Fewer hunters in the deer woods and cold, crisp days can add up to some of the new year's best hunting. Photo by Michael H. Francis

Maryland's white-tailed deer population growth seems to have stabilized in many of the state's urban and rural areas, but problems seem to persist in much of suburbia. Some of this can be directly attributed to the fragmentation of woodlands created by urban sprawl, thus creating deer sanctuaries.

These are locations where traditional hunting methods cannot be employed, especially the use of firearms. The end result is that, in these particular locations, whitetail herd densities are often extremely high.

"During the second half of January, Maryland hunters will be permitted to hunt with a crossbow," said Doug Hotton, Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) leading white-tailed deer biologist.

"Late January is the time for those who haven't tried crossbow hunting to give it a try. They'll be able to hunt from Jan. 16-31 statewide, and there will be no restrictions; all hunters will be able to hunt with a crossbow. This is somewhat of a departure from our regular crossbow regulations; we hope this will expand hunting opportunities to locations where firearms hunting is not feasible. Keep in mind, however, that anyone can use a crossbow during firearms and muzzleloader seasons; however, they must conform to regulations and bag limits pertaining to those particular seasons.

"Most folks wouldn't think this would be a big deal, but in those suburban areas where we have problems, there are several jurisdictions where local law prohibits the discharge of a firearm. There are places in Montgomery County where you cannot discharge a firearm for any reason. This may cover as much as two-thirds of that county; therefore, a crossbow can be a very effective method of bagging a whitetail, and in this particular environment, could be the only deer management tool available."

Hotton said DNR has conducted a survey during the past two years to determine the percentage of hunters who may wish to hunt with a crossbow. The survey's results may be the key to white-tailed deer management policies in suburban areas in the near future.

"When a person purchases a hunting license and accompanying bow stamp, we asked if they intended to hunt with a crossbow, and essentially about 20 percent of Maryland's resident bowhunters said they intended to hunt white-tailed deer with a crossbow. When it came to non-resident hunters, the figure was approximately 11 percent, which we still consider fairly high," Hotton said.

During the four-week crossbow season of 2004-05, which ran the first two weeks of October and last two weeks of January, crossbow hunters bagged 106 antlered deer and 245 antlerless deer. During the same period, bowhunters using conventional bows, longbows and compound bows, bagged a total of 1,249 antlered deer and 3,008 antlerless. While crossbow kills only amounted to a small percentage of the harvest, liberalization of the regulations and season will likely cause this percentage to rise in the next few years.

Keep in mind that Maryland's bow season is among the longest in the entire region, running from Sept. 15 until Jan. 31. Essentially, you have nearly five months to bag a whitetail. And if you hunt in Region B, the standard bag limit is two antlered deer and 10 antlerless. However, if you hunt in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery or Prince Georges counties, you can take an unlimited number of antlerless deer. Added to regular hunting days are several open Sunday dates during the bow season, which provides hunters with even more opportunities to bag a trophy buck or fat doe.