Vineyard Gazette: Island Starts New Extended Hunting Season to Thin the Herd

“Island Starts New Extended Hunting Season to Thin the Herd” - Vineyard Gazette, September 2026

A new early hunting season for the Vineyard started this week as part of an overarching effort to cut down the deer population on the Island in the name of public health. In the first three days after the season opened Monday, at least 40 deer were harvested on the Vineyard. Ten to twelve were brought in the first day to the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society deer locker in West Tisbury. That number is higher than normal for opening day, according to Patrick Roden-Reynolds, an Island tick biologist and avid hunter who manages the cooler.