Nick Fortin is a deer and moose project leader at the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. He demonstrated how he tracks deer through the woods of Ferdinand on December 08, 2023. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department estimates that hunters in Vermont harvested more than 17,200 deer during fall 2024 — but the final tally won’t be released until March.
That translates to roughly 3.4 million servings of venison, according to a Monday press release from the department.
The buck harvest tally is expected to decline slightly in 2024, with hunters taking an estimated 9,200 bucks compared with 9,848 in 2023, and an average of around 9,500 in the previous three years. Officials attributed the drop to a slower November hunting season, which was down 10% from the previous year, according to the release.
Although the department relies on hunting data to assess the deer population, Nick Fortin, the department’s head deer biologist, said he wouldn’t conclude that the population is declining.
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“The change from one year to the next really doesn’t mean a whole lot,” Fortin said. “It’s the longer-term trends that will be important.”
Fortin said climate-related changes are playing a role in shaping deer populations and influencing hunting results. However, he emphasized that the decline in the buck harvest was likely driven by a combination of factors, with milder winter temperature only being one of them.
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byEmma Cotton
One other factor is that this year, the department prioritized harvesting more antlerless deer, issuing more permits than previous years. The total of harvested antlerless deer, a group primarily composed of females, is expected to reach around 8,000 — an increase from the previous three-year average of 7,188.
The reason for that change: “We’re just trying to control deer numbers in response to those milder winters,” Fortin said, adding that mild winters are good for deer as they have better food availability.
A man died Saturday after falling while skiing at Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vt., officials said.
The man fell and slid into a wooded area while skiing Stein’s Run, a double-black diamond trail on Lincoln Peak, Vermont State Police said in a statement.
The double-black diamond rating is the highest difficulty designation in skiing, according to the National Ski Areas Association.
The man was found unresponsive by ski patrol members and was brought to an ambulance at the base of the mountain, police said. He was pronounced dead due to his injuries, according to the statement.
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The man’s name was not released pending notification of his family, officials said.
Police said the death did not appear suspicious. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington, Vt., will condut an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.
No further information was immediately released.
Collin Robisheaux can be reached at collin.robisheaux@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @ColRobisheaux.
WARREN, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont State Police are investigating the death of a skier at Sugarbush Resort.
Police were notified at about 3:26 p.m. Saturday that a skier had died following a fall on Stein’s Run at Sugarbush Lincoln Peak.
The male victim fell and slid into a wooded area off the trail, according to police.
Ski patrol members found the man unresponsive and brought him to the base of the mountain, where they were met by the Mad River Valley Ambulance. The victim was pronounced dead due to his injuries.
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Police say the death does not appear suspicious. An autopsy will be performed at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington to determine the cause and manner of death.
The victim’s name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Thousands of Vermonters took to the streets Saturday, condemning the actions and policies of President Donald Trump in peaceful protests at dozens of locations.
They lined up on Main Street in Newport and on Creamery Row in Hardwick, on the village green in Fair Haven and in towns from Burlington to Brattleboro. In all, around 50 “No Kings” demonstrations were held.
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Castleton resident Robert Revell came to Rutland Saturday to show his anger at the Trump Administration. “We have a war that we’re not supposed to be in, we have a president who does nothing but lie… I am just fed up,” said Revell.
Castleton resident Robert Revell stood along Route 7 in Rutland with hundreds of others.
“I’m just so angry,” said Revell, who held a three dimensional sign that incorporated a blow-up planet Earth with words below that read “Mother DEMANDS NO kings, no pedos and no liars.”
“We have a war that we’re not supposed to be in, we have a president who does nothing but lie,” he said. “I am just fed up. I’m 73 in a couple weeks and I lived through the Nixon thing and I’m just here to protest and share my heart.”
Around him, throngs of people, many in costume, lined several blocks along Route 7 waving flags and handmade signs. Some rang cow bells or thumped tambourines. Many passing motorists responded with staccato horn blasts.
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Nationwide, more than 3,000 protests were planned for Saturday in large cities and small towns. They have been organized by national and local groups, including well-known progressive coalitions such as Indivisible, 50501 and MoveOn.
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Hannah Abrams, of Mendon (in blue jacket) was among hundreds of protestors who stood along route seven in Rutland Saturday. This was her third NoKings protest. “I’m not tired of protesting,” she said, “but I’m really tired of the current administration.”
“For me, it boils down to the cruelty I’m seeing in the world right now,” said Hannah Abrams, of Mendon. “I think that our president instills a lot of cruelty among the people he doesn’t like. And actually for the people who do vote for him too, because they’re not any better off with him in office.”
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“There are a lot of people who say this is not America,” Abrams added. “And I would like to say, it’s exactly America, it’s just targeting different people now … Sadly, this is not new.”
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Stephanie Brush and her 89-year-old mother Mary Jane Demko (in wheelchair) of Rutland Town came out to protest President Trump on Saturday in Rutland. Said Denko, “I couldn’t stay in, he’s too evil.”
Mary Jane Demko, 89, of Rutland, showed up to her local protest in a wheelchair driven by her daughter, Stephanie Brush. Demko carried a sign on her lap that read “IMPEACH THE SOB!”
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“I couldn’t stay in and not be part of this,” Demko said. “He’s too evil.”
Karen Lorentz of Shrewsbury said she too couldn’t stay away. At 80, she said Saturday’s event in Rutland was her first protest. She held a handmade sign she said a friend had helped her make.
“I’m really old and when the Vietnam War was on I was a new teacher and I didn’t have time,” she said. “But I felt strongly that I needed to be here today.”
