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Deer Hunter: Strong Fall Archery Season Expected In Southwest CT

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. — As the fall archery deer and turkey seasons opened Friday, the best hunting opportunities will be in the southwest corner of the state, said Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

The outlook for the 2017 deer hunting season is good, according to DEEP. The best opportunities are in the southwest corner of the state and many of the shoreline towns, especially for bowhunters.

The outlook for the 2017 deer hunting season is good, according to DEEP. The best opportunities are in the southwest corner of the state and many of the shoreline towns, especially for bowhunters.

Photo Credit: Paul J. Fusco, CT DEEP-Wildlife Division.

Fall archery hunting season for deer and wild turkey extends to the end of December on private lands and state land bowhunting only areas, and to the end of January 2018 on private lands in Deer Management 11 and 12.

On state lands also open to firearms hunting, the archery season runs from Sept. 15 to Nov. 14 and from Dec. 20 through the end of the month.

Of special note is that archery deer hunting is allowed on private lands on Sundays in Deer Management Zones 1, 4B, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.

“The outlook for the 2017 hunting season is good because mild winters and abundant acorn crops over the past two years have made it easy on deer and challenging for hunters as harvest numbers have been low,” said Rick Jacobson, director of the DEEP Wildlife Division. “It is expected that acorn production will be lower this year, so if pending weather conditions are favorable, harvest numbers this fall should increase from 2016.”

“The best hunting opportunities are in the southwest corner of the state and many of the shoreline towns, especially for bowhunters,” he said. “Many landowners use the archery deer hunting season as a safe and effective method of reducing deer populations, especially in the more developed areas of the state where firearms hunting may not be feasible.”

Bowhunters are reminded that they must wear 400 square inches of fluorescent orange while walking to and from their tree stands during the firearms deer hunting season. 

However, once in a tree stand, elevated at least 10 feet off the ground, bowhunters may remove the fluorescent orange clothing. All private land archery hunters are required to carry a DEEP consent form signed by the landowner and dated for the current season. 

For more information on the hunting season, click here.

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