Deer Meat

A black Labrador retriever that sniffs out bear and deer meat is the state's newest weapon against poachers in Western Maryland.Apache, who at 49 pounds is slightly smaller than most Labradors, sniffs out concealed bear and deer meat much like a narcotics detection dog noses out cocaine and other illegal substances, said John Milbourne, a Maryland Natural Resources Police officer.The wildlife detection dog, trained by Rudy Drexler's School for Dogs in Elkhart, Ind., will be used in poaching investigations and highway check points -- in searches for concealed meat from illegal kills -- in Garrett, Allegany, Washington and Frederick counties.

Store owner fined for selling venisonA District Court judge fined the owner of a Gambrills food market $1,000 yesterday for selling deer meat from his store last year.Raymond M. Jerman, 52, who owns Jerman's IGA Foodliner on Route 175, also was given probation before judgment in the case.Mr. Jerman was arrested in February 1992 by undercover officers from the Maryland Natural Resources Police, who said they bought 14 pounds of white-tailed deer meat from him in February 1992 and another 19 pounds in December.

Except for some misunderstanding about who was supposed to pay for the butchering costs, a program that put the hunters' bounty into the kitchens of the needy worked well, said those involved in it.Hunters are starting a drive now to raise $40,000 by next year to pay for processing deer they will donate.This was the first year for the statewide Hunters Harvestshare, a program in which hunters organized a distribution of their extra rTC deer meat to the Maryland Food Committee and its satellite agencies such as Carroll County Food Sunday.

Venison stew, venison loaf and ground venison may soon beef up the menu at Maryland shelters and soup kitchens.The state's two-week firearms season for deer starts Nov. 28, and at least two sportsmen's organizations say they will urge hunters to donate all or part of their kill to benefit the Maryland Food Bank and the Salvation Army.The Maryland Deer Hunters Association, with support from the state Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Division, is preparing to launch "Hunters Harvest-share."

Four deer were shot and killed yesterday by a Queen Anne's County deputy sheriff after the animals -- apparently reacting to their own reflections -- crashed through two windows of a Centreville nursing home and ran amok in two offices."

If the thought of venison doesn't whet your appetite, you've never heard Charlie Magee describe the way he cooks venison roasts at his cabin in West Virginia."