Deer Hunters

DEER HUNTERS in Maryland may be about to breach a 300-year-old precedent. In a last-minute vote, the General Assembly gave them permission for the first time in three centuries to bag their quarry on Sundays. Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is sure to be under pressure to veto the bill from hikers, birders, horseback riders and others who use the same woodlands on the weekends. But the measure as amended in the waning hours of the session requires of them such a small sacrifice -- only two Sundays a year, and only in the state's most rural counties -- that it represents a reasonable compromise worth the governor's approval.

Deer season began yesterday New Windsor, Carroll County, with the crack of an eggshell rather than the crack of a rifle shot. Rib-sticking breakfast -- St. Luke's Lutheran Church style -- was served by a hardy band of women who rose shortly after midnight to begin preparing the feast. The first dozen men in camouflage were waiting for the church doors to open at 3:30. They admitted that without the $4.75 breakfast, they'd be scrounging in the refrigerator for Thanksgiving leftovers, stopping at a convenience store, or worse.

As bow season opens tomorrow in Maryland and deer hunters elsewhere hit the woods this month, talk of venison steaks and antler racks is being overshadowed. Hunters are asking each other nervous questions along the lines of, "What happens if Bambi goes bad?" Chronic wasting disease, which attacks the brains of elk and some species of deer and kills the animals, has shown up in 10 states and two Canadian provinces. It has not been detected so far in Maryland or surrounding states. State wildlife officials announced plans this week to increase the monitoring and testing of Maryland's deer population, which is estimated at 225,000.

At the start of this century, Maryland's population of white-tailed deer was so small that hunting them was prohibited statewide in 1902. As the 21st century approaches, the whitetail is back in such force that the state is counting on hunters more than ever to thin the herd."

Maryland's new deer management plan, which divided the state into four hunting regions with independent bag limits for bow, muzzleloader and firearms hunters, is intended to "tailor" the deer kill according to the need for population control.In most parts of the state, the aim is toward thinning the number of breeders by emphasizing the hunt for antlerless deer. In far Western Maryland, however, the management goal is to maintain the deer population near present levels and antlered/antlerless ratio.

Trout fishing has been great throughout Carroll County's stocked put 'n' take streams and ponds these past couple of weeks, and thanks to additional scheduled stockings, it should remain great well into next month.Because of stocking, Beaver Run will be closed from 10 o'clock tonight to 5: 30 a.m. Saturday, to allow for the addition of 600 more trout to the Finksburg stream.I fished this longtime favorite of mine one afternoon last week and managed to take home three tasty 12- to 14-inch rainbows for the evening's dinner.

Under proposed deer hunting regulations, Carroll County hunters will be allowed to take a maximum of six whitetails beginning this fall.Bow hunters will be allowed one buck or doe plus an additional "bonus deer" with the purchase of a stamp. If the first deer taken was antler-less, the second may be buck or doe.Participants in each of the separate seasons (bow, muzzleloader, and modern firearms) are limited to a single antlered deer in each of those seasons.Muzzleloader hunters who have purchased a Bonus Deer Stamp may take an additional deer, but not during the early segment of the muzzleloader season.

The state Department of Natural Resources has yet to release its new, statewide management plan for deer in Maryland. But wildlife managers have released proposed regulations for the 1998-1999 hunting seasons, including bag limits that could allow individual hunters to take 36 deer by bow, modern firearms and muzzleloaders."

For the second time this week, a deer hunter has been killed in an accident involving a tree stand, Maryland Department of Natural Resources officials reported.Guy F. Bortmes, 38, was found dead early Wednesday under a tree near his home in the 1300 block of Chrome Hill Road in Jarrettsville, in Harford County, said John Surrick, a department spokesman.Investigators think Bortmes lost his footing when a step leading up to the tree stand broke and he fell 20 feet to the ground, fracturing his skull.

Maryland archers have been in their tree stands since September, and black-powder rifle fans took to the wood lots late last month, but for the vast majority of hunters, the real deer season begins Saturday. That is when the two-week traditional modern firearms hunt kicks off.Last year, Carroll County rifle and shotgun hunters bagged a record-setting 1,668 whitetails during this hunt, and I look for a bag tally approaching 1,850 by the time the hunt terminates on Dec. 13.However, look for a bit of a drop in opening-day success, because this year, Carroll deer hunters are limited to an antlered buck only from Nov. 29 to Dec. 6. Only from Dec. 8-13 will county hunters be allowed a choice of shooting a buck or doe.Last year in this county, rifle hunters bagged 1,076 bucks and 592 does.