ERR News – The Ministry of the Environment has been approached with a request to extend the deer hunting season for does and calves well into the new year to control growing populations of red deer on the Western Estonian islands, which are often considered a nuisance.
Currently deer season opens in early September and lasts until late January. The season for does and calves ends in late November.
Under a proposal submitted by the University of Life Sciences professor Tiit Randveer, calves could be hunted until the end of January as well.
Randveer said in his proposal that hunting has increased along with the population size. In 2007, 220 deer were bagged in Estonia; last year the total was over 400.
Ministry of the Environment chief specialist Kaarel Roht said the ministry is reviewing the request and eliciting the opinion of the hunters association, which represents 10,000 hunters.
