Deer Nuisance on Mount Desert Island

Start Here

Where things stand in August 2026

Four separate things get folded together in conversation about deer here — hunting law, tick-borne illness, road collisions, and garden damage. They are related but they are not the same problem, and the evidence is much stronger for some of them than for others. The short version:

Can you hunt deer on Mount Desert Island?

Not in Southwest Harbor. State law has kept a “continual closed season on deer” on the island since 1931. [1] The one exception now approved is a limited hunt in the Town of Tremont, beginning November 2026. Acadia National Park is closed to all hunting regardless of town. [2]

Will fewer deer mean less Lyme disease?

Fewer deer reliably means fewer ticks over time. Whether it means fewer human infections is not established — a US CDC review found the evidence lacking outside specific circumstances. [3]

Is anyone counting the deer here?

No one has published a deer density estimate for Mount Desert Island. The state manages deer by district, not by island town. See what is and is not being monitored.

Is it legal to feed deer?

Not between June 1 and the start of the open hunting season. The fine runs from $500 to $1,000. [4]

What do I do if I hit one?

Report it to a law enforcement officer by the quickest means available. The rest of the rule is here.

The Hunt

What Tremont approved

On August 11, 2026 the Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Advisory Council approved a special deer hunt in the Town of Tremont — the first legal deer hunting anywhere on Mount Desert Island in nearly a century. The vote carried with one nay. [5] That followed a secret-ballot town vote of 314 to 227 in May 2026, after months of public hearings, with four ballots left blank. Tremont’s stated goals were fewer deer-vehicle collisions, less damage to gardens and property, and fewer cases of Lyme disease. [6]

Mount Desert Island sits in Wildlife Management District 26, and the general statewide firearms season on deer in that district runs November 2 to 28, 2026 — but that season does not apply here, because the island closure overrides it. [17] [7] The Tremont exception should appear in the state’s posted deer hunting rules closer to the season; that is the page to check for confirmed dates. [8]

Deer & Ticks

What deer actually have to do with Lyme disease

Deer are the main blood host for adult black-legged ticks, so they largely determine how many ticks get to reproduce. But deer do not carry the Lyme bacterium and are not a reservoir for it. Ticks pick up the infection from white-footed mice and other small mammals. [3] That distinction is the whole reason the picture is complicated: fewer deer can mean fewer ticks without changing the share of ticks that are infected.

A US CDC review of deer-reduction studies concluded that “robust evidence linking deer control to reduced human Lyme disease risk is lacking” and that there is not enough evidence to recommend deer reduction as a Lyme prevention measure “except in specific ecologic circumstances.” [3]

The pattern across the literature is that near-total removal on a small, isolated island works, while partial reduction on larger, connected landscapes gives mixed results and takes years to show up. [11] Mount Desert Island sits between those two cases. It is an island, but a large one. Deer move freely across town lines. Hunting is prohibited outright in Acadia National Park, which covers a substantial share of the island. [2] And only one of the island’s towns will be hunting. Whether the Tremont hunt measurably changes tick numbers here is an open question that will take several seasons to answer.

None of that argues against the hunt or for it. It argues for not treating a deer season as a substitute for personal protection. Daily tick checks, treated clothing and correct tick removal remain the measures with the clearest evidence behind them.

On the Road

Collisions, and what the law requires

Deer-vehicle collisions cluster around dawn and dusk and rise sharply during the November rut, which is also when visitor traffic has thinned and people drive faster. If you do hit a deer, Maine law is specific about what happens next.

1. 1

   Report it, by the quickest means

   The operator or owner of a vehicle involved in an accidental collision with a deer, moose, bear or wild turkey must report the accident to a law enforcement officer. [12]

2. 2

   The officer investigates

   If the officer finds the vehicle sustained apparent damage from the collision, the officer gives a certificate entitling you to ownership of the carcass. [12]

3. 3

   All of it, or none of it

   A person entitled to the carcass may not take or remove any portion of it without removing the entire carcass from the scene. [12]

Separately, a person who wounds, takes or kills a wild animal under the nuisance-animal provisions of state law must report all the facts to the Maine Warden Service within 12 hours, and must immediately dress a deer, bear or moose carcass and care for the meat. Failure to do either is a Class E crime. [12]

This Fall

What it means for you in November

Tick-borne illness in Maine set another record in 2025. Preliminary Maine CDC figures counted 4,257 Lyme disease cases, 1,604 anaplasmosis, 352 babesiosis, 31 hard tick relapsing fever and 6 Powassan — more than 6,200 cases in all. [15] Reports are concentrated in Hancock, Knox, Lincoln and Waldo counties, and Hancock County has been above the statewide Lyme rate for two years running. [16]

For prevention, removal technique and what to do after a bite, see the tick safety page.

Sources for this page

1. 12 M.R.S. §11402 — Closed areas and special seasons, including the continual closed season on deer on Mount Desert Island
2. Acadia National Park — Park rules and regulations (hunting and trapping prohibited)
3. Kugeler KJ et al. — “Will Culling White-Tailed Deer Prevent Lyme Disease?” (US CDC review)
4. 12 M.R.S. §10659 — Feeding or baiting of deer, including dates and civil penalty
5. Bar Harbor Story — “After Nearly a Century, Deer Hunting Is Officially Coming Back to Tremont” (August 11, 2026)
6. Bangor Daily News — “Small MDI town votes to reverse nearly 100-year ban on deer hunting” (May 11, 2026)
7. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife — season dates and bag limits
8. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife — deer hunting laws and rules
9. WGME — “Maine town struggles to manage deer population” (Southwest Harbor Select Board, December 2024)
10. Bar Harbor Story — “Deer Population Worries Some in Southwest Harbor” (December 17, 2024)
11. Martin AM et al. — “Deer management generally reduces densities of nymphal Ixodes scapularis, but not prevalence of infection”
12. Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife — Maine laws governing wildlife, including collision reporting and carcass ownership
13. Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife — Deer: how to avoid or resolve a wildlife conflict
14. University of Maine Cooperative Extension — Plants usually not preferred by deer
15. Maine CDC advisory — 2026 Lyme and other tick-borne disease information, with preliminary 2025 case counts
16. Maine CDC — Lyme and Other Tickborne Illnesses annual report to the Legislature
17. Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife — Hunting areas, which places Mount Desert Island in Wildlife Management District 26