In 2024, the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust launched its Deer Management Pilot Program, which invited five archers onto its properties in an attempt to help address the overpopulation of white-tailed deer in the area. 

While the state saw a record high harvest of 6,988 deer for archers in 2024, according to preliminary results from Mass Wildlife, likely due to the extra two weeks in the season, the archers volunteering for the Trust only managed to snag three deer.

Executive Director Nick Wildman said while he’s disappointed, he isn’t surprised. 

A few factors could have contributed to the small number of deer collected this season, including pre-established hunting in surrounding parcels and needing the necessary time to understand the woods and the deer patterns within them. 

According to Mass Wildlife, approximately 15,032 deer were harvested in total across the state, which is about a 3% decline from 2023 and a 5% decline from the record-setting 2022 season. 

According to the DNRT, Mass Wildlife estimates that there are 30 to 50 deer per square mile in eastern Massachusetts, and a recent survey by Mass Audubon at Allens Pond Sanctuary in Westport counted 56 deer per square mile.

In 2023, police recorded 1,803 interactions between people in cars and with deer across the state. In addition, the overpopulation of deer has had a major impact on crops and the understory in forests, which is the layer of trees and shrubs between the forest floor and canopy, reducing its ability to regenerate, according to Wildman.

For these reasons, Wildman and his Board of Directors agreed to take steps to address the overpopulation, allowing a select few archers to hunt on their properties for the first time ever. 

While they intend to be a part of the solution, Wildman said he knew from the start their contribution wouldn’t have a major impact on this state-wide problem. Archers were limited to non-conservation properties with no trails. 

Wildman emphasized this does not mean Trust properties are open to hunting and they will continue to enforce its no firearms policy and remove any unauthorized hunting equipment.

The Trust has plans to take another look at their management plan and are likely to continue its usage in the 2025 season.