A new solution to the overwhelming deer population on the Vineyard could be in Islanders’ backyards.
At the Agricultural Hall last Thursday, the MV Agricultural Society, Tick Free MV and MassWildlife co-hosted a presentation on deer damage permits — a way for landowners to hunt deer as pests on their property outside the bounds of normal hunting regulations.
Deer damage permits have been praised as a method of deer population control by Tick Free MV, the Island nonprofit hoping to reduce the Vineyard’s tick population and incidence of tick-borne illness in part through deer density management.
“Deer damage permits are a really compelling and potentially powerful tool for our community,” Tick Free MV executive director Virginia Barbatti said Thursday.
Martin Feehan, deer and moose biologist at MassWildlife, presented on the permits. He said the density of deer on the Vineyard far exceeds state recommendations and is the second highest in the state, eclipsed only by Nantucket.
Because deer lack sufficient predators in the Vineyard ecosystem, the population is growing exponentially, intensifying issues like coastal erosion, vegetation loss and the proliferation of tick-borne illness, as deer are a key host to ticks.
Meanwhile, harvest-based management is not sufficiently keeping growth at bay. In 1985, the population of deer hunters in Massachusetts was around 140,000 per season, he said. This season, there were fewer than 40,000 hunters.
Because Massachusetts chose to extend its hunting season to Feb. 14, Mr. Feehan noted that a high volume of hunters from other states, especially New Hampshire and Maine, have come to the commonwealth and the Island to take advantage of the extra weeks.
Despite relaxed regulations, the number of hunters is ever dwindling, making it more difficult to manage the herd on the Vineyard.
“Effectively, most of my job … comes down to, how do I get a fewer and fewer number of hunters to get more and more deer?” he said.
That’s where deer damage permits come in.
In essence, deer damage permits allow landowners to hunt deer on their property outside of the restrictions that typically govern hunting laws to mitigate the threat of property damage from the animals.
To apply for a deer damage permit, landowners must be able to demonstrate that they produce something agriculturally. This encompasses farms, conservation land and properties such as gardens and golf courses.
Mr. Feehan said he works with individual permit seekers to come up with customized plans based on their needs. Depending on the specifics of each permit, permit holders can make it so that several normal hunting restrictions don’t apply on their property, including restrictions on times of day hunting can take place or kinds of bait that can be used.
On a place like the Island, where deer density is untenably high, Mr. Feehan said landowners can secure deer damage permits without having to show proof of damage. He said on the Vineyard, damage is “implied.”
“This is not considered hunting, it’s strictly deer removal,” Mr. Feehan said. “That really allows us a lot of flexibility, because you’re not having to stay within restrictions of hunting season.”
One benefit of deer damage permits, Mr. Feehan said, is that permit holders who don’t intend to hunt on their property themselves can use their permits to connect with local licensed hunters and give them access to their property.
Permit holders are subject to some requirements. They must allow general hunting on at least a portion of their properties, donate a portion of their venison and remove antlers from the deer they hunt.
“We don’t want to promote this as any kind of trophy hunting,” Mr. Feehan said. “This is about deer management.”
In late 2025, Tick Free MV told the Gazette that there were zero deer damage permits issued on the Vineyard, meaning these discussions mark a first for the Island.
The push for deer damage permits isn’t the only method of deer population control being pursued on the Island. Sunday marked the beginning of Tick Free MV’s thermal drone survey, which seeks to identify the Island’s deer hotspots through infrared technology to inform an effective density management plan.
Mr. Feehan said last week that the drone survey was something MassWildlife advised against.
“We discouraged it, because ultimately … it’s not actually getting densities,” Mr. Feehan said.
Ms. Barbatti countered that she feels the survey will give Islanders important information about where the Island’s deer are primarily located.
“What our community needs right now is more information so we can have community-based discussions,” Ms. Barbatti said. “We can make decisions together about how we deal with this tick-borne disease and allergy crisis that we’re facing.”
Brian Athearn, founder of the Martha’s Vineyard Hunt Club, praised Tick Free MV’s decision to conduct the survey.
“I can’t help but think how useful this is going to be,” Mr. Athearn said.
Those interested in securing a deer damage permit can contact MassWildlife for a consultation.
Editor's note: this article has been updated to clarify what types of properties can apply.
This article appears in February 20, 2026.
People hunting in their yards? What could possibly go wrong?
Cruelty has no bounds…humans invade their habitats, then shoot them. God have mercy.
I do not this it is sufficiently clear who can apply for these permits. This article makes it sound like homeowners can get a deer damage permit. They can’t. It is expressly for properties that have an agricultural product or land product. Farms, nurseries, arboretums, conservation land are eligible. Your homeowners associations or other homeowners are not. I attended this session in-person, in-full.
Agreed. And even for those eligible it’s still very difficult. From my understanding only the farm owner or a full time employee can use the permit to harvest a deer.
The best thing they could do is to expand Sunday hunting. 50% of each weekend is closed to hunting. Many more people work Saturdays now as well.
There are two options! Theres (1) the Farmer/Landowner permit. That allows farmers to hunt their property themselves during normal hunting season and not pay the fees associated with that hunting. (2) The Deer Damage Permit can be secured by farms/nurseries/etc but they need to specify a licensed hunter as a sub-permittee at the time of registration. This is very much so not a free-for-all tool, but helpful to properties that suffer direct economic damage to their trade.
This is the crux of the available deer hunting population. The Commonwealth and the Island in specific have had a long bias against hunters, making it increasingly complex and difficult – beyond sensible safety training and precautions – to getting a license and hunting in practice. It’s far easier and more convenient for hunters to go to NH or other mainland areas to hunt.
However, while we all think of deer as “Bambi”, any animal or organism that exceeds the capacity of their environment to support them turn from part of the landscape to pest and active danger vector. The “natural predators’ will increasingly become vehicles, school buses, etc. in contact with the deer. A deer does a tremendous amount of damage to a school’s – I’ve seen it – and it was still alive afterwards and had to be put down. Not good for either side.
Thank you for the clarity.
Deer are our friends not pests.
I guess you don’t have a tickborne disease yet. You will change your opinion once you do, and given the over population of ticks, it is only a matter of time.
If the state would allow rifles this could be fixed in a few seasons. I am a long time resident of MA and a lifelong deer hunter. I regularly travel out of state to hunt deer and have no desire to even attempt hunting here, even though I have the land and the deer are everywhere.
Only allowing Shotguns, ML’s and archery is a huge reason we have overpopulation.
Too many houses and people for rifle. Yeah you can be in tree stand with ground back drop. But those shorter shots and shotgun slug just as effective doesn’t go as far.
Yeah, people shooting rifles on an island where those rounds can travel much further is not a good idea.
A round travels the same distance on an island as it does on the mainland- the physics do not change after a ferry ride.
Statistically speaking, the most common hunting accident nationwide is falling from tree stands, followed by shotgun related accidents.
As in other states, rifle hunting comes with increased set back requirements from roads homes and property lines to ensure proper safety.
How about opening up more land to hunters like myself (Landbank,conservation)and not just islander. I come from the Main land spend thousands of dollars with my Crew and can never get access to this Land is only for Islanders??? We have 18 guys and usually harvest 30-32 Deer in 2 1/2 days of hunting numbers could be more but access is not available for most of us coming over. This was my 35yr on Nantucket. We’re always looking for new spot d to harvest deer safely and sufficiently…
We have an overpopulation of deer in a public forest area of my town. The town has arranged for one bow hunter to hunt deer during specific, designated hours for a period of time during the fall/winter. I don’t know all of the specifics of your situation but wanted to share this in case it could be helpful there.