The White River Valley Herald

Boom For Hunting, Fishing

More Licenses Sold During Pandemic Year


Ken Libby, at left, and others stop by Middle Branch Market and Deli to review the list of more than 100 deer that have been reported during this year’s hunting season so far. Middle Branch is one of the few remaining reporting stations that publicly post large, physical lists during hunting season, with many other locations simply logging them into the state’s online database. (Herald / Dylan Kelley)

Ken Libby, at left, and others stop by Middle Branch Market and Deli to review the list of more than 100 deer that have been reported during this year’s hunting season so far. Middle Branch is one of the few remaining reporting stations that publicly post large, physical lists during hunting season, with many other locations simply logging them into the state’s online database. (Herald / Dylan Kelley)

According to numbers provided by the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife, 2020 has been a banner year for Vermonters engaging in hunting and fishing activities.

With double-digit spikes in a variety of license sales categories, the department attributes the increased participation to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, citing a range of factors that have led more Vermonters to head for the woods and streams.

“These are activities that people do when they have time and, unfortunately, a number of people are out of work,” said Porter. “We wish that weren’t the case, but it does result in time for people to hunt and fish.”

But Porter also noted that the stress-inducing affects of the pandemic itself have also played a role in the increased combination hunting- and fishing-license sales, which have risen by 14% to their highest levels in five years.

“It’s a stressful and scary time right now and…we’ve seen people turn to nature in all kinds of different ways,” he said as he pointed to many of the state’s outdoor-friendly social distancing guidelines.

“The issues with supply chains have renewed interest for some people in getting their own food,” he added, “and of course these are great ways for people to get local, organic, chemical-free meats.” While rifle season is arguably the best-known deer season, the state has also seen a 39% increase in archery licenses (a 20-year high), a 21% increase in turkey-hunting tag sales, and a 24% increase in early bear tag sales—the highest since that category was created in 2013.

Bucking Up

Dillon Dudley, who runs the big-game reporting station at The Hardware in Rochester, said the 2020 season has been a mixed bag characterized by new hunting regulations, a difficult-to-predict local deer herd, and increased license sales “across the board.”

“As a hunter myself, it’s been a difficult year hunting because there’s not a lot of feed out there,” he said, noting a shortage of apples, beechnuts, and edible acorns.

“Because of the drought this summer and how dry it was, nothing really produced— so it’s a lot harder to pattern [the deer] because they’re not coming in to the feed.”

Dudley also noted that some hunters had bagged especially large bucks this year.

“I think one of the heaviest deer was 220 pounds,” he said, noting that the station’s scale could barely raise the “very long deer” entirely off the ground.

One of the most notable aspects of the 2020 deer season, Dudley said, was the new and more restrictive bag limits that carried across archery, rifle, and muzzleloader seasons.

“If you got a buck during rifle season, then you’re all done unless you’ve got a doe tag for muzzleloader [season],” he explained, noting that the old regulations allowed up to three bucks per hunter to be harvested during a given calendar year.

“I know a lot of people that didn’t get to hunt rifle because they saw a really nice buck during archery, so they had to take it.”

But even with the restrictive rules, Dudley said that a typical number of deer—19 during rifle season and three during archery season—had been reported at The Hardware, along with about 15 black bears that had been taken from the cornfields south of town.

Noting that he had yet to bag a deer for himself this year, Dudley said he’d be using the remaining few days of black powder season, which ends on Sunday, to get this winter’s share of venison from Rochester’s North Hollow.

Roxbury Fish Hatchery Re-Opens

In addition to issuing a greater number of hunting and fishing license, 2020 also marks another milestone for Vermont F&W: the reopening of the Roxbury Fish Hatchery.

Heavily damaged during Tropical Storm Irene, the hatchery had been undergoing a lengthy $6 million process of repairing and rebuilding.

“It’s been a large, complicated project—which is one of the reasons it’s taken seven-plus years to come to completion,” said the hatchery’s managing supervisor, Fish Culture Specialist Jeremy Whalen. “Tropical Storm Irene flooded the facility in August of 2011—we were completely flooded out.”

Since then, the facility has seen a range of upgrades to its tanks, pumping systems, and water treatment systems, Whalen said, noting that it’ll soon be back to producing up to 25,000 pounds of brook and rainbow trout each year—all of which are destined for ponds and mountain streams such as Sunset Lake in Brookfield and the First Branch in Chelsea and Tunbridge.

“This facility was built in 1891 and we went from a horse-and-buggy type facility of the 1800s to the motor vehicle-type facility of the 20th century,” he explained as he applauded the support of Gov. Phil Scott, FEMA, and the state legislature.

“I think the final product is something the department is really proud of. It’s a good looking facility that fits in with the historic facilities really well.”

With any luck, Whalen said he hopes to welcome members of the public to the facility as soon as next year.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “Hopefully, depending on how the coronavirus shakes out through this winter, we’re hoping to welcome visitors back on the grounds next spring.”