Area 5 Deer Regulations Amended Due To Flooding

Area 5 Deer Regulations Amended Due To Flooding

Sept. 6, 2019 – The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission (LWFC) approved a declaration of emergency that will amend the Deer Area 5 2019-20 hunting season during its September meeting Thursday (Sept. 5) in Baton Rouge. The action came due to the unprecedented 2019 flood that inundated Deer Area 5, which includes parts of the Atchafalaya Basin in St. Martin, Iberville, Iberia and St. Mary parishes, during the summer.

The DE, which will go into effect Oct. 16, will reduce the number of days in which hunters may harvest antlerless deer. LDWF deer program manager Johnathan Bordelon said it is intended to mitigate the anticipated reduction in lactation and subsequent fawn recruitment.

It reads, in part: Either-sex harvest will be amended to bucks only during primitive firearm season Nov. 9-15, and during modern firearm season dates Nov. 16-17, Dec. 14-15, and Dec. 21-22. Either-sex hunting will still be allowed during the modern firearm season dates Nov. 29-Dec. 1,during the youth week Oct. 26-Nov. 1, and during archery season, except when bucks only is in progress. Either-sex deer may be harvested any day of the deer season on property enrolled in LDWF's Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP), provided that a DMAP tag is possessed by the hunter at the time of harvest.

To see the full DE, go to http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/action-items .

To see the 2019-20 hunting regulations go to http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/page/41407-regulations/1920huntingregsv4.pdf .

For more information, contact Johnathan Bordelon at jbordelon@wlf.la.gov .

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana's abundant natural resources. For more information, visit us at www.wlf.la.gov.