Success with electronic tagging of turkeys has Maine looking at deer next
By Julie Harris, Bangor Daily News Staff
A bill directing the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to establish a program for registering deer electronically during hunting season could give hunters an alternative to finding a tagging station.
The Legislature’s Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife during a work session gave the department a deadline of Jan. 15, 2026, for a detailed plan that would outline methodology, associated costs and impact on small businesses. The committee voted “ought to pass” on the bill.
LD 139, A Resolve Directing the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to Establish a Pilot Program for the Electronic Tagging of Deer, had stipulated a deadline of Dec. 3, 2025. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Donna Bailey, D-York, but was co-sponsored by several other legislators from around the state.
Maine is the only New England state that does not have an electronic tagging program for deer hunting season. More than two dozen states have the option now, although some methods of reporting differ.
“It is vital that we modernize hunting if it is going to remain a part of Maine’s culture, heritage, and history. Sometimes, to preserve a piece of the past, we have to adapt in the present in order to protect it in the future. Hunting is one such thing,” Bailey said in testimony to the standing committee.
MDIF&W instituted electronic tagging for turkeys in 2023 and saw a 72 percent participation rate last year, according to Nathan Webb, director of the state’s wildlife division.
But only 2,320 turkeys were killed by hunters in 2024, according to the state’s Big Game Dashboard, compared with 42,259 white-tailed deer.
There are considerations beyond convenience to hunters. Some committee members and the Maine Guides Association were concerned that the 249 tagging stations scattered around Maine would be hurt by reduced business. They pointed out that most of them are convenience stores with gas available and hunters make purchases while they are there to tag their deer.
Just the fees alone would be a significant loss to some stations. A committee member cited one store in Sabbatus that tagged about 800 animals one season. With a $2 registration fee for each animal for the station, the store would lose $1,600, plus whatever extra business the hunters provided, in that season.
The workers processing the registrations at the tagging stations also alert the Maine Warden Service to potential violations.
Another concern was the cost to implement and run the program. Webb said he thought the department could absorb those costs in the existing budget, but it would be one of the areas they would need to examine.
The committee’s final major concern was for the collection of biological and other data available through in-person registration of game animals.
Webb said the department could adapt by sending biologists for home visits, which would be another cost. He said there are lots of points that need to be considered, such as whether it would be a statewide rollout or just in select regions for a specific number of days in the season.
The bill still must be approved by the full Legislature, and it’s just the first step toward an electronic system. When the department finishes its plan next January, the committee will take the issue back up again.
Bailey told the committee one of the reasons she sponsored the bill was because she was thinking about the newer, younger hunters who might prefer the convenience of electronic deer tagging.
“Once they have this option, they may have a whole lifetime of hunting ahead of them, making memories with their family in the fields and woods (and) keeping the tradition alive for generations to come,” she said.