AUGUSTA (AP) — The deadline to participate in the lottery for one of Maine’s growing number of deer permits is fast approaching.

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday. There are thousands more permits available this year in part because deer had a strong year for survival over the winter. The state’s giving out 84,745 permits this year, which is 28 percent more than last year.

The permits are “any deer” permits that allow hunters to take deer of either sex. The hunt takes place every fall and is one of the state’s biggest hunting seasons, along with moose, bear and turkey.

The drawing is scheduled for Sept. 7 and the results will be posted on the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website.

In this June 5, 2016 file photo, a deer stands in a yard in Concord, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)