FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
MV HUNT CLUB
WHAT IS THE MV HUNT CLUB?
The MV Hunt Club is an organization based on Martha’s Vineyard whose mission is to provide the bowhunting community with accessible hunting land to provide the best chances of success. Through a program of outreach and continuing education, we seek to expand, educate, and nurture the local bowhunting community in hopes to promote ethical and sustainable hunting activities on Martha’s Vineyard. We work closely with several organizations and agencies including: The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, Massachusetts Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, the Massachusetts Environmental Police, The Island Grown Initiative, The Nature Conservancy, Sheriffs Meadow Foundation, Spring Point Association, and local and state biologists. We aid in efforts to monitor and report illegal activities, provide hunting access, to further the knowledge and understanding of local deer and tick populations, and to provide the local community with fresh and healthy venison meat through the deer donation program orchestrated by The Island Grown Initiative. Also worth mentioning, two of our officers (Brian Welch—Vice President, and Joe Capece —President) instructed the bow hunter safety portion of the state mandated Basic Hunter Education Course in the spring of 2023 and have been invited by the state to become certified instructors to not only assist with teaching Basic Hunter Education on the island, but to also teach the state accredited Bowhunter Education course, which has never been offered on Martha’s Vineyard.
ARE THERE ANY “NATURAL” PREDATORS OF DEER ON MARTHA’S VINEYARD?
Over the past few years, coyote have begun showing up on Martha’s Vineyard and these predators do prey on fawns. Martha’s Vineyard does not contain enough coyote to significantly impact our resident deer populations. Radio collar studies in the Northeast found that predators (black bears, coyotes, and bobcats combined) take about 20-40% of the fawns each year. When predator levels dropped, other mortality (vehicle collisions, natural mortality, etc) tended to make up for it. Regardless of high or low predator levels, about 40-50% of the fawns will not survive each year. In these studies, even though almost half the fawns died, the deer populations were still growing.
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY DEER AND ON MY PROPERTY?
With no “natural” predators of white-tailed deer on Martha’s Vineyard, overpopulation of the species leads to food shortages and causes deer to wander into neighborhoods and gardens. With increasing development, habitat loss and fragmentation are currently the main causes of spreading and concentrating deer populations. State biologists generally consider 6-8 deer per square mile a healthy herd density. Many populations on the island hover between 45 and 55 deer per square mile, with some populations approaching or exceeding 100 deer per square mile.
WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEER AND TICKS ON MARTHA’S VINEYARD?
Deer are large mammals that can provide a meal for thousands of ticks on a single deer (one adult female deer tick can lay as many as 3,000 eggs.) This creates the perfect environment for ticks to mate, lay eggs, and complete the last stage of the tick life cycle as an adult. Adult deer ticks need a blood meal before laying eggs and most often this is achieved by feeding on deer.
WHAT TICK-BORNE ILLNESSES ARE DEER BRINGING TO MY PROPERTY?
White-tailed deer serve as the primary host for the adult blacklegged tick, the vector for Lyme disease, human babesiosis, tularemia, and anaplasmosis. Moreover, deer ticks can be co-infected with many diseases at one time. Current research conducted by the Northeast Wildlife DNA Laboratory has identified 49% of ticks carry more than one infection. Those with pets that travel between indoors and outdoors are especially at risk.
WHAT IS ALPHA-GAL SYNDROME (AGS)?
The Lone Star Tick, a recent inhabitant on Martha’s Vineyard and now very prevalent, is mainly responsible for spreading Alpha-Gal Syndrome. AGS is a serious, potentially life-threatening allergic condition. AGS is also called alpha-gal allergy, red meat allergy, or tick bite meat allergy. AGS symptoms occur after people eat red meat or are exposed to other products containing alpha-gal.
HAVE ANY STUDIES BEEN DONE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEER AND TICKS?
An extensive study was completed in one Connecticut community over a 13 year period. The number of resident-reported cases of Lyme disease determined that Lyme disease was strongly correlated to deer density in the community. Reducing the deer density to 5.1 deer per square kilometer resulted in a 76% reduction in tick abundance and an 80% reduction in resident-reported cases of Lyme disease in the community.
According to another study in Connecticut, deer-targeted interventions provided a large-scale method for controlling tick populations. A community survey identified a large decrease in Lyme Disease cases one year after the initial hunt. Computer simulations suggested that reducing deer density to 7.5 deer per square kilometer could decrease infected nymphal tick density by 40% within four years, while near elimination of deer is needed to lower infected nymphal tick density by >99%.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3072871/
On Monhegan Island, a small island off the coast of Maine, the deer herd was eliminated between November 1996 and March 1999. The initial deer density was calculated as 45 deer per suare kilometer. Three years after deer elimination, adult ticks were rare and nymphs and larvae were not encountered altogether.
WHY SHOULD WE ALLOW HUNTING ON OUR PROPERTY?
Large tracts of land once accessible by the hunting community are no longer accessible leading to an increase in trespassing on private lands by the less-considerate members of the hunting community. On Martha’s Vineyard, effective hunting methods are SEVERELY restricted by limited access to private property, firearm discharge setbacks, land closures, or town by-laws requiring written permission. Not enough deer are removed from the population to stabilize or reduce deer numbers. Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are the only wildlife management zones in the state that allow an unlimited amount of antlerless deer to be harvested.
WHAT IS THE DEER DONATION PROGRAM?
The Deer Donation Program was formed to reduce the incidences of tick-borne illness on Martha’s Vineyard. The prevention program (MV Tick Program) also aligns with Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society’s aim to reduce the number of deer on the island through culling. Many families on Martha’s Vineyard suffer from food insecurity. Under the Deer Donation Program, anyone can donate a legally harvested female deer to help feed the hungry in the area. In the 2022 season, hunters donated 22 deer which provided over 600 pounds of meat. The meat is distributed to families in need across the island.
WHEN IS DEER SEASON?
Hunting on Sundays is illegal in Massachusetts; with the 2023 Archery Season running from October 2 – November 25, Shotgun Season running November 27 – December 9, and Primitive Firearms Season running from December 11 – December 30, 2023. Archery equipment is allowed through ALL hunting seasons.
WHEN WOULD I EXPECT TO SEE HUNTERS ON MY PROPERTY?
Deer are crepuscular, which means that they are most active during dawn and dusk. Our hunters capitalize on this by hunting most often at sunrise and sunset. Legal hunting hours begin ½ hour before sunrise and ½ hour after sunset, with hunters getting into their tree stands typically one hour before sunrise and two or three hours before sunset. Deer have relatively poor vision but are very adept at sensing movement. Experienced hunters move into and out of their tree stands very slowly and quietly.
WHERE WOULD I EXPECT TO SEE HUNTERS ON MY PROPERTY?
Unless a hunter is set up close to the house, most occupants will never see us. The best places for us to set up our tree stands are between deer bedding and feeding areas. Bedding areas are typically dense and it’s where the deer spend most of their time during daylight hours. During morning hunts, deer are returning to bedding areas from feeding all night; during afternoon hunts, they are arising from bedding areas and traveling to feeding areas. Seasoned hunters do not hunt next to bedding areas because the deer get wise very quickly and will relocate their bedding areas altogether. Setting up along travel routes affords hunters the greatest opportunity to catch them off-guard.
WHAT IS “THE RUT” & WHEN DOES IT OCCUR?
The rut a term used to describe the breeding season of deer. Changes in the daily length of daylight serve as the trigger for hormone changes in deer that bring on breeding. Deer naturally become less active during daylight hours in the early fall, especially when the days are warm because they now have a winter coat. Also, male deer are typically storing up energy to use during the rut where they often travel great distances looking for mates. There can be a lot of daylight deer activity during the weeks leading up to and during the rut as male deer search for receptive does. The peak of breeding typically occurs between the 1st – 3rd weeks of November in Massachusetts.
IS OUR SAFETY AT RISK BY ALLOWING HUNTERS ON OUR PROPERTY?
Absolutely not! MV Hunt Club is an archery-only organization. Our members are required to pass an annual proficiency test in order to maintain membership in the club. Also, the majority of our members hunt from elevated positions (often 15-25 feet up in a tree) so the arrow trajectory is fairly steep and towards the ground and are typically hunting when people and pets are indoors. The hunter often observes the deer for several minutes if not hours before the deer is close enough to release an arrow (typically under 30 yards). Once the deer is in range, the hunter has to draw back their bow, wait for proper shot placement, aim for the vitals, and release an arrow.
WILL WE BE LIABLE BY ALLOWING HUNTERS ON OUR PROPERTY?
Landowners who allow use of their land without charging fees and who have not been willful, wanton or reckless, are protected from liability for injuries under Chapter 21, Section 17C of Massachusetts General Law. Also, the hunter will be responsible for any careless or negligent actions so as to cause damage to property or livestock of another while engaged in hunting.
If you still prefer not to have club members hunting on your property, we graciously request to allow our hunters within 500 feet of any occupied dwellings if we are hunting on an adjacent property.