CONTACT:
Kent Gustafson: (603) 271-2461
Jane Vachon: (603) 271-3211
December 17, 2004
Estimated 2004 New Hampshire Deer Kill Tops 10,000
CONCORD, N.H. -- As of December 16, New Hampshire hunters had registered an estimated total of 10,080 deer during the 2004 hunting season, a 7 percent increase over last year. The firearms season for deer ended December 5, and the deer archery season ended December 15.
"We expected that the 2004 harvest would be around 10,000, more similar to results seen in 1999, 2000 and 2002," said Kent Gustafson, a wildlife biologist and the Deer Project Leader for the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. Gustafson explained that lower harvest figures seen in the state during 2001 and 2003 resulted from higher-than-normal winter severity impacts in the winters of 2000-2001 and 2002-2003, followed by restricted antlerless hunting opportunities enacted by Fish and Game in 2001 and 2003 in response to those winters.
"It appears as if deer numbers are recovering and, if the winter weather cooperates, deer numbers should continue to rebound in New Hampshire for the 2005 season," Gustafson said.
A final summary of this year's hunt will be available in the 2004 Harvest Summary, which will be published in March 2005.
Estimated Deer Kill by County
at Close of Firearms and Archery Deer Season, 1999-2004
|
COUNTY
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
| Belknap |
577
|
623
|
506
|
642
|
538
|
595
|
| Carroll |
736
|
704
|
600
|
685
|
486
|
627
|
| Cheshire |
994
|
957
|
901
|
1,115
|
895
|
1,033
|
| Coos |
1,357
|
1,365
|
888
|
1,104
|
1,056
|
978
|
| Grafton |
1,676
|
1,640
|
1,115
|
1,427
|
1,322
|
1,334
|
| Hillsborough |
1,560
|
1,715
|
1,587
|
1,885
|
1,555
|
1,611
|
| Merrimack |
1,159
|
1,047
|
839
|
948
|
795
|
979
|
| Rockingham |
1,476
|
1,692
|
1,721
|
1,904
|
1,637
|
1,712
|
| Strafford |
586
|
553
|
552
|
690
|
651
|
670
|
| Sullivan |
580
|
530
|
420
|
586
|
519
|
541
|
|
TOTAL
|
10,701
|
10,826
|
9,129
|
10,986
|
9,454
|
10,080
|
The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department is the guardian of the state's fish, wildlife and marine resources and their habitats.
- Click here for N.H. deer hunting information.
- Click here to buy a 2005 hunting or combo license online.
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