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December 17, 2003

New Jersey Six-day Firearm “Buck” Season Harvest Through December 13, 2003

An estimated 5,092 antlered bucks were harvested by approximately 60,000 New Jersey sportsmen and women on Monday, December 8, 2003 – the first day of the traditional, Six-day Firearm “Buck” season. This year’s estimate represents a 4.5 percent increase over the 2002 opening day harvest of 4,865 bucks. The Six-day Firearm season generates nearly 250,000 recreation-days for deer hunters statewide while generating millions of dollars in business to local retailers such as sporting goods stores, gas stations and food vendors. The season concluded Saturday, December 13 and a harvest of 11,000 antlered deer is expected, despite the rainy conditions on Thursday, December 11.

A little under 50 percent of the opening day harvest was taken from the northwest counties of Hunterdon (1035), Sussex (518) and Warren (799), with another 517 bucks reported from Burlington County.

In addition, an estimated 856 deer were taken by youth hunters on the November 22, 2003 Youth Deer Hunt Day. Youth hunters aged 10 to 16 years were permitted to harvest deer of either-sex and any age when accompanied by a similarly licensed, non-shooting adult mentor (usually the youth’s parent or other relative). Earn-A-Buck and Quality Deer Management antler point restrictions are waived for the youth hunter. The Youth Day was initiated in 2001 by the NJ Fish and Game Council to provide youths a quality hunting experience while promoting safe hunting practices and family togetherness. The 2003 Youth Day harvest represents a 6 percent increase over the 2002 harvest of 805 deer.

Combining the Fall Bow, Youth Day and Six-day Firearm season estimates, a total of 19,278 deer have been harvested statewide. Estimates for the total Six-day Firearm Seasons will be available later in this month.


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