Antlerless deer tag

Buy a surplus Antlerless Deer Permit

Surplus Antlerless Deer Permits for zones 10, 11, 13, & 14 have no daily or season purchase limit and go on sale Sept. 26. A limited number of permits for zones 3, 7, 9, and 12 will go on sale on a first come, first served basis on Sept. 27 at 9 a.m.
www.mass.gov www.mass.gov

Surplus antlerless starting on sale tomorrow.

Sep 28 is the day the limited ones go on sale.
 
ddeck22 said:

Buy a surplus Antlerless Deer Permit

Surplus Antlerless Deer Permits for zones 10, 11, 13, & 14 have no daily or season purchase limit and go on sale Sept. 26. A limited number of permits for zones 3, 7, 9, and 12 will go on sale on a first come, first served basis on Sept. 27 at 9 a.m.
www.mass.gov www.mass.gov

Surplus antlerless starting on sale tomorrow.

Sep 28 is the day the limited ones go on sale.
Click to expand...
nice to know I dont have to rush to get zone 11 tags this year
 
Seems like a lot of zone 9 tags this year they usually sell out pretty quick. Also I travel around zone 9 a lot from north to south I don't see a huge influx of deer but hey what do I know
 
Mark from MA said:
Now that its unlimited on the mainland, a lot of people aren't going to buy them until they kill a doe.

That includes people in Zones 1-9, who will just buy a zone 10 when they kill a doe in Zones 1-9.
Click to expand...
I am sure has been happening for years but now is even easier to do with electronic check in. I wish EPO's would do a little more work on stopping guys shooting doe's in zone 8 with 13 tags
 
Sparkey said:
I am sure has been happening for years but now is even easier to do with electronic check in. I wish EPO's would do a little more work on stopping guys shooting doe's in zone 8 with 13 tags
Click to expand...
Exactly my point....they couldn't stop it when people were buying island tags, now with mainland tags forget it. Unenforceable.
 
Sparkey said:
Seems like a lot of zone 9 tags this year they usually sell out pretty quick. Also I travel around zone 9 a lot from north to south I don't see a huge influx of deer but hey what do I know
Click to expand...
You know just as much as the F&W.....which is they shouldn't be giving out doe permits. Because there is no "huge" influx.

I travel thru zone 9 all the time, by a bunch of fields, at dusk or dawn and......I saw 2 deer all year in Zone 9 from the road. Massive population problem obviously.....

but at least the insurance companies won't have to payout car strikes when there are none left.
 
I used to buy three or more tags per year for antlerless but only one this year and from now on. No sense in buying extra tags if I can just buy them on demand as needed. I will still buy at least one though. I'm not going to be the person who buys it after he shoots the doe.
 
skiro98 said:
Gotta love the state. They say they go on sale at 9:00.
Good thing I logged on early - zone 9 went on sale at 8:56.
Click to expand...

Luckily I logged in at 8:30 to see how the new format was going to work for the surplus tags as I wanted a zone 3 and there weren’t a lot of surplus tags for that zone and I figured that the new system would likely have some glitches. Generally the government doesn’t do technology well. I’m glad that I did.

I saw them available at 8:45. My zone 3 tag sale was completed at 8:46 AM

Receipt for Sale #XXXxX
09/28/2022 08:46 AM EDT


Mark from MA said:
Exactly my point....they couldn't stop it when people were buying island tags, now with mainland tags forget it. Unenforceable.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. That’s why I jokingly refer to them as any zone tags.

The current system makes it to easy to get away with it. I would love to go back to physical single use tags of the past. The plasticized tags Connecticut used to use were terrific.

At the end of the day the honest/ethical hunters follow the rules and the poachers are going to poach. It’s no different than locks keeping honest people honest
 
Mark from MA said:
You know just as much as the F&W.....which is they shouldn't be giving out doe permits. Because there is no "huge" influx.

I travel thru zone 9 all the time, by a bunch of fields, at dusk or dawn and......I saw 2 deer all year in Zone 9 from the road. Massive population problem obviously.....

but at least the insurance companies won't have to payout car strikes when there are none left.
Click to expand...
Zone 9 near Harvard. 7:20 am last week on a Friday. I’ve seen a lot this year. Not saying unlimited is justified, simply indicating i’ve seen a few. I counted 8 when i stopped.
 

Attachments

  • AAB50A07-99F1-4668-A0BB-5AD72AAD4BEF.jpeg
    AAB50A07-99F1-4668-A0BB-5AD72AAD4BEF.jpeg
    584.7 KB · Views: 17
ddeck22 said:
Zone 9 near Harvard. 7:20 am last week on a Friday. I’ve seen a lot this year. Not saying unlimited is justified, simply indicating i’ve seen a few. I counted 8 when i stopped.
Click to expand...
There in lies the rub. Zone 9 also goes out to Princeton........ Massive difference in the population between Harvard and Princeton...because there is very little land to hunt in Harvard, and there are a lot of big lots where libs don't allow hunting. I'm not even sure if the town allows hunting without written permission

I'm sure there are pockets of deer in the east in a lot of places.....Im really not against permits there. Honestly, unless they get rid of the setback laws, they will always have a problem, giving out unlimited doe permits or not. But if a town has a lot of open state land, the state shouldnt be giving out permits willy nilly. Because those state lands and more hunter friendly areas get absolutely killed the opposite way.......

I'd more they manage population by state area or state land......like a lot of other states do. In other words.....say Barre Falls Dam......give out only so many doe permits for that area....if there are very few deer...give out none. Have only one buck permit....why do we have 2? Most states only allow one. Antler restrictions? WTF?

The other thing the state does not do is fly over counts in the winter......absolutely needed for proper deer counts.

All in all, their focus is very low population goals related to insurance companies not paying claims. They never focus on hunting quality. Evidenced by what they do to the Watchusett and Quabbin watershed deer population during controlled hunts. Kill them all.....now the places suck. But those places WERE good sanctuary for all the public lands around them that were hunted.
Now you have no sanctuary.........but the same amount of hunting pressure around it. Guess what.....now it all sucks.

People that don't hunt other states like midwest, PA, and others that have antler restrictions and restrictive doe permits where needed....will never understand what quality is. People from MA see a few deer and get all excited and say wow...theres a lot of deer here. No...there aren't.

A lot of deer is seeing 10 during a sit.
Seeing deer every time you take a drive along a country road early AM or PM.
Alot of does....is being able to shoot one a day if you feel like it....or not.
A lot of does......is not buying as many permits as your wallet will allow, then working your ass off and killing one doe and eating the other tags thru 3 months of seasons.

MA is good at keeping population low for insurance reasons....and selling as many doe permits as the idiots will buy.
 
Last edited:
I have never agreed with people getting 3, 4, 5 or more surplus permits in limited draw zones like 9. I hunt in zone 7, I got my one doe tag there and I am good. I didnt even try to get an extra doe tag. If I need another doe I will go to CT.
I think everyone who wants one should get one. Then if they want another they should have to earn it. Meaning if you shoot a doe in a zone and there are still tags available you are then eligible to get another tag. That way they get the extra tags the hands of the people who actually kill deer. Remember the success rate in this state is only about 12% This would be far superior to how mass now allows guys to buy multiple tags in a tag limited zone while others go with out one. People are greedy selfish illogical bastards and most of those with multiple tags still have those tags on Jan 1st every single year. It is flat out stupid if it is not just a money grab.
 
arlow said:
I have never agreed with people getting 3, 4, 5 or more surplus permits in limited draw zones like 9. I hunt in zone 7, I got my one doe tag there and I am good. I didnt even try to get an extra doe tag. If I need another doe I will go to CT.
I think everyone who wants one should get one. Then if they want another they should have to earn it. Meaning if you shoot a doe in a zone and there are still tags available you are then eligible to get another tag. That way they get the extra tags the hands of the people who actually kill deer. Remember the success rate in this state is only about 12% This would be far superior to how mass now allows guys to buy multiple tags in a tag limited zone while others go with out one. People are greedy selfish illogical bastards and most of those with multiple tags still have those tags on Jan 1st every single year. It is flat out stupid if it is not just a money grab.
Click to expand...

That’s exactly what it is. A flat out money grab. They don’t care about deer hunters or critters.
 
I didn't even bother with guying surplus tags this year. Last year I didn't hunt a single day in mass just stuck with nh and filled my freezer. Figured my chances of hunting deer in MA this year are low I'll let the other guys have the extra zone 9 tags vs buy one and probably not even hunt ma.

I like how the nh system works. You get one tag on your fire arm license and they have "any deer" and "antlered only" days depending on what zone your hunting. Zones that they want the population down have more "any deer" days and they sell antlerless permits for those zones.
 
whacko said:
I didn't even bother with guying surplus tags this year. Last year I didn't hunt a single day in mass just stuck with nh and filled my freezer. Figured my chances of hunting deer in MA this year are low I'll let the other guys have the extra zone 9 tags vs buy one and probably not even hunt ma.

I like how the nh system works. You get one tag on your fire arm license and they have "any deer" and "antlered only" days depending on what zone your hunting. Zones that they want the population down have more "any deer" days and they sell antlerless permits for those zones.
Click to expand...
I do like how they do that for firearms season. And only one deer tag. Shoot your doe if you want, but it'll be the only deer you can shoot with a rifle. I like that....many guys will let the does pass if that is the case.

Extras are in zones that definately need pop reduction.

And up north.....buck only, no does. One a year, because the population is low.
 
I live in Hamilton (zone 10) and I can’t go a day without seeing at least 5-10 deer. Went for an hour long walk in the Boxford woods last week and snuck up on 3 separate deer (and a fisher). No shortage of deer here at all
 
Dcdr said:
I live in Hamilton (zone 10) and I can’t go a day without seeing at least 5-10 deer. Went for an hour long walk in the Boxford woods last week and snuck up on 3 separate deer (and a fisher). No shortage of deer here at all
Click to expand...
Boxford state forest??
 
What are you guys talking about? I got two deer so far. Going to get number three tomorrow. I can get four more if I'm willing to go east. Then I have tags for two elk. Oh, forgot. You guys are still in Mass 😝

Well, at least you guys have a lot of turkeys.
 
Dcdr said:
I live in Hamilton (zone 10) and I can’t go a day without seeing at least 5-10 deer. Went for an hour long walk in the Boxford woods last week and snuck up on 3 separate deer (and a fisher). No shortage of deer here at all
Click to expand...
I don't think anyone was saying there was a shortage out there.....Question is....can you hunt there? Or anywhere near there at all? If you can't, what's the point of giving out all the doe permits?

Come out to Zone 5.....your lucky to see a deer in a week, or if just driving around...6 months. But you can hunt anywhere....so there's that, you just see nothing.

Again....I'm all for permits in Zones like 10 that are high if theres land to hunt them in, but there isn't and that's the only reason there are a lot of deer there, not because MA manages them that well. If they managed them well there would be a lot of deer statewide i areas you can hunt, and no deer where urban areas are because they become a nuisance.
 

Similar threads

Deer Tallow Soap
Replies
5
Views
338
HorizontalHunter
HorizontalHunter
Surplus Antlerless Deer Permits MA
Replies
29
Views
828
arlow
arlow
MA deer shotgun season
2 3 4
Replies
117
Views
4K
arlow
arlow
Deer camp starts tomorrow
Replies
16
Views
762
Woodsloafer
W
Antlerless deer tag in MA, apply before July 16
2
Replies
31
Views
894
DJBrad
DJBrad
Back
Top Bottom