New Hampshire Fish and Game officials say when all the numbers are totaled and verified this year’s deer hunt will likely break a record set in 1967.
Preliminary results show a 14 percent increase in the number of deer killed this season over last year. It would be the fourth year in a row the harvest has gone up.
Kent Gustafson, the Fish and Game Department’s deer project leader, says the record is a result of recent mild winters that have made it easier for deer to survive. This year’s early season snow made it easier for hunters to track deer.
The harvest of about 13,400 deer represents about 15 percent of the state deer population. Gustafson said the harvest was in line with the department’s long term deer management plan.