Life on Martha’s Vineyard is increasingly shaped by tick-borne illness. A new Island nonprofit, Tick Free MV, is trying to change that.

The Vineyard’s growing tick crisis has caught the attention of lawmakers on Beacon Hill, prompting changes to the deer hunting season that officials hope can cut off the food source for the arachnids.

On Monday morning, the boom of shotguns echoed across the Island landscape, signaling the start of the two-week deer shotgun hunting season.

A drop in deer hunting this season combined with the rise of tick-borne illnesses has Vineyard hunters wondering if increased access to butchering could help manage the Island’s overgrown herd.

Deer hunting season on Martha’s Vineyard will be extended an extra month this year as state officials hope to cull the expanding deer herd that is fueling the rise of tick-borne illnesses on the Island. 

At a pair of public hearings, some hunters gave their support to running the annual deer hunting season into January to reduce the Island's deer population. Others focused on different measures, such as allowing hunting on Sundays.