In Baltimore County, the Hammerman Area of Gunpowder State Park has a whitetail population that boggles the mind. Latest herd density estimates ranged from 210 to 240 deer per square mile. So it's no surprise that this herd has consumed every living plant from the forest floor to a height of 6 feet.

During the summer months, picnickers and hikers encounter deer that are now so hungry that they've taken to panhandling for food. Some individuals talked about young fawns walking up to their picnic tables and trying to grab a piece of food directly from the table. However, when it was suggested that this area be opened to limited numbers of hunters, the major opposition came from Maryland's own Park Service, claiming they didn't see the deer as being a problem. Later that same year, signs were posted at the park warning people not to feed the deer.

While a managed deer hunt was conducted at the Hammerman Area last fall, it was limited to a small area adjacent to the old marina where very little browse remained. Thus, the number of deer bagged was not nearly what wildlife managers had hoped for. If locations closer to Dundee Creek Marina and the Hammerman park section allowed hunting, the harvest would have been considerably higher. Another very limited hunt has been planned for the same area again this fall, and wildlife managers anticipate the harvest will be similar to last season's.

What do bowhunters in the Mid-Atlantic region have in store for them during the upcoming archery seasons? If current whitetail population trends continue, bagging six or more deer during the fall and winter bow seasons would not be out of the realm of possibility.

MARYLAND DEER HUNTING
"I'm seeing a half-dozen deer every day while out walking my dog," said Forest Hill resident Walt Young. "They're bedding down just inside the edge of the woods behind my house, and sometimes there are a couple of does bedded down underneath the neighbor's spruce trees that are 20 feet from the street. At night, when I'm coming home from work, it's not unusual to see 25 to 30 or more deer standing in one small field at the end of my road. I've never seen this many deer in more than 30 years of hunting in Maryland."

Young has been hunting a small patch of woods directly behind his Harford County home. During the past decade, he annually bagged an average of seven to eight deer. More often than not, he'll bag a big doe on opening day of bow season, which he says puts fresh venison steaks in the freezer. Then he gets a bit more serious and selective, looking for that big 12-pointer that during the past two years has been tearing up his vegetable garden at night. "Maybe I'll get a clean shot with the bow this fall when the deer begin to go into rut. If not, there's always shotgun season."

While Harford County hunters only bagged 885 whitetails during the 2004-05 archery season, the total number of deer does not often reflect hunter success rates. High deer herd densities, particularly in small wood lots, often produce overall hunter success rates approaching 100 percent. While in western Maryland's Washington County where 1,307 deer were harvested during the same period, the overall hunter success rate may only be 60 percent.