When people think hunting in Massachusetts, they think westward - the deep woods and wide open space of the Berkshires lures thousands of eager hunters each season.

A lottery system is even needed to distribute available deer hunting permits every July - and competition for a prized permit is steep.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife is just about ready to give away permits to anyone willing to pick up a bow and arrow or shotgun in the southeastern part of the state.

For the second year in a row, according to reports from MassWildlife this July, the highest numbers of deer taken in during the 2007 hunting season were in Zones 10 and 11 - which together include all the towns in The Sun Chronicle area.

And despite having led the state in the number of deer sacked, MassWildlife said it's not enough. Sonja Christensen, the deer and moose biologist for MassWildlife, said that in recent years, Zone 11 has become the main interest and focus of the state's deer-controlling efforts as numbers continue to skyrocket, though Zone 10's population is a problem too.

"Currently Zones 10 and 11 are above our density goal for that area," Christensen said. "The distribution of harvest has really changed in Massachusetts. It used to be all the deer were out west, but hunting pressure has really increased in the eastern part of the state."

There are 9,200 permits available in Zone 11 and 8,750 in Zone 10, numbers that are based on deer population in the zone. Compare that to the statewide average of just under 2,000 permits per zone and it is clear - the deer are here.

"Those things (deer) are everywhere," said Phillip Burgess, shop manager of Burgess Bait and Tackle in Norton, which acted as a deer check-in station for the area until 2006. "You can't even keep a garden, or keep shrubbery in your front yard without the deer eating them. It's almost impossible. I've had a heck of a time myself."

The main concerns the state has with the swelling deer population in the southeast are growing reports of Lyme disease and increasing numbers of deer-car collisions, Christensen said.

"We look for (population) levels that provide a healthy herd and allows humans to interact in a healthy way," Christensen said.

Albert Belanger, owner of Archer's Lane in Attleboro, who decided last year would be his final season acting as a deer check-in station, attributes the rise in the deer population to the milder winters this region has experienced in recent years.

He estimates every doe births two to three offspring each winter, and in the past usually only one or, occasionally, two of the fawns survived. Now, he said, with more temperate winter months, all the deer born in the area are surviving, leading to the current overpopulation.

Christensen agreed.

"The deer are living to get older year to year - that's why this increase is happening," she said. As a result, Christensen said, the state is trying to open up more places to hunting, especially in Zone 11, which goes as far north as Wrentham and as far south as Plymouth.

Part of the problem is, however, not everybody wants hunters here.

"Hunting is not as popular out here, but the state wants to bring it here to help cut down on the number of deer, because the numbers do concern them," Christensen said.

And with places like Burgess' and Belanger's shutting down after years of service, finding companies willing to act as check-in stations - a service the stores provide for the state without any monetary compensation - is becoming increasingly difficult.

"They do need (a check-in station) in this local area," Burgess said, "But it's not a joyful thing down here. There are a lot of people who don't like hunting. They give you a dirty look when they drive by in their cars. It's hard."

The state did manage to find a new check-in station, to compensate for the two lost, at Munroe's Feed and Supply in Rehoboth, which will be operating its first full hunting season this fall.

Burgess, who, even after retirement and eight years of battling cancer, has the energy to hunt, himself, said that hunters tend to be misunderstood.

"There needs to be more public education as to the value of hunting as a tool - and that's what hunting is - a tool to control the population," Burgess said.

Belanger hunts as a source of food, saying two deer last him the entire winter. And with rising food prices at grocery stores nationwide, Belanger sees hunting as a viable means of cutting costs this winter.

Nevertheless, suburban-area hunting is somewhat of a new phenomenon, making it a hard adjustment for homeowners who worry about hunting taking place a little too close for comfort.

State law does mandate hunters avoid a 500-foot radius on all sides of a residence, but as the area continues to be built up, deer - and consequently their hunters - are becoming much more visible.

"We're doing more and more building, so deer are more visible - they have less habitat to hide in," Belanger said, referencing locations such as the woods behind Home Depot in South Attleboro and off Interstate 95 as popular hunting grounds in the area.

Belanger experienced the problem with the depreciating deer habitat himself a few years back when his car collided with a deer sprinting across I-95, causing more than $5,000 in damage.

"Animals don't know boundaries, so when you do build up like this, it does become a problem," Belanger said.

"Deer are everywhere in our urban and suburban areas and it's something we have to work with and live with to have a healthy relationship with nature," Christensen said. "Sometimes it takes hearing about deer collisions and Lyme disease to realize it (hunting) is a really effective process."

And although nothing has been planned for towns within The Sun Chronicle area, many towns in the eastern part of the state, such as Dover and Framingham, are looking into town-organized deer hunts to help quell the problem.

"A lot more people are beginning to realize that maybe hunting is not so bad after all," Burgess said.