The 2005 New Jersey Permit Bow Season for deer will open statewide on Saturday, Oct. 29. Bag limits and season lengths vary by zone, so hunters should always review current regulations in the Hunting Issue of the New Jersey Fish and Wildlife Digest before going afield.

The opening of Permit Bow Season in New Jersey offers archers yet another opportunity to enjoy their sport.

Last year, this season proved to be an excellent one for bow hunters as they harvested 8,340 whitetails. Together with the fall bow and winter bow seasons, archers harvested 22,651 deer during the 2004 – 2005 season. This is an impressive 38.7 percent of the entire deer season total and exemplifies how New Jersey bow hunters have become an integral and invaluable part of New Jersey’s deer management program.

Hunters participating in the new "Bank-A-Doe" program for Earn-A-Buck Deer Management Zones 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 36, 41, 49, 50 and 51 and who harvested two antlerless deer from any of these zones during the Fall Bow season, may now harvest an antlered deer as their first deer during the Permit Bow season. Please note that all Bank-A-Doe deer MUST be brought to a participating check station ONLY. See the Fish & Wildlife Hunting Digest (www.njfishandwildlife.com/dighnt05.htm) for further details.

Permits for the New Jersey Permit Bow Deer Season are available at selected license issuing agents and will be available on a continuing basis throughout the season. To purchase a permit at a license agent, a hunter must present his or her valid 2005 hunting license and $28 for each permit. Youth hunters must present their valid youth hunting license and $12 for each permit.

All 2005 hunting licenses include tear-off antlered buck stubs. A hunter who takes an antlered buck must date, initial and attach a buck stub along with a transportation tag to the deer before transporting it to the deer check station. Upon checking the deer, the buck stub and the transportation tag must be surrendered to the check station operator.

Conservation officers have noticed that some hunters are leaving their buck stubs attached to transportation tags completed for antlerless deer. Hunters should carefully examine both sides of their license when completing and detaching transportation tags for antlerless deer to ensure that they do not detach a buck stub from the license until needed to tag a buck.