Mark Squire, 62, of Albion weighs a deer shot by his wife, Sarah, Saturday, the opening day of deer hunting for Maine residents, at Tobey’s Grocery in China. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

Saturday was the first day Maine residents could hunt a deer during firearm hunting season.

It was also the first time hunters were warned that any deer they harvested in parts of Albion, Freedom, Unity and Unity Township it would not be safe to eat due to the presence of so-called perennial chemicals, commonly known by the acronym PFAS.

But many hunters at tagging stations near the area Saturday morning were mostly excited about the quick and successful start to the gun hunting season, saying they avoided either two new areas of “Do Not Eat” notice, or that they simply accepted any potential risk.

Dan McKeen, 62, of Benton, was among a dozen hunters who brought deer in to check them in between 9:30 and 10 a.m. at the Troy General Store. The store, located at 1129 Bangor Road in Troy, is one of the closest labeling stations to the “Do Not Eat” advisories, a few miles northwest of the one largely located in Unity Township .

Dan McKeen’s son, Mark McKeen, 37, of Jackman, shot the mature doe in Unity – on land outside the two areas covered by the advisories.

“At my age, I don’t care. I’ve been eating it my whole life,” the elder McKeen said. “What will change?”

His son agreed: “It’s healthier than anything we buy at the grocery store,” Mark McKeen said.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, in collaboration with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, issued both “Do Not Eat” advisories for deer and wild turkey areas of eastern Kennebec and western Waldo counties just over a week before the start of firearms deer hunting season for Maine residents. The deer firearms season opens to everyone Monday and continues through November 30; The fall wild turkey season began in September and ends Thursday.

One of the new advisory areas is a 5.4-square-mile area near Highway 139 in northwest Unity and the eastern half of Unity Township. The other is a 4.3-square-mile area near U.S. Highway 202 on the south side of Unity and extending into parts of Albion and Freedom.

The two new advisories were the first issued since 2021, when state officials issued a similar warning across 25 square miles in parts of Fairfield and Skowhegan. Part of this advisory area remains in placeand state officials say they don’t know how long any of the three current advisories will last.

The two new “Do Not Eat” zones were determined after testing 54 deer and 55 turkeys in the area for the presence of PFAS, an abbreviation for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, according to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Found in many types of consumer products, PFAS are often referred to as “forever chemicals” because they break down slowly and are found in soil, water, plants and animals. These substances are known to increase the risk of cancer and other health problems.

State officials have been sampling central Maine wildlife around the new advisory areas to determine the impact of PFAS on animals, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said. The advisory areas align with areas known to be contaminated with high levels of PFAS from municipal and industrial sludge spreading on farms, a practice banned in Maine beginning in 2022.

Deer move around, of course, but most would likely stay in an area smaller than the size of the new advisory areas, at least in the summer, according to information from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The summer range of white-tailed deer in Maine varies from 150 to 2,000 acres, or about 0.25 to three square miles, although it is typically about 500 to 600 acres, or slightly less than ‘one square mile.

As deer move from areas where they live in summer to suitable wintering grounds, they can move from less than a mile to more than 25 miles, the department says on its website. About 94% of Maine is considered deer habitat, although winter habitat ranges from 2 to 25% in various parts of the state.

Mark Squire, 62, of Albion prepares to weigh a deer Saturday at Tobey’s Grocery on opening day for Maine residents in China. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

Some hunters took a measured approach in considering the PFAS advisory, saying they took into account the specific location they chose to hunt Saturday.

At Tobey’s grocery store on Route 3 in South China, a popular labeling station several miles south of the “Do Not Eat” advisory areas, husband and wife Sarah Squire, 60, and Mark Squire , 62, weighed a deer shot while hunting. their lands in Albion. That’s where they usually hunt, the two men explained.

Sarah Squire said the property is on the south side of Albion, away from the small part of town subject to the advisory.

“I called the DEP and the game wardens,” she said. “And they said we were actually safe.”

Inside the store, Jennifer Bernhardt36, of Baldwin, was waiting in line for a tag for a buck harvested from family land in Vassalboro, where she is originally from. The Kennebec County town is southwest of the “Do Not Eat” zones.

Bernhardt, who started hunting when she met her husband and estimates she has been deer hunting for about seven years, said the PFAS notice has not affected her plans.

Brian Seavey, 38, of Troy sits in the back of his truck next to a 10-point buck he shot Saturday morning on his land in Troy. Seavey branded the deer at the Troy General Store. Jake Freudberg/Morning Sentinel

“It’s not near us,” Bernhardt said. “And we watch our deer. They are the ones who have been in the same place, like all year. They are there pretty consistently.

Back in Troy, Brian Seavey, 38, brought back a 10-point buck he had pocketed on his land in Troy.

Seavey, who said he always hunts on opening day of the season, said he wasn’t worried about the “Do Not Eat” notice nearby.

“I don’t really care, I guess,” he said.

Saturday morning at the Troy General Store, Kaleigh Clemons, 13, of Pittsfield, stands alongside her grandfather, Paul Woodbury, 69, of Burnham, with the buck Clemons shot on opening day gun season for Maine residents. Jake Freudberg/Morning Sentinel

Around the same time as Seavey, Kaleigh Clemons13, from Pittsfield had scored an eight-point buck she shot on her grandfather’s land in Burnham. Last year, she shot a deer that weighed about the same weight, about 150 pounds, Clemons said.

Clemons’ grandfather, Paul Woodbury, 69, said he recognized that the “Do Not Eat” zones were partly in Unity, the town closest to his home. But he wasn’t concerned about possible PFAS contamination.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Against all odds, I suppose. »

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