to deer hunting since the 1930s.
Reasons for the longtime ban vary but include safety concerns and the proximity of Acadia National Park, although town officials say there’s no singular reason.
“There’s not a ton of actual information on why,” said Tremont Town Manager Jesse Dunbar.
According to the town’s proposed management plan, there have been “no special studies to estimate the number of deer in Tremont and there is no indication that the population has reached its biological carrying capacity.”
However, there is a general agreement among residents that the population has grown. And, over the years, Dunbar said island deer have become unafraid of people, making them a nuisance for some residents.
“The common sentiment this year is that they seem to be eating everything that they didn’t eat before,” said Dunbar. “All the things that were deer-resistant are no longer deer-resistant. They’re eating anything and everything and are just absolutely everywhere.”
But there are also some serious safety concerns, he added.
“So, [there are] obviously concerns with tick bites,” said Dunbar. “[As well as] traffic accidents, property damage.”
Republican Representative Billy Bob Faulkingham of Winter Harbor previously presented a bill to allow deer hunting in 2025, but it ultimately did not pass.
“Where it was trying to be done by an outside representative who doesn’t represent our area, it kind of spurred the ‘well if it’s going to happen, then the town of Tremont should design it the way they would prefer it to happen,’” said Dunbar.
The town then put together its own plan and held a municipal election on Monday, May 11. The final vote to adopt that deer management plan was 314-227.
However, the issue still needs to go through the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for rule making and a final decision.
“We will work with the town to establish a deer hunting season framework that will go through a public rule making process,” MDIFW Communications Director Mark Latti previously told Spectrum News in a statement.
According to Dunbar, there will also be a public comment period. And, if approved, hunting will be heavily regulated.
“There would be 200 tags given out here at the town office, up to three per qualified hunter,” said Dunbar.
Additionally, hunting will only be available for Tremont residents or landowners; it will be limited to archery and shotguns, and hunters will need to hunt from a fixed blind or a tree stand.