Early Muzzleloader

Hunters in four suburban counties were allowed to return to the woods yesterday afternoon, when Gov. Parris N. Glendening lifted the ban he imposed on Oct. 15 at the height of the sniper investigation. The ban gutted the six-day early muzzleloader season in Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties. The season ends one-half hour after sunset today. Paul Peditto, director of Wildlife and Heritage for the Department of Natural Resources, said sportsmen "took the high road.

The Department of Natural Resources announced proposed changes in hunting seasons and regulations late last week, including the possibility of a one-day deer hunt dedicated to junior hunters.Joshua L. Sandt, director of the Wildlife Division, said the junior hunt could be held Saturday, Nov. 18, with those under the age of 16 eligible to participate if they have passed a hunter safety course and are accompanied by a licensed hunter age 21 or older.Special youth hunts have been held in Southern Maryland, but the proposed one-day hunt would be open statewide.

Last fall's two-week deer firearms season did not harm the size nor condition of Maryland's herd. That was the conclusion reached by expert panelists and the majority attending Wednesday's public forum on last year's expanded whitetail deer firearm season.The forum was sponsored by the Conservation Federation of Maryland and held at Annapolis High.A strong turnout of interested hunters and wildlife conservationists listened to the positions of Russ Nichols, president of the Maryland Bowhunters Society, Clare "Hap" Baker, representing the Western Maryland Sportsmen Federation, and outdoor writer Bill Burton.

Starting next Sunday, many of the top sailors in the world will be racing out of the West River Sailing Club in Galesville during the Star North American Championships, running through Oct. 27.The list of entries in the 71-boat field reads like a who's who of championship racing, including Mark Reynolds, Rod Davis, Ross MacDonald, Vince Brun, Paul Cayard, John Kostecki and Bill Buchan.Reynolds (U.S), Davis (Australia) and MacDonald (Canada) were the gold, silver and bronze medalists in the class at the 1992 Olympics.

Next April, a 1,000-mile sailing race will start in Cuba and finish in Baltimore, possibly at the height of the annual Waterfront Festival at the Inner Harbor.Baltimore City and the Storm Trysail Club are organizing the race, which will be the longest on the East Coast. The course will begin in Havana and follow the Gulf Stream through the Florida Straits and up the East Coast to Chesapeake Bay. The finish line is expected to be off Fort McHenry."The Havana-Baltimore race provides an opportunity to build on the people-to-people exchanges with Cuba inaugurated with the Baltimore Orioles and Cuba baseball games," said Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke.

On Thursday, Maryland's experimental early muzzleloader hunting season for deer opens in all connties, with a bag limit of one for all hunters.The season closes Saturday.In Allegany, Carroll, Frederick and Washington counties, hunters may take only antlered deer. In all other counties, hunters may choose between antlered or antlerless deer.In Dorchester County, the three day season also is open to sika deer, antlered or antlerless.The experimental season, which was the subject of much debate at public meetings earlier this year, was put in to give a growing number of muzzleloader hunters an opportunity to hunt when conditions might be more favorable for them than the traditional black powder season in December.

With the bowhunting season for deer under way and the early muzzleloader split set to open Oct. 21, successful hunters might want to consider donating deer meat to needy families in the state through Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry.FHFH is a charitable organization that has donated some 50 tons of venison to food banks in the state over the past two years.FHFH is endorsed by the Department of Natural Resources, the Maryland Farm Bureau and major state sportsmen's groups."There is a real need for FHFH," said director Rick Wilson.

The two-week firearms season for deer opens across the state Saturday, with 100,000 hunters expected in the field and regulatory changes in place to help control burgeoning white-tailed deer populations in most counties.The firearms deer season, which closes Dec. 13, is the most popular hunting season in Maryland, with nine of every 10 hunters participating."Maryland's deer population is not only an important natural resource, but it is also a valuable economic benefit to the state," Department of Natural Resources Secretary John R. Griffin said.

Three years ago, realizing that hunters were not effectively controlling the numbers of deer in many areas of the state, the Department of Natural Resources started looking hard for hunting solutions to population control.Among the options were an early black powder season, an additional January season for modern firearms or an extension of the traditional one-week firearms season that starts in November.Two years ago, the traditional season for modern firearms was extended to two weeks, and now, with the deer population still expanding in all but the western counties, it is possible that DNR will move quickly toward a black powder season Oct. 20-22.

With no news on the moratorium on boat fishing at Liberty and Prettyboy reservoirs, let's turn to another budding controversy: deer.Three proposals have been floated by the Department of Natural Resources to control the expansion of deer. DNR and many landowners and farmers figure the time has come to slow the accelerating overpopulation of whitetails across the state.So, in addition to its proposal for a traditional modern firearmsseason Nov. 28-Dec. 5, DNR seeks comment on three options aimed at antlerless deer.