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January 22, 2001

Preliminary Harvest Estimates for 2000 Six-Day Firearm "Buck" Season

For more information contact:
Al Ivany, NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife, 908-637-4125

Preliminary harvest estimates were developed for the 2000 six-day firearm or "buck" season. A total of 13,252 antlered deer were harvested during the six-day season. This year's harvest represents a 22.2 percent increase over the 1999 total of 10,848 deer. The average six-day firearm season total for the past five years was 11,558 deer.

6-day Firearm Graph

Firearm hunters throughout the state shared in the excellent results, with all but five major counties registering increased harvests over last year. County totals revealed that Hunterdon County (2,179 deer) ranked number one in terms of antlered deer harvested, followed by Warren (1,824), Sussex (1,730), and Burlington (1,422) counties. The six-day harvest declined in Cape May (down 7%), Gloucester (down 9%), Morris (down 3%), Passaic (down 28%) and Salem Counties (down 13%). Reductions in all but Cape May county can be attributed to the Quality Deer Management program, which limited the antlered harvest to bucks with at least three points on one antler. The reduction in Cape May County is believed to be a result of a decreased deer population in that area. For the past several years the Division has endeavored to reduce deer numbers in the county at the request of the agricultural community.

The exceptional results of this year's season are attributable to several factors including higher survival of adult males in earn-a-buck zones and excellent hunting conditions on the opening day and throughout the six-day season. Last year, nearly one-third fewer bucks were taken during all six deer seasons in earn-a-buck zones. Those bucks were one year older this year and have been available to bow, shotgun and muzzleloader deer hunters. The 2000 six-day firearm harvest increased 22 percent statewide or 2,404 antlered bucks. A majority of the increased harvest took place in earn-a-buck zones, with 1,517 additional bucks taken or a 31 percent increase over last year. Although earn-a-buck has been unpopular with some sportsmen the benefits of the program are already evident. The program has proven to be effective by allowing more bucks to survive to older age classes while increasing antlerless deer harvests. All deer hunters have benefited from more and bigger bucks, while the agricultural community has benefited by reduced numbers of deer and associated damage.

The traditional six-day firearm buck season is primarily a recreational season, however it also represents about 15 percent of the annual reduction in New Jersey's deer population. The recreational, economic and traditional values of the season are of great importance to New Jersey sportsmen and women who generally enjoy approximately 320,000 hunter-days of recreation during the entire six-day season. During all six deer seasons hunters spend over $100 million as they enjoy in excess of 1.4 million recreation days hunting deer.

The tradition of buck hunting dates back to the first "bucks-only" season in the year 1909. In 1909 an estimated 62,000 deer hunters harvested a total of 86 antlered bucks. The tradition of this season includes taking only antlered bucks. The other five deer seasons in New Jersey provide for the taking of female deer and play a bigger role in controlling or reducing deer populations. This year's regulations provide for taking antlerless deer during all 124 days of deer hunting in areas with high deer populations and where deer populations are targeted for rapid reductions. For example, permit muzzleloader and permit shotgun hunters were authorized to take antlerless deer throughout the six-day firearm season in over half of the State. Estimates of the number of deer taken during the permit shotgun, permit muzzleloader and permit bow seasons will be available in late January.

Preliminary Harvest Estimate for the Entire Season by County

County Preliminary
2000 harvest 		1999
Harvest
Atlantic 708 691
Bergen 9 8
Burlington 1,422 928
Camden 176 152
Cape May 204 220
Cumberland 663 611
Essex 10 12
Gloucester 333 367
Hudson 0 0
Hunterdon 2,179 1,578
Mercer 381 304
Middlesex 248 222
Monmouth 622 518
Morris 663 680
Ocean 901 650
Passaic 99 137
Salem 391 448
Somerset 689 547
Sussex 1,730 1,415
Union 0 4
Warren 1,824 1,356
Total 13,252 10,848

Preliminary Harvest Estimate for the Entire Season by Zone

Deer
Management
Zone		 Preliminary
2000
Harvest 		1999
Harvest
1 302 238
2 679 540
3 142 208
4 263 218
5 1,334 1,037
6 187 293
7 575 393
8 1,221 906
9 143 183
10 810 545
11 399 313
12 772 535
13 164 146
14 388 326
15 276 209
16 316 257
17 231 181
18 209 167
19 319 313
21 455 257
22 110 98
23 467 256
24 244 141
25 241 213
26 422 371
27 112 195
28 226 162
29 113 137
30 118 73
31 71 55

33

27 55
34 240 277
35 187 232
36 35 25
37 22 9
38 no season no season
39 45 32
40 no season no season
41 255 189

42

33 30
43 104 116
45 130 136
46 158 144
47 61 51
48 204 168
49 26 22
50 166 175
51 82 54
52 19 8
53 8 5
54 12 16
55 25 23
56 no season no season
57 no season no season
58 no season no season
59 no season no season
60 no season no season
61 0 2
63 32 41
64 no season no season
65 72 72
66 no season no season
67 no season no season
Total 13,252 10,848