Changes to Maine’s deer permit system require hunters to have a big game license in hand to enter the drawing for an antlerless deer permit. The online system run by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife can now verify the status of hunting licenses. Gabe Souza file photo

AUGUSTA — With only a few days remaining for hunters to apply for Maine’s 2024 antlerless deer permit lottery, a tweak to the way the state system operates might catch some people by surprise.

Hunters need to have already purchased a current big game license, which state officials are now able to cross-check online.

“We have had a few calls about this, but overall, it has been running smoothly,” said Mark Latti, spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. “No changes in the laws or application process, but we are now just verifying that people have a license.”

The deadline for hunters to apply for an antlerless deer permit is 11:59 p.m. Thursday.

In past years, the online system run by IF&W has not been able to verify immediately whether a hunter applying for the lottery had a current big game license. That meant hunters could use their license number from the past season to apply for the lottery.

Now, however, the online system is able to verify immediately if a person has a current big game license when he or she applies for an antlerless deer permit.

That means for this year’s lottery, hunters will not be able to procrastinate to get their license in a few months. They will need to have their 2024 big game license in hand when entering the Maine any-deer permit lottery.

The lottery, which is part of IF&W’s management initiatives to lower deer densities in more urban areas of the state, is a randomized computer drawing. It is based on the state’s geographic wildlife management districts, with applicants most likely to be successful in southern and central Maine.

Last year, the state issued about 108,000 permits for hunters to shoot does or antlerless bucks. The permit system dates to 1985, Latti said, and the state revamped the system two years ago, switching to a “true antlerless permit system.”

There is no fee to apply to the antlerless deer permit lottery, which is scheduled to release results Aug. 15. If a hunter receives a permit, he or she must pay a $12 permit fee and $2 agent fee to claim the permit by Sept. 12. Then, beginning Sept. 17, extra antlerless deer permits not issued through the lottery will be available for purchase on the IF&W website on a first-come, first-served basis.

State officials said proceeds from the antlerless deer permit fees help fund the purchase and management of deer wintering areas, primarily in northern Maine, which are critical habitat for white-tailed deer living at the northern end of their range.