Second year of deer hunting in Blue Hills Reservation starts Tuesday

BOSTON — Fewer than 500 hunters will be allowed to hunt deer on the Blue Hill Reservation during a four-day hunt aimed at controlling the deer population starting this week.

The first two days will be Nov. 29-30 and the second two days will be Dec. 6-7, during which 468 shotgun hunters and 15 bow hunters will be allowed to take deer. Both sets of dates fall during the state’s shotgun season.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation instituted the hunt last year to begin working to control the deer population in the reservation.

The agency, along with MassWildlife, will oversee this year’s hunt as well.

Participation & Access Permitting: Participation in the 2016 controlled hunt will be determined using a random lottery system. Interested hunters must complete and submit an application to DCR in order to be included in the lottery.

Selection of Alternates: DCR will select a pool of alternate hunters to draw from should a permitted hunter be unable to participate in the hunt. Selected alternates will be allowed and encouraged to attend one of the orientation sessions. However, final inclusion on the list of alternates will depend upon attendance at one of the orientation sessions.

Hunting Implements: In 2016, participants will be allowed to use shotguns (slug only) or archery. Archery hunting will only be allowed within the Reservation during the four (4) days of the controlled hunt and only in designated areas.

Of the more than 7,000 acres that comprise the Blue Hills, 3,495 acres will be opened to shotgun hunting while 226 acres will be opened to archery hunting. To see which areas of the Reservation will be open to shotgun and archery hunting, please view the maps below:

• 2016 Controlled Hunt Areas – Blue Hills Reservation
• Zone 1 – Fowl Meadow & Zone 2 – Little Blue Hill
• Zone 3 - Great Blue Hill
• Zone 5 - Houghton's Pond
• Zone 6 - Chickatawbut & Zone 10 - Braintree Site
• Zone 7 - Wompatuck
• Zone 4 – Brookwood Farm, Zone 8 – Ponkapoag, & Zone 9 – Nike Site  

Number of Hunters: No more than 132 hunters will be allowed to hunt during each day of the controlled hunt. This includes 117 shotgun hunters and 15 archery hunters.

• Shotgun Hunters: Four (4) different groups of shotgun hunters will be selected to participate in this year's controlled hunt. Each group of 117 shotgun hunters will only be permitted to hunt during one (1) day of the hunt.
• Archery Hunters: Only one (1) group of 15 archery hunters will be selected to participate in this year's controlled hunt. All 15 archery hunters will be permitted to hunt during all four (4) days of the hunt.

Cox Media Group