Youth hunters across the state headed out early Friday morning for the first in a two-day firearm deer hunting season dedicated to youth under the age of 16.

The young sportsmen and sportswomen are mentored by more experienced hunters who are happy to share their experience in an effort to preserve the heritage and pass it on to the next generation.

For Jase Paul, 10, of New Portland, hunting is part of his heritage, having been passed along for generations. His mentors are seasoned hunters who have handed down their knowledge of hunting ethics, responsibilities, skills and safety. The list is long and includes both his parents, his grandparents, uncles and family friends.

Friday morning he hunted deer with his grandfather, James Paul, of Kingfield. They have hunted together often, including last week during a moose hunt in Wildlife Management District 4 in the northern part of the state. While the pair were unsuccessful, the young hunter was not discouraged.

“I don’t get disappointed,” he said. “I have to just keep moving on and learning.”

Paul and his family hunt throughout the year. Depending on the season, they could be hunting for partridge, turkey, rabbit, moose or deer.

Like Paul, hunting is a family affair for many around the state, where it has become a tradition across many generations.

Last fall was finally going to be the season Jace White, 9, bagged his first deer, and his father couldn’t wait. 

From the time he was a boy, hunting had always been something Brian White, of Shapleigh, had shared with his own dad. It was an opportunity to put food on the table. A way to connect with nature. A Thanksgiving morning tradition.

Now, Brian was excited to pass it all down to his son.

“It’s like a rite of passage,” he said. “It’s important for me to get him out of the house, get him off the computer, off a screen.”

Of all the seasons, deer season is Paul’s favorite. In moose hunting, you’re often walking miles over uneven woods trails, but deer hunting can be less strenuous. For Paul, it means quietly walking to a tree stand on his family’s property to sit.

“What I usually call hunting is deer season. That is the most fun for me,” Paul said.

The moose season is only one week and there are turkey everywhere, he said. With a longer season, deer hunting provides more chances for success.

He said he also just likes to sit in the woods to listen, watch and “be with nature.”

AT THE TAGGING STATION

The annual youth deer hunt was expanded from one day to two in 2021. Hunters under 16 must have a junior hunting license. Hunters under the age of 10 are required be within 20 feet of an adult supervisor who holds or has held a valid Maine hunting license or completed a hunter safety course . Older youth hunters are expected to be within voice and visual range of their supervisors.

Maine’s deer hunting firearms season this year is Nov. 1-19 for Maine residents only and Nov. 3-19 for everyone else; muzzleloader season is Dec. 1-6 with a permit. Regular archery season ends Oct. 31. The state allotted 123,695 antlerless permits in 2025.

According the latest Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Research and Management Report, 1,807 deer were harvested during the two-day youth hunt in 2024. During the regular firearms season last year, 33,941 deer were harvested statewide.

By midmorning Friday, game tagging stations in northern Franklin County began weighing and tagging deer bagged by youth hunters. Our Village Market in New Portland had recorded two youth tags. River’s Edge Sports in Rangeley had one young hunter tag a doe.

On the first day of her second season, Cayleigh Rose, 15, of Turner, was the first youth hunter to tag a deer at Flagstaff Fuel in Eustis.

“I’ve really only been out a few times. She came out early and fast,” Rose said.

Her father, Calvin Rose, said passing on the tradition of hunting to the next generation was important, not only to continue the heritage but to control the population of deer.

As he weighed the 106-pound doe, Ryan Cowper, owner of Flagstaff Fuel, told Rose, “I love seeing youth out here. As a hunter, there is nothing else like it.”

RESPONSIBLE, ETHICAL

Paul prepares for the season by making sure his hunting rifle is in working order. His mentors help him with dialing in the sights and cleaning the rifle. He has learned firearm safety from his mentors and is respectful of the rules that make a hunter responsible and ethical.

“Whatever you are hunting for, you have to know where to shoot. You have to know your target and where you should hit,” Paul said.

Paul has taken part in the youth deer hunt for three or four years, he said. Last year, he bagged a buck and a doe. He is hopeful for another successful season. By lunchtime Friday he said he had seen a few deer but had not had “any luck.”

“I like to eat. We all like to eat,” Paul said.

Paul’s mother, Miranda Paul, said a successful harvest helps with grocery costs and fills family freezers, and the bounty is often shared with neighbors and friends.

Brian and Jace White prepared for years. At age 5, Jace would accompany his father into the woods behind their Shapleigh home, carrying an unloaded airsoft rifle to develop muzzle control. 

Once Jace was older, Brian had him target shooting and watching YouTube videos on where to place a shot on a white-tailed deer to ensure a clean, ethical kill. 

Weeks ahead of youth deer day last fall, the pair were out in the woods placing game cameras, readying their blind, forming a plan. 

Finally, Friday came. Brian took the day off from work and kept Jace home from school. They were up and out at 4 a.m., and by 5 they were set up in their blind, “just watching the world come alive.” 

As the hours passed with no deer sighting, Brian could see his son getting cold and discouraged. But he wouldn’t let him quit. Just a little longer.

Then, at around 9:45 a.m., a spikehorn buck ambled toward them. At about 50 yards away, Brian remembers thinking, “This is the opportunity. This is when I would take the shot.”

Jace had the same idea and pulled the trigger. A few minutes later, a thud sounded as the animal fell.

The emotions that followed were complicated and powerful. Jace took one look at the dead buck and broke into tears. Brian began to cry too, proud of his son both for his successful shot and for recognizing the weight of killing a living creature. He hugged Jace tight. 

“It’s this amazing father-son moment that I can’t put a price tag on,” he said. 

Since that day, they’ve been waiting for the chance to do it all again.