In an effort to cull the deer population, reduce tick-borne illness and provide meat to those in need, a number of Island organizations have joined forces.

As part of an ongoing effort to reduce the incidence of tick-borne illness, bow hunters on Martha’s Vineyard this year will be offered a monetary incentive to take additional female deer.

About 190 deer were checked in at the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest check in station during the first week of deer shotgun season this year.

A 46-year-old Rhode Island man took a buckshot pellet in the ankle on the opening day of shotgun season for deer, state environmental police confirmed.

The annual shotgun deer season got underway this week on Martha’s Vineyard, and several days of good hunting weather helped Island hunters bag 124 white-tail deer through Thursday morning.

Last year, over the course of the entire hunting season five deer were donated to the venison donation program. This year, the program’s second, that number was reached in the first few weeks of the bow hunting season.

This year’s deer hunting season has begun, and many options are being considered for how to lessen the impact of the continuing infestation of deer ticks on Martha’s Vineyard.

The archery season for deer will be extended by two weeks in an area of the state that includes the Vineyard, state officials announced last week.

Island hunters took nearly 800 deer during the 2017 deer hunting season, the highest harvest in at least 16 years, according to recently released state data.

Shotgun hunting season began Monday, and the weigh station was busy this week with hunters, biologists collecting ticks, and a new deer donation program.