By ANDY KIRKALDY
ADDISON COUNTY — With the 16-day rifle deer season getting under way this past Saturday, local and statewide numbers for October’s archery deer season and Youth Hunting Weekend on Nov. 4 and 5 had triggered optimism for area hunters.
During the Oct. 7-29 bow season hunters took 124 deer to Addison County’s eight major weigh stations, a 55-percent increase from the 2005 total of 80.
During this past youth weekend 123 younger hunters brought animals to county reporting stations to have them weighed, an increase of 26 deer over the 2005 weekend total of 97.
In all, the local combined take of youth weekend and the October bow season this fall was 247 deer, up by 40 percent of the 2005 combined total of 177.
Parents of young hunters were eagerly awaiting the onset of rifle season, said Vaneasa Stearns of Lincoln General Store last week.
“People said they were seeing deer in youth weekend, so they’re all pumped up,” Stearns said.
According to a Friday report from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department statewide numbers also rose for youth hunting weekend and archery season. Final numbers were not in, but early weigh-station reports showed 693 deer taken on the youth hunting weekend, compared to 422 deer on the same reporting day last year.
Meanwhile, archery hunters had taken 93 percent more deer (1,794) statewide than last year (931) through reports received on or before Nov. 8. Typically, not all stations file immediately and a full account is still weeks away, officials said.   
Local weigh station operators, including Greg Boglioli of Vermont Field Sports, said the deer herd probably benefited from the mild 2005-2006 winter and from rules that took effect last year that prohibit shooting bucks with fewer than three antler points (one point one antler and two on the other) during rifle season.
“I think you’ll see slightly larger deer, slightly bigger racks, and, due to the easy winter last year, more deer,” Boglioli said.
At Buxton’s Store in Orwell, employee and hunter Marcy Bletz said more and bigger deer were being spotted at the county’s southern end, at least in part because during the 2005 rifle season “spikehorn” deer — those with antlers just developing — were off limits.
“With the spikehorn law, we’ve actually got a lot of big deer now,” Bletz said. “We’ve seen some big ones we haven’t seen before.”
Certainly hunters during bow season and youth weekend (See related story in Sports, Page 24) had some trophy animals weighed at Little Otter General Store in Ferrisburgh, Vermont Field Sports, Lincoln General Store, West Addison General Store, Panton General Store, Jerusalem Country Store in Starksboro, Buxton’s Store, and Village Green Market in New Haven.
The bow hunters who took the largest animals were Chris Hanson, a 204-pound, 6-point buck, shot in Shoreham; Chris DeMers, a 186-pound, 7-point buck killed in New Haven; and McGregor Butler, a 185-pound, 5-point buck taken in New Haven.
Hunters who found success locally during archery season were (listed by name, town of kill, and deer details):
LITTLE OTTER
Andy Husk, Ferrisburgh, 104-pound doe; Gregory Tucker, Monkton, 118-pound doe; Frank Leffler, Shelburne, 87-pound doe; Stephen North, Ferrisburgh, 100-pound doe; Carol Brill, Waltham, 107-pound doe; Tracy Doolan, East Middlebury, 107-pound doe; Daniel Bourgeois, Charlotte, 109-pound doe; Kim Hart, Ferrisburgh, 120-pound doe; Tom Saltus Sr., Panton, 127-pound doe; and Andre Rheaume, New Haven, 52-pound doe.
VERMONT FIELD SPORTS
Dean Ouellette, Weybridge, 116-pound, 4-point buck; Michael Desjardin, Salisbury, 114-pound doe; Peter Scott, New Haven, 109-pound, 4-point buck; Douglas Yantz, Middlebury, 100-pound doe; Leslie Bourgeois, Cornwall, 67-pound female; Jeremy Jennings, New Haven, 134-pound, 6-point buck; Brian Moore, Leicester, 86-pound doe; and Calvin Loven, Leicester, 103-pound doe.
Also, Daniel Bedard, Weybridge, 145-pound, 4-point buck; Rolland Dutton, Leicester, 109-pound, 4-point buck; David Wemette, Middlebury, 117-pound, 3-point buck and 129-pound doe; Jared Gorton, Middlebury, 60-pound female; James Payne, Cornwall, 134-pound doe; McGregor Butler, New Haven, 185-pound, 5-point buck; Jameson Ringey, Cornwall, 85-pound doe; Paul Deering, Weybridge, 115-pound doe; and Daniel Gaiotti, Salisbury, doe, no weight.
Also, Frank Raymond, New Haven, 108-pound doe; Gregory Wigginton, Salisbury, 118-pound doe; Ross Gordon, Middlebury, 125-pound doe; Jenny Forbes, Bridport, 115-pound, 4-point buck; Christopher Eddy, Pittsford, 116-pound, 4-point buck; Gabriel Cameron, Middlebury, 110-pound doe; and Barry Delphia, Brandon, 104-pound doe.
Also, Lloyd Davis, Shoreham, 109-pound doe; and Caleb Tucker, Salisbury, 45-pound female; Michael Ringey, Cornwall, 96-pound doe; Terry Aldrich, Cornwall, doe, no weight; Robert James, Weybridge, 115-pound doe; Richard Miller, Middlebury, 111-pound, 5-point buck; and Timothy Funk, Cornwall, 105-pound doe.
JERUSALEM STORE
Brian Peters, Waitsfield, 129-pound doe; Robert Wener, Huntington, 105-pound doe; Sprague Sharrow, Starksboro, 113-pound doe; John Martin, Waitsfield, 110-pound doe; Hugh Delibac, Waitsfield, 136-pound doe; Patrick Reen, Bristol, 120-pound doe; Anthony Porter, Starksboro, 124-pound doe; Victor Atkins, Starksboro, 124-pound doe; Carla Jimmo, Starksboro, 120-pound doe; Jeffrey Palmer, Ferrisburgh, 128-pound doe; and Daniel Faircloth, Starksboro, 133-pound doe.
PANTON GENERAL
Eric Preston, Ferrisburgh, 152-pound, 5-point buck; Eli Cyr, Ferrisburgh, 120-pound doe; Joshua Baldwin, New Haven, 136-pound, 6-point buck; Ben Paquin, Panton, 130-pound doe; Daniel White, Ferrisburgh, 155-pound 4-point buck; Jason Sabourin, Ferrisburgh, 122-pound doe; and John Magowan, Addison, 126-pound, 4-point buck.
WEST ADDISON GENERAL
Eugene Chamberland, Orwell, 90-pound doe; James Anderson, Addison, 115-pound, 4-point buck; Guy Magnano, Bridport, 115-pound doe; Shaw Kipp, Bridport, 132-pound, 4-point buck; and Kevin Kayhart, Waltham, 125-pound doe.
LINCOLN GENERAL
David Loveland, Bristol, un-weighed doe.
BUXTON’S STORE
Kevin Carter, Bridport, 112-pound, 6-point buck; Justin Hall, Orwell, 135-pound, 4-point buck; Donald Robinson, Orwell, 137-pound doe; Zach Booska, Orwell, 114-pound doe; Justin Hall, Orwell, 112-pound doe; Ron Alger, Benson, 119-pound doe; Justin Quenneville, Whiting, 119-pound doe; Glen Telgen, Shoreham, 112-pound doe and 126-pound, 5-point buck; Louis Lee, Orwell, 133-poound, 4-point buck; and Stephen Blais, Shoreham, 124-pound, 3-point buck.
Also, Randy Ryan, Shoreham, 124-pound, 8-point buck; William Alexander, Cornwall, 108-pound doe; Chris Hanson, Shoreham, 204-pound, 6-point buck; Ed Bell, Orwell, 113-pound doe; Roland Euber, Leicester, 137-pound, 4-point buck; Russell Bishop Sr., Benson, 124-pound doe; Delbert Frazier, West Haven, 122-pound doe; Jeremy Quenneville, Orwell, 76-pound female; Frederick Oberkirch, Orwell, 55-pound female; and Robert Gearwar, Orwell, 104-pound doe.
Also Jeff Bishop, Bridport, 112-pound doe; Duane Kehoe, Benson, 159-pound, 8-point buck; Glen Telgen, Shoreham, 126-pound, 5-point buck; Sarah Washburn, Orwell, 100-pound doe; Bruce Bishop, Orwell, 157-pound 5-point buck; David Hanson, Orwell, 116-pound doe; and Todd Huntley, Orwell, 142-pound, 5-point buck;
VILLAGE GREEN
Randy Little, Charlotte, 72-pound male; Zachary Laurie, New Haven, 90-pound doe; Cory Jennings, New Haven, 126-pound doe; Eric Jennings, New Haven, 116-pound doe; Robert Bedell, Middlebury, 58-pound male; Mark Livingston, New Haven, 120-pound 6-point buck; Robert Twenge, Monkton, 95-pound doe; Joey Mashia, New Haven, 120-pound, 3-point buck; and Tyler Steady, New Haven, 57-pound male.
Also, Calvin Tierney, New Haven, 117-pound doe; Jeremy Markwell, Cornwall, 157-pound, 6-point buck; Bruce Perlee, New Haven, 117-pound, 3-point buck; Kelley Perlee, New Haven, 162-pound, 4-point buck; Craig Bemis, New Haven, 100-pound doe; Jason Twenge, New Haven, 60-pound female; Gregory Cousino, New Haven, 94-pound doe; and John Coyle, Monkton, 110-pound doe; and Leon DeMers, New Haven, 124-pound, 6-point buck.
Also, Michael Jewell, New Haven, 62-pound male; James Whitcomb, Bristol, 101-pound doe; Dustin Paquette, New Haven, 80-pound female; Jason Cousino, New Haven, 70-pound doe; Scott Jarvis, New Haven, 67-pound female; Chris DeMers, New Haven, 186-pound, 7-point buck; Shawn Gero, New Haven, 141-pound doe; Gary Briggs, New Haven, 135-pound doe; Adam Graves, New Haven, 70-pound female; Richard Lathrop, Waltham, 141-pound doe; and Joseph St. Wedge, Shoreham, 118-pound doe.