Blue Hills Reservation deer hunt starts on Monday, only archers permitted

MILTON − The eighth annual deer hunt in portions of the Blue Hills Reservation will begin a half-hour before sunrise on Monday.

Hunting will be allowed Monday through Thursday until Nov. 23 on 2,622 acres of the reservation, which totals more than 7,000 acres combined. Up to 225 licenses will be granted to hunters seeking deer in the reservation and license applications have been closed.

Much of the area open to hunters is the portion of the reservation between Route 28 and Willard Street in Quincy and Granite Street in Braintree, including the Chickatawbut and Wampatuck sections, as well as the Braintree section of the reservation near the Great Pond Reservoir.

Other areas where hunting will be permitted are the Fowl Meadow, Little Blue Hill, Ponkapoag, Brookwood Farm and the former Nike Missile site in Randolph.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation, which manages the reservation, is coordinating the hunt in consultation with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

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The purpose of the hunt is to reduce the overpopulation of deer in the reservation, which has a negative impact of forests, water resources and plant growth. The sections of the reservation where hunting will be allowed were selected based on the deer populations in those areas. No hunting will be allowed in the most popular recreational areas: most of Great Blue Hill, Houghton's Pond and the Ponkapoag Golf Course.

This is the third year where only archery will be permitted for the hunt. There were 19 deer killed during last year's hunt, and a total of 324 since 2015, state officials said.

The areas where hunting will be permitted will be open to the general public during the hunt. Non-hunters are advised to take proper safety precautions including wearing blaze orange clothing, vests and hats.

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Reach Fred Hanson at fhanson@patriotledger.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Annual Blue Hills Reservation deer hunt starts on Monday