Howard County officials have drastically reduced the number of hunters who will be allowed to participate in the deer hunt in the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area set for next month.
Original plans called for 125 hunters to begin taking deer from the site on the edge of west Columbia earlier this month. That was delayed when local residents questioned the credentials of those taking to the woods with weapons.
Now, officials say 26 hunters will be approved for the hunt, set for Jan. 5 until Feb. 6.
"I want a safe hunt," County Executive Charles I. Ecker said. "If there was any doubt about any of the 125 [hunters], they were screened out. I'm not saying the 125 were not safe, but I had to be 200 percent sure."
Officials approved 26 -- who come from across the state -- after individual interviews. Only 10 will be allowed to hunt at a time.
The managed hunt will take place in 300 acres of the heavily wooded, 630-acre park that borders the Columbia villages of Hickory Ridge, River Hill and Harper's Choice, where residents complain of deer on the roads and in gardens, and fear the spread of Lyme disease.
Last week, about 100 hunters were interviewed by county recreation and parks officials and hunting safety instructors. They answered about 20 questions on topics that ranged from their hunting experience and their concerns on reducing the mushrooming deer population to their knowledge of hunting regulations.
Hunters also were questioned about how they would act if approached while hunting by fearful area residents.
"This hunt isn't a trophy hunt," said John Byrd, a park official who is helping to organize the hunt. "This is strictly population reduction."
After the interviews, the top 30 hunters were selected. Four of the hunters were eliminated when it was found that they had previous violations, such as hunting without a license or poaching.
Originally, hunters needed only a valid state hunting license, a 1997 state shooter's qualification card and a valid hunter safety card -- the same requirements needed to hunt in the state's largest managed hunt at Fort Meade -- to qualify for the Columbia hunt. On that basis, the 125 were selected.
Gene Barth, a hunter-safety instructor for Howard County who helped with the interviews, said he was wary of the hunting skills of those 125.
