Published: January 02, 2009 07:47 pm      

Not done yet!

I’m going to be upfront with you. I don’t know a whole lot about hunting deer in Maryland’s Region B.

Region B is the state’s deer management unit that includes every county except Garrett and Allegany, the latter pair being Region A.

As of yesterday, deer hunting with guns ended. There is still bowhunting in Region A, through the end of January, providing you have unfilled tags.

However, there is a substantial amount of deer hunting remaining in Region B. Most of that hunting is with bow and arrow, but not all of it. Also, there are some places in the state where you can use archery gear to kill an unlimited number of antlerless deer, including as many a day as you can stick, clean, tag and drag.

Let’s see if I can make some sense of this for you.

First off, hunting with modern firearms has not ended this season in Region B.

On Jan. 9 and Jan. 10, a Friday and a Saturday, firearm hunters may get after them. The season limit applies, that being two bucks and 10 antlerless deer. Also, down that way there is a rule that you can’t shoot your second buck until you have shot and checked two antlerless deer.

Remember, there is no daily bag limit. Whacking and stacking is limited to the number of daylight hours, the number of shells you carry, your aiming skills, the strength of your back (dragging a deer carcass is doggone physical) and the amount of empty space in your freezer.

OK. If you are like me and don’t know a whole lot about Region B and its deer hunting. Check with the Maryland Wildlife Service. The number in Cumberland is (301) 777-2136.

Now, here we go with bow hunting.

In Region A, we can only take one buck and one antlerless deer with our sticks and strings.

In Region B, a hunter can bag and tag two bucks and 10 antlerless deer. The same rule as with firearms applies in that a second buck may be killed only after two antlerless deer have been reduced to possession.

Here, however, is the kicker.

In Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, archers may harvest as many antlerless deer as they desire.

Wowsers!! Sounds like corn pile time to me.

To make it a bit easier to cause the passing of deer, it is also legal to use the crossbow in those counties throughout the bow season.

Apparently the wildlife agency understands that there is a lot of personal hunter paperwork involved with killing that many deer, and write in the regulation book “All Antlerless deer taken with bow in the Bow Hunting Suburban Zone will be recorded on the hunter’s Big Game Harvest Record. If a hunter needs another Big Game Harvest Record, one can be printed at a Maryland Sport License Agent.”

So, while bowhunting and gun hunting for deer has wrapped up in a number of states, that is not the case in Maryland. If you haven’t gotten enough tree time this year, take advantage of it.

Contact Outdoor Editor Mike Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.