MONTPELIER — Hunters are gearing up for the start of Vermont’s traditionally popular 16-day regular deer season that begins Saturday, Nov. 15 and ends Sunday, Nov. 30.

A hunter may take one legal buck during this season if they did not already take one during the archery deer season. The definition of a legal buck depends on the Wildlife Management Unit (WMU). A map of the WMUs is on pages 24 and 25 of the 2025 Vermont Hunting & Trapping Guide available from license agents and highway rest areas.

In WMUs C, D1, D2, E1, E2, G, I, L, M, P, and Q a legal buck is any deer with at least one antler three inches or more in length.

In WMUs A, B, F1, F2, H, J1, J2, K, N, and O a legal buck is any deer with at least one antler with two or more antler points one inch in length or longer.

“The greatest numbers of deer continue to be in western regions of the state and other valley areas,” said Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s deer biologist Nick Fortin. “The Green Mountains and Northeast Kingdom offer more of a big woods experience with fewer, but often larger, deer.”

Vermont hunting licenses include a buck tag for this season and a late season bear tag (for Nov. 15-23), cost $28 for residents and $102 for nonresidents. Hunters under 18 years of age get a break at $8 for residents and $25 for nonresidents. Licenses are available on Fish and Wildlife’s website and from license agents statewide.

“I am urging all hunters to wear a fluorescent orange hat and vest to help maintain Vermont’s very good hunting season safety record,” said Vermont Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Jason Batchelder.

A 2025 Deer Season Hunting Guide can be downloaded from the department’s website at https://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/. The guide includes a map of the Wildlife Management Units (WMUs), season dates, regulations, and other helpful information.

Hunters are required to report deer in person at a big game reporting station during the regular season. Online reporting will not be available. This requirement allows biologists to collect important information from as many deer as possible.

Hunters who get a deer on Nov. 15 or 16 can help Vermont’s deer management program by reporting their deer at one of the biological check stations operated by Fish and Wildlife Department personnel listed, including the Bennington Fish Hatchery.

Hunters who do not go to a biological reporting station are asked to provide a tooth from their deer. Tooth envelopes and tooth removal instructions are available at all big game reporting stations. Each tooth will be cross sectioned to accurately determine the deer’s age, and the results will be posted on the Fish and Wildlife website next spring.

Vermont is seeking a new developer to build a 15-bed locked facility for youth involved in the criminal justice system. The request for proposal comes a few months after the Department for Children and Families dropped its plans to build the facility in Vergennes.

The RFP, issued Oct. 17, puts the responsibility for finding a location, as well as securing any local permits or zoning changes, on the developer.

Vermont hasn’t had a permanent facility for justice-involved youth since closing Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in 2020 amid allegations that staff used excessive force against kids.

The state has struggled to replace Woodside, encountering local pushback in Vergennes and, before that, in Newbury, where it first attempted to build a six-bed facility.

More from Vermont Public: Lawsuit, regulatory reports allege ‘dangerous’ restraints of children at Woodside

The lack of a secure youth facility has meant more juveniles have been held in adult prisons, according to the Department of Corrections. From Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025, there were 26 youth held in Vermont prisons, said Jordan Pasha, DOC’s director of classification. That’s up from 20 the previous year and 13 the year before that.

Most youth accused of a crime are placed in the custody of the Department for Children and Families, and their cases play out in family court, which is confidential. But there are about a dozen more serious offenses, such as murder and sexual assault, that can result in a youth being charged as an adult. In those cases, a juvenile can be held in prison while their case plays out.

Federal regulations require that kids be held in “sight and sound separation” from adults in prison, which often means they are held in what amounts to solitary confinement.

DOC officials say their facilities are not set up to hold youth.

“If it [was] something that we no longer had to do, I think our staff would be very happy about that,” said Haley Sommer, DOC’s director of communications.

One 16-year-old was recently held at Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland for 19 days. He told child welfare advocates that he was alone in a cell for 10 to 16 hours a day, and described the experience as “inhumane,” according to Matthew Bernstein, the state’s child, youth and family advocate.

“I think that any policymaker, indeed, any Vermonter should find it unacceptable that we can’t offer young people something better,” Bernstein said.

That youth was eventually transferred to Red Clover, a temporarily locked four-bed facility DCF opened in Middlesex last year.

More from Vermont Public: Temporary facility for justice-involved youth could open by September, but hurdles remain

Since it opened, Red Clover has been full 57% of time and the average length of stay is about 41 days, according to the office of the youth, child and family advocate.

Deputy Defender General Marshall Pahl said he’s generally been pleased with the conditions at Red Clover, but he’s concerned about how long youth are being held there.

“It’s a temporary detention facility,” Pahl said. “As we start using it for holding kids for weeks instead of days, or months instead of weeks, all of a sudden it’s really an inappropriate facility.”

DCF officials did not agree to an interview, but in a written statement said that a situation like a youth being held for an extended period of time in an adult prison highlights the need for a new locked youth facility in Vermont.

Objections remain to the state’s plans, however. Bernstein, the child, youth and family advocate, said a 15-bed facility is too big for the state, pointing to Red Clover’s utilization data.

“I think it pretty strongly indicates that we should pause,” he said. “We should slow down a little if we’re talking about building a brand new 15-bed facility from scratch.”

Bernstein said the state should prioritize community-based programs for kids — ones that keep them out of locked facilities.