The busiest stretch of deer hunting season in Delaware kicks off Friday.
Historically, nearly 50 percent of the overall annual deer harvest occurs during the state’s mid-November eight day shotgun deer season.
Rob Hossler, an administrator with the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife, says this hunting season plays a crucial role in controlling Delaware’s deer population.
“It has truly leveled off to a point where we’re not getting the complaints both from residential landowners with their shrubbery and also from the farmers that we were say, 10-15 years ago when the population was growing and we were not able to harvest enough animals at that time,” said Hossler.
According to the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife, Delaware hunters are anticipated to harvest about 6,500 deer from Friday, Nov 14 through Saturday Nov 22, before shotgun season resumes in January.
Hossler says hunters who have enough venison for themselves are encouraged to donate extra deer to the Delaware Sportsmen Against Hunger Program.
“And then we in turn take it to either a butcher shop or we actually also use a correction facility where the deer is then processed and then the meals are then distributed to shelters and organizations that reach out to the needy people so we annually probably provide tens of thousands of meals a year through that program,” said Hossler.
Hossler adds that residents age 16 through 64 are required to purchase a Delaware hunting license and a junior license is required for Delawareans aged 13 to 15.
Additionally, all deer must be tagged immediately after harvest and registered within 24 hours.
More information is available on DNREC’s website.