Deer Season Law Simplified

Vermont Fish & Wildlife

This year's archery deer season limit has been lowered to 2 deer, but the overall ANNUAL BAG LIMIT is still 3 deer per year in the combination of all seasons.

The archery season allows you to purchase up to 2 tags which would allow you to take one legal buck and one doe, or two does, but you cannot take two bucks during the archery season. 

Here are some scenarios that might help clear up confusion:

Legal:
-Archery buck + archery doe + rifle buck
-Rifle buck + muzzleloader buck + muzzleloader doe with lottery antlerless tag
-Archery doe + rifle buck + muzzleloader doe with lottery antlerless tag
-Archery doe + archery buck + muzzleloader buck
-Archery doe + archery doe + muzzleloader doe with lottery antlerless tag

Illegal:
-Archery buck + archery buck (can't shoot 2 bucks in the same season)
-Archery buck + rifle buck + muzzleloader buck (can't shoot 3 bucks in same year)
-Archery doe + archery doe + archery buck (can't shoot 3 deer in archery season)

Remember, the last part of the archery season runs at the same time as muzzleloader season, but they are separate seasons.

If you want to hunt in December with a bow, you need to have an archery tag and follow all archery rules.

If you want to hunt in December with a muzzleloader, you need a muzzleloader tag and must follow muzzleloader rules.

More info: http://tinyurl.com/Deer-Laws