A free hunter safety firearms course will be offered by the Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Gun Club in April.

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.

Hunter orange is showing up around the Island Monday as the two-week shotgun hunting season gets underway. The season runs through Dec. 12; hunting hours begin half an hour before sunrise and end half an hour after sunset.

West Tisbury resident Richard Huffam grabbed two hooves in one hand, two hooves in the other hand and his friend held the antlers. Together the two men heaved the deer from the pickup truck onto the scale, similar to one you’d see at the doctor’s office.

For the second year in a row, Richard Carlson of Oak Bluffs has been named Top Gun at the Rod and Gun Club’s annual Fall Shoot, held Sunday, Nov. 25. Past winner Cooper Gilkes III earned second place; Michael Ferry captured third. Participants were ranked based on their participation in three categories of competition.

Prizes were also awarded to the following people for their individual performances: Mike Ferry for the Bulls Eye competition; Dick Carlson for the Over the Shoulder competition, and Matt Gamache for the Standing Deer competition.

State wildlife forester Brian Hawthorne has been counting the deer checked in at the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest. Mr. Hawthorne said, based on what he has seen so far, the deer population is healthy and well-fed.

Next week the deer hunting season shifts from bow and arrow to shotgun.

“You are up close and personal when you are in archery season, at 20, maybe 30 yards away,” said Walter Ashley, an experienced hunter on the Island. “With a shotgun, it’s not so critical.”

Mr. Ashley has been hunting for nearly 50 years, whether it be bow and arrow, shotgun or muzzleloader.

“I’d go if they had a stick and stone season,” he said.