Published: December 22, 2007 12:40 am         

Buck kill up in Allegany, Garrett

Wow! This is totally cool.

It used to be (not that long ago) that we had to wait until the middle of March to find out how many deer our .30-06s and .270s had brought home for us in Maryland during the rifle season.

This year, just eight days after the season closed, the Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service put out a news release with the kill numbers from the recent seasons. The agency guys and gals never use the word “kill,” at least not in news releases. That’s me talking. Actually, the numbers probably could have been disseminated sooner, but unlike newspapers, the Department of Natural Resources takes the weekends off, with the exception of law enforcement officers and brush fire fighters.

So, here in Almost Maryland, here in Region A, here in the two most fartherest-away counties in the state, including some acreage whose rain drains into the Gulf of Mexico, we have seen an increase in the buck kill.

C’mon. Everybody downstate is always talking about saving the bay and nobody in Annapolis every gives a thought to saving the Gulf of Mexico. But that’s another story.

Allegany County hunters bagged 1,396 and those in Garrett checked in 1,501.

Hooray. It’s up 5 percent and would seem to be right on schedule with what the agency deer dudes told us a couple years back when our seasonal bag limit was restricted.

The fact that we killed fewer than 1,000 does in each of Allegany and Garrett counties this gun season portends that buck kills should increase some more in 2008.

Don’t even try to compare the harvest from a Region A county to a Region B county. Washington County is in Region B where hunters may legally kill an ungodly number of does. And they did. In Washington County alone, just shy of 3,000 does have now become jerky and burger and steaks. Frederick County hunters bagged more than 2,400 antlerless deer. And down on the Eastern Shore, hunters in Worcester (that’s Wooster to you, buddy) took home 2,207 antlerless whitetail deer.

I’m thinking that this could be a very good season to get lucky during what remains of the late muzzleloader season here in Almost Maryland; lucky meaning bucky in this case. I wouldn’t hesitate a bit, if I were you, to pack that smokepole full of powder and lead and climb onto a difficult-to-reach portion of public land during this coming week. You just might find that antlered surprise you’ve been seeking.

If not, you can take an antlerless deer on private lands Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but on public lands the only “doe-day” will be Saturday. Remember, too, that nowadays it is legal to bag your season limit on the same day. In other words, if you haven’t yet killed a muzzleloader deer, you may take the buck and the doe on the same day... in Region A that is.

If you take your season limit in one day in Region B, you’ll need a National Guard unit to help you get all that meat out of the woods.

Don’t forget, new hunting regulations will be issued this year following public meetings in March. You can be a part of the decision making process that will establish the regulations that will be in place through the 2009-2010 hunting season. We’ll let you know how to become involved.Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.