Frequently Asked Questions: Deer Hunting in Maine
 What are Maine's legal hunting hours?
Maine's legal hunting hours are one ½ hour before sunrise and one ½ hour after sunset based on sunrise/sunset in Bangor, Maine (Eastern Standard Time (EST)). Legal hunting hours are to be used statewide and cannot be adjusted based on local time.
NOTE: Hunters pursuing migratory game birds, such as ducks and Canada geese, must follow the legal shooting hours for migratory game birds which are one ½ hour before sunrise to sunset (sunrise and sunset are based on Bangor, Maine EST) .
Hunters may have recently seen misinformation regarding Maine's legal hunting hours being shared or discussed on social media. Please reference Maine's hunting laws and rules rather than accepting information from groups or forums on social media.
How many bucks can I harvest?
Only one antlered deer may be harvested annually.
A hunter may only harvest two antlered deer if they harvest one under their expanded archery authority (in an expanded archery zone with an archery license and expanded archery permit) and the other during the regular archery, firearms, or muzzleloader season.
How many antlerless deer can I harvest?
Firearms hunters can harvest as many antlerless deer as they have antlerless deer permits. As of November 5, 2024, a hunter may have up to three total antlerless deer permits. See exceptions below for those who harvested deer during the expanded archery season, regular archery season, or during youth hunting days:
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Expanded archery hunters: Expanded archery hunters may harvest as many antlerless deer as they have purchased expanded archery antlerless permits for, but only within expanded archery areas.
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Regular archery hunters (Excluding expanded archery hunters in expanded archery areas): If an archery hunter harvested an antlered or antlerless deer during the regular October archery season without using an antlerless deer permit, they are prohibited from taking additional deer. However, if they harvested an antlerless deer and used an antlerless deer permit(s), they may still harvest an antlered deer.
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Junior hunters (Excluding expanded archery hunters in expanded archery areas): If a junior hunter harvested an antlered deer on Youth Deer Hunting Day(s), they are prohibited from harvesting additional deer unless they have antlerless deer permits. If a junior hunter harvested an antlerless deer without an antlerless deer permit on Youth Deer Hunting Day(s), they are prohibited from harvesting an antlered deer or additional antlerless deer unless they have antlerless deer permits.
Have another question?
Please review Maine's hunting laws and rules online.
Permits are still available for purchase in WMDs 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 29
Purchase an antlerless deer permit online today! Hunters may purchase two extra antlerless deer permits online. If a hunter acquired an antlerless deer permit through the lottery, they could purchase more permits for a total of three antlerless deer permits.
Starting November 12 at 9:30am, hunters will have the opportunity to purchase a third extra antlerless deer permit online (if a hunter acquired an antlerless deer permit through the lottery, they could have a total of four antlerless deer permits).
Have you purchased a permit through the lottery, but can't remember your permit number or information?
You can look up your permit using the Purchased Permit Lookup.
Always Be a Good Land User
Always ask permission before hunting on private property and learn what matters most to the landowner. Keep it clean, legal, and respectful. Don't forget to label all treestands and game cameras with your contact information, and ask for permission before putting them on private property (game cameras require written permission). It is up to us, today's hunters, to help maintain access for generations to come.
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