State Sees Success In Early Deer Hunts On Nantucket And Martha's Vineyard

The state's efforts to cull the massive deer herds on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard appear to be paying off.

In late 2025, the Massachusetts Department of Fish & Game approved a new early fall hunt on the islands to reduce the large deer herds on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, which have been blamed for the high incidence of tick-borne diseases, as well as increased deer/vehicle collisions, habitat damage, and coastal erosion. The new fall hunting season allowed only primitive firearms, such as muzzleloaders, and archery equipment.

And the results are in. The preliminary deer harvest from the early deer season (Sep. 21-Oct. 1, 2026) is as follows:

• Zone 13 (Martha’s Vineyard, Chappaquiddick, and the Elizabeth Islands): 119 deer
• Zone 14 (Nantucket and Tuckernuck) : 73 deer

"So, these new seasons are making significant additions to the total deer harvest," said Martin Feehan, PhD, the state's deer and moose biologist.

Combined with the totals from the new special winter season in early 2026 (Jan. 1 to Feb. 14) on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, the tally climbs to 522 deer killed on the islands during the new hunting seasons. 

"These new primitive and archery seasons have so far been very successful at boosting the deer harvest to help address overabundant deer on the islands," Feehan told the Current.

For context, the deer hunting totals for all of calendar year 2025 were:

• Martha's Vineyard: 763
• Nantucket: 845

Nantucket is currently in the state's regular archery season:

In addition to the new hunting seasons, island conservation organizations are also stepping up to reduce Nantucket's deer herd and help address food insecurity.

Late last month, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation announced it will pay hunters $150 for each deer they donate to islanders in need this season.

The Nantucket Conservation Foundation has set aside $30,000 for the new initiative, enough to cover 200 deer. That’s only 2 percent of Nantucket’s enormous deer population, but combined with the other programs pushed by local agencies and the state, it could start to chip away at what is believed to be the densest deer population in Massachusetts.

To qualify for the payments, hunters must donate the deer to the Nantucket Land Bank’s agricultural processing center at 19 Boynton Lane. Entering its second year of operation this fall, the Land Bank’s processing center accepts whole deer under the state's Hunters Share the Harvest Program, which allows hunters to take unlimited deer if they donate the venison to qualified processors, who then distribute it to people facing food insecurity.

The system has received some rave reviews, including this one from island hunter Joe Gamberoni:

"Hats off the Nantucket Land bank and Food Pantry," Gamberoni wrote in a social media post. "I just dropped off a deer for donation that I killed last night. What a top tier facility, clean, organized and well run. Yusuf, could not have been nicer and informed me hunters are in fact making a difference in both the deer harvest and helping feed families on the island. This was a great experience and I’ll be donating more deer to this great cause. Thank you for making the process easy. Good work Nantucket!"