Shotgun season for deer hunting begins Monday, Nov. 30 in Massachusetts, and state officials are encouraging hunters to register their take online this year instead of bringing it to a check-in station.

Hunters are still required to report their take within 48 hours but this year have the option of doing it online due to restrictions relating to the coronavirus pandemic.

Marion Larson, chief of information for Mass Wildlife, said usually during the first week of shotgun season, the organization “sprinkles biologists throughout the state to collect biological data. Because of the whole in-person situation and coronavirus, we have decided that this year we’re not going to do it.”

Online reporting can be done at the MassFishHunt website.

On the Vineyard there will be no check-in station at the Manuel Correllus State Forest, but there will be one located in the parking lot of the administration building for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). The check-in station is open to everybody, said Bret Stearns, director of the tribe’s natural resources department, and will have a scale available for precise weight measurements. A phone number will be posted in the parking lot to call upon arrival.

“We’re happy to help, there’s a tradition attached with checking in deer,” Mr. Stearns said. “And there’s something about a new hunter harvesting their first deer and bringing it to a check station. We don’t want people to lose that because of this so we’ll still be there to help that process through.”

Shotgun season runs from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, followed by primitive firearms (black powder) season from Dec. 14 to 31. Hunting hours begin a half an hour before sunrise and end a half an hour after sunset, every day except Sunday.

Hikers should be aware that many trails and nature reservations around the Vineyard are open for hunting. Sam Hart, Vineyard director for the Trustees of Reservations, stressed the importance of wearing at least one article of blaze orange clothing when hiking, walking or running in the woods.

“That’s always a good safety measure,” Mr. Hart said.