peel back effect

2-week firearms season for deer starts Nov. 28

County Times
Posted 11/25/20

ANNAPOLIS — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announces that the two-week firearms hunting season for sika and white-tailed deer opens Saturday, Nov. 28 and runs through Saturday, Dec. …

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2-week firearms season for deer starts Nov. 28

Posted

ANNAPOLIS — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announces that the two-week firearms hunting season for sika and white-tailed deer opens Saturday, Nov. 28 and runs through Saturday, Dec. 12. Sunday deer hunting is available in all but Anne Arundel, Howard and Prince George’s counties.

New this year, deer hunters may use rifles and handguns that employ straight-walled cartridges in all counties. Rifles and handguns that use bottleneck cartridges remain limited to those counties like Somerset that permitted them previously. More information on this change, along with season bag limits and other deer hunting regulations, are available in the 2020-2021 Maryland Guide to Hunting and Trapping.

The deer firearms season remains a critical component to deer population management, in addition to providing recreational opportunities for all resident and visiting hunters. Last year during firearms season Somerset County hunters bagged 1,028 white-tailed deer, a 2.4% increase over the prior year. That included 772 antlerless deer and 256 antlered, a category which was down compared to 2018.

“The two-week firearms season remains our most popular season with deer hunters,” Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Paul Peditto said. “It is a long-standing tradition for many of our hunters to get together with family and friends during these two weeks to pursue one of their favorite pastimes. The resulting harvest of approximately 30,000 deer contributes significantly to managing the state’s healthy deer population.”

During firearms season, Maryland requires deer hunters and their companions to wear daylight fluorescent orange or daylight fluorescent pink in one of the following manners: a cap of solid fluorescent daylight orange or pink, a vest or jacket containing back and front panels of at least 250 square inches of fluorescent daylight orange or pink, or an outer garment of camouflage daylight fluorescent orange or pink worn above the waist and containing at least 50 percent daylight fluorescent color.

Overall for the entire season when archery, firearms and muzzle-loaders were combined Somerset County hunters took 4.9% more deer in 2019-20 than 2018-19. While the total number of antlered deer was down, the antlerless count was up more than 15%. The totals were 649 antlered and 1,488 antlerless deer.

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