CUMBERLAND — The buck kill of 535 from the first weekend of Maryland’s firearms season is up noticeably in Allegany County, according to Brian Eyler of the Maryland Wildlife Service.
“A year ago on the same two days, there were 408 bucks checked in,” Eyler said Wednesday.
The season continues through Dec. 10.
Eyler said there was a slight increase in the buck harvest in Garrett County on the first Saturday and Sunday of the season, 553 this year compared to 542 a year ago.
Statewide, the opening weekend gave up 15,598 deer. From mid-Washington County eastward, antlerless deer were also legal game.
“We were happy to see the increase in the buck harvest in Allegany County,” Eyler said. “There were fewer acorns this year and that likely had the deer moving around more as they fed.”
Although the opening days were a little warm, according to Eyler, the weather was such that hunters stayed afield throughout daylight.
“The opening weekend accounts for about one-third of the firearms season harvest,” Eyler said.
After having only one hunter bring a deer for chronic wasting disease sampling during the October muzzleloader season, the agency chose to close a surveillance station in Green Ridge State Forest.
“Instead, we put our people at meat processors and right now have 150 to 200 deer sampled,” Eyler said. A buck killed in that area a year ago was confirmed as the state’s first with CWD.
Hunting pressure on the Green Ridge State Forest continues to decrease. Eyler said 304 vehicles were counted there on opening day compared to 387 a year ago and 560 in 2008.
“Out car counts on the other public lands such as Warrior Mountain, Dan’s Mountain and Mount Nebo are pretty stable,” he said.
Young Maryland firearms hunters who have two days set aside for them in mid-November were particularly successful this year in far Western Maryland.
In Allegany County, those youthful hunters bagged 96 bucks and 88 antlerless deer compared to 69 and 46 in 2010.
Of the bucks, 13 were 8-pointers and 20 were 6-pointers.
In Garrett County, 230 bucks were checked in along with 163 antlerless deer. The buck harvest included 12 9-pointers, 50 8-pointers and 29 6-pointers.
A year ago there were 153 bucks and 87 antlerless in Garrett.
“The deer were really moving around that weekend and made them available to the young hunters,” said the agency’s Clarissa Harris.
When the junior hunt and the first weekend of firearms season are combined, the buck harvest in Allegany has been 631 and in Garrett 783.
Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.
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