Applications Open for Antlerless Deer Draw
Applications for the annual antlerless deer draw opened today, July 14. (Province of Nova Scotia / File)
Starting today, July 14, hunters can enter the draw for one of 5,825 antlerless deer hunting stamps for the 2025 hunting season.
The antlerless deer draw helps with management of the province’s deer population by allowing licensed hunters to harvest a female deer in areas where deer numbers are higher. This supports healthy and balanced wildlife populations.
Stamps are available for five of the 10 deer management zones (zones 103, 104, 106, 108 and 110) in mainland Nova Scotia and both zones (111 and 112) in Cape Breton. Antlerless deer stamps are not needed for the other mainland zones (101, 102, 105, 107 and 109) because they are open for harvesting deer of either sex.
To be eligible for a stamp, hunters must be a resident of Nova Scotia, be eligible for a deer hunting licence, have a valid Nova Scotia Wildlife Resources Card and be at least 16 years old by the end of the deer hunting season on December 13.
People can apply for the draw online through their Hunt NS profiles at https://huntns.ca/, by phone (toll-free: 1-833-302-0750) or by mail: Wildlife Resources Card Application Citizen Services Division Business Registration Unit Box 1529, 6N-1505 Barrington St. Halifax, N.S., B3J 2Y4
The application fee is $8.04, plus tax, for electronic applications or $11.70, plus tax, for paper applications. The deadline to apply is July 31, and results will be posted online August 15.
Bonus stamps, which allow hunters to take a second deer if they have already harvested one, will also be available in both Cape Breton zones and most of the mainland zones (101, 102, 106, 107, 108, 109 and 110). These stamps are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. The second deer can be either a buck or doe.
Quick Facts:
- an antlerless deer hunting stamp permits a hunter to harvest an antlerless deer in a specific deer management zone
- an antlerless stamp does not increase the bag limit for the applicable season; the bag limit is one deer
- an antlerless deer stamp must be accompanied by a general deer stamp or archery/muzzleloader stamp, which is available for purchase
- both the general deer stamp and antlerless deer stamp become valid when applied to a hunting license with a wildlife habitat stamp
Additional Resources:
Deer management zones map: https://data.novascotia.ca/Lands-Forests-and-Wildlife/Deer-Management-Zones-Map/3vgv-umnr
Hunt NS – online services for hunters and furharvesters: https://huntns.ca/