Hunting Season Starts Soon: Be Careful Out There

Regular hunting seasons start soon, so groundhog hunters who have been in happy oblivion all Spring and Summer need to remember that they could have company on some of the farms they hunt.

A few Maryland hunting season dates are appended below for general reference -- check your own Department of Natural Resources web site for hunting seasons in your area.

I note that the limits on deer in Maryland and Virginia are quite a bit different. Basically, Virginia limits hunters to 4 or 5 deer (depending on your section of the state) unless you have a special ticket (which is very easy to get), but Maryland has, for all practical purposes, removed all real limits on deer hunting in Region B (almost all of the state) in an effort to knock deer populations to a manageable level.

By my count, if you hunt blackpowder, bow and regular long gun (rifle/shotgun), you can shoot 36 deer -- more if you want to bow hunt the rural Baltimore-Washington suburbs. The catch: you are restricted on antlered deer, and must shoot at least two does before you can take your second buck. In Maryland Region A (a tiny region consisting of just two counties) deer hunting is restricted to one buck and one doe due to overharvesting in past years.

It's worth remembering that both Maryland and Virginia had effectively killed off all their deer by 1900, and the state of Virginia was still importing deer into some parts of the state as late as the mid 1960s. What a difference a few decades can make!

Maryland's deer population in 2004-2005 was estimated to be about 250,000, and that year hunters killed 93,868 deer. Of this total, 19,193 were taken by bowhunters and 23,130 were taken by blackpowder hunters. The rest (about half of all the deer taken) were taken with rifle and shotgun.

Deer populations remain pretty steady across the state of Maryland, but in the Baltimore-Washington corridor the number of deer in the rural suburbs is so thick that unlimited bow hunting is permitted.

In 2004, there were 4,297 reported fatal deer-vehicle strikes in Maryland. Since the average deer-car strike results in $2,800 in damage, we can figure a state-wide deer-lreated car repair loss of over $12,000,000.

Hunting is estimated to generate over $82 million in retail sales of deer hunting equipment and supplies in Maryland every year -- a number that does not factor in other economic engines to the states, such as travel, gasoline, veterinary care for hunting dogs, etc.

In 2004 Maryland deer hunters donated over 60 tons of venison to the needy through the nonprofit organization Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry.

OK, enough trivia. Some Maryland hunting season start dates, by critter:

• The early resident goose season is Sept. 1-22. The early season carries a generous five-per day limit. In short -- "knock yourself out" -- a pretty far remove from 50 years ago when the Canada Goose was virtually extinct.
  
  
• Deer bow season starts Sept. 15 and runs off and on through the end of January, depending on your location. The limit here is pretty generous if you are meat hunting: 10 antlerless and 2 antlered. Two antlerless deer must be taken before a second antlered deer can be taken. Bow hunters may take an unlimited number of antlerless deer within the suburban counties of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Prince GeorgeÂ’s counties -- an indication of how big the deer problem is in the Maryland suburbs.
  
  
• Deer firearms season starts Nov 11 for juniors and Nov 25th for adults and runs off and on until Jan 6th. The limit here is pretty generous if you are meat hunting: 10 antlerless and 2 antlered. Two antlerless deer must be taken before a second antlered deer can be taken.
  
  
• Deer black powder season starts October 18 and runs to the end of December. The limit here is pretty generous if you are meat hunting: 10 antlerless and 2 antlered. Two antlerless deer must be taken before a second antlered deer can be taken.
  
  
• Dove and squirrel seasons open Sept. 2. The dove season is a three-way split: Sept. 2-23; Oct. 7-Nov. 4 and Dec. 28-Jan. 15.
  
  
• Squirrel hunting season is Sept. 2-Jan. 31.
  
  
• Rail hunting is Sept. 8-Nov. 16.
  
  
• There is a special early Teal (duck) season open Sept. 16-25, with a four-daily limit. Other waterfowl dates will be set soon.
  
  
• Wild Turkey fall season starts Oct 28 and runs to Nov 4
  
  
• Black bear in Maryland has two short season at the end of October and the beginning of December.
  
  
• Woodcock season is Nov. 4-18 and Dec. 23-Jan. 6. The limit is three.
  
  
• Rabbit season starts Nov. 4 and runs through mid-February with a 4-per day bag limit.