Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and Delaware Department of Agriculture
The following are the steps and criteria for the interim implementation of the Extreme Deer Damage Assistance Program (EDDAP) during the summer of 2018, which will allow permittees and their hunters to harvest antlerless deer from the date the permit is issued through August 14, 2018. Assuming compliance with EDDAP permit conditions, applicants will automatically receive a permit for the Severe Deer Damage Assistance Program (SDDAP), which will allow them to continue harvesting antlerless deer from August 15, 2018 through May 15, 2019. Within both programs, applicants may harvest antlerless deer any day of the week (Sunday through Saturday) from ½ hour before sunrise through ½ hour after sunset using shotguns, muzzleloaders, handguns, compound bows, crossbows, recurve, and longbows. All deer must be registered via the Division’s Hunter and Trapper Registration System.
Applicants interested in enrolling in the Interim EDDAP for 2018 are to contact DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife (DFW) and request enrollment. To be eligible for the program, applicants must meet the all of the following criteria:
- Must have been enrolled in the SDDAP during the 2017/18 program period.
- Must arrange for a field visit by the Department of Agriculture (DDA) to assess the severity of deer crop damage.
- Must agree to develop an approved deer management plan for the affected properties by September 1, 2018. This plan can be funded through a 50/50 cost share with the state paying half of the cost to prepare the plan and the applicant paying the remaining half. Failure to fulfill this requirement will eliminate the applicant from eligibility in the EDDAP for the following two consecutive summers. Similarly, failure to meet the approved deer management plan’s deer harvest goals will eliminate the applicant from EDDAP eligibility for the following two consecutive summers. Required content for deer management plans is available upon request.
- All deer shall be harvested under SDDAP guidelines. All deer harvested shall be used for personal consumption or donated to the Sportsmen Against Hunger (SAH) Program (i.e., wanton waste of harvested deer is prohibited). Harvested deer not donated to the SAH Program shall be appropriately documented as specified in the Interim EDDAP permit. The required deer management plan shall address and specify future utilization of harvested deer.
- If the applicant agrees to the terms of enrollment and has completed the enrollment application, the DFW will contact DDA so they can schedule a crop damage assessment visit to determine if crop damage is extreme enough to warrant issuing a permit and enrolling the applicant in the program.
- If DDA determines that the applicant has parcels that meet or exceed field-verified EDDAP deer crop damage threshold criteria established jointly by DDA and DFW, DFW will issue an Interim EDDAP Permit within 5 business days for only those parcels with the eligible crop damage. If the applicant’s properties do not meet the field-verified EDDAP deer crop damage threshold criteria, the applicant will be limited to the SDDAP.
- An Interim EDDAP Permit issued by the DFW will only be effective for 2018. Eligibility for any future EDDAP permits will be reassessed based on meeting deer management plan deer harvest goals and meeting or exceeding field-verified deer crop damage threshold criteria.
Contacts:
DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife
Joseph Rogerson, Joseph.Rogerson@state.de.us
(302) 735-3603
Delaware Department of Agriculture
Austin Short, Austin.Short@state.de.us
(302) 698-4505