An Act To Give Certain Landowners First Priority for Antlerless Deer Permits
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 0427
Committee: Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Sponsors: PICKETT, DAVIS, BLACK, CRAIG, HANINGTON, HANLEY, HILLIARD, LYFORD, NADEAU, SKOLFIELD
Amends: 12 MRSA §11152

Legislative Document
No. 427
H.P. 307
House of Representatives, February 7, 2017
An Act To Give Certain Landowners First Priority for Antlerless 
Deer Permits
Reference to the Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative PICKETT of Dixfield.  (BY REQUEST)
Cosponsored by Senator DAVIS of Piscataquis and Representatives: BLACK of Wilton, 
CRAIG of Brewer, HANINGTON of Lincoln, HANLEY of Pittston, HILLIARD of Belgrade, 
LYFORD of Eddington, NADEAU of Winslow, SKOLFIELD of Weld.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  12 MRSA §11152, sub-§3, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. A, §2 
and affected by c. 614, §9, is amended to read: 
B.  No more than 15% of the antlerless deer permits issued available after issuance to 
junior hunters under subsection 4, paragraph B in any one district or in any one zone 
may be issued to nonresident and alien hunters. 
Sec. 2.  12 MRSA §11152, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2007, c. 492, §4, is further 
amended to read: 
4.  Allocation to landowner.  An Except as otherwise provided in this section, an 
antlerless deer permit system adopted by the commissioner pursuant to this section may 
include a provision giving special consideration to landowners who keep their lands open 
to hunting by the public.  As part of the special consideration to those landowners, the 
commissioner shall must provide at least 25% of the all available antlerless deer permits 
in a wildlife management district to eligible landowners that who apply for an antlerless 
deer permit in that district.  For purposes of this subsection, "eligible landowner" means a 
landowner of record who owns at least 50 contiguous acres of land and keeps that land 
open to hunting by the public.  Any 2 or more areas of land owned by the same person 
that are open for hunting and that would be contiguous except for being divided by one or 
more roads are considered contiguous for the purposes of determining landowner 
eligibility for special consideration under this subsection.  An eligible landowner may 
receive only one antlerless deer permit under this subsection, which may allow hunting 
only in the wildlife management district in which the eligible landowner's property is 
located.  An antlerless deer permit issued under this subsection may be transferred 
pursuant to subsections 5 and 5-A. 
A.  If the number of eligible landowner applications exceeds the number of antlerless 
deer permits available in a wildlife management district, the commissioner shall 
establish a lottery system to issue those permits to eligible landowners. 
B.  If the number of antlerless deer permits available in a wildlife management 
district exceeds the number of eligible landowner applications, the commissioner 
shall issue the remaining permits to junior hunters who apply for an antlerless deer 
permit in that district.  If the number of antlerless deer permits available in a wildlife 
management district exceeds the number of eligible landowner applications and 
junior hunter applications, the commissioner shall issue the remaining permits as 
provided in this section. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the current antlerless deer hunting permit system to require that all 
antlerless deer permits available in a wildlife management district be issued to 
landowners of record who own at least 50 contiguous acres of land open to hunting by the 
public and have applied for the permit. 
It also provides that if the number of available antlerless deer permits in a wildlife 
management district exceeds the number of eligible landowner applications, the 
remaining permits must be issued to junior hunters who have applied for an antlerless 
deer permit in that district.  If the number of antlerless deer permits available in a wildlife 
management district exceeds the number of eligible landowner applications and junior 
hunter applications, the commissioner is directed to issue the remaining permits as 
provided in current law.