ISLESBORO, Maine — Islesboro residents are having a special deer hunt on their island to reduce the number of Lyme disease cases and protect the island’s woodlands.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has signed off on a controlled deer hunt to run from Dec. 10 through the end of the year.

The island allows deer hunting from September into early December, but only with bows and arrows.

The special season allows shotguns, the first that’s ever happened on the island. It’s open only to residents and family members.

Voters last year approved a plan to cull the deer herd from about 50 deer per square mile to about 10 per square mile.

Of the island’s 600 year-round residents, dozens have contracted the tick-borne Lyme disease over the years.