The two-week shotgun season for deer got off to a strong start this week. Hunting began Monday morning and at press time yesterday, hunters had harvested 217 deer. Bow season, which finished last week, saw more than more than 200 deer taken.

Brian Hawthorne, a forester with the state Fish and Wildlife agency, said the deer he is seeing at the check-in station at the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest are healthy. The state allots 2,300 antlerless deer permits for the Vineyard for the season; Mr. Hawthorne said he expects less than 1,000 permits this year. “I don’t think we have ever sold a thousand,” he said.

There is one week left in shotgun season. Hunting is from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset daily. There is no hunting on Sunday.