"Before we made the plunge two years ago, we had examined other states that had done the same thing.

"We talked at length with them. Their positive response encouraged us to embark on the same process."

Hotton said there are numerous public lands, particularly in the central and eastern portions of the state, where hunters can expect a good chance at putting venison in the freezer.

The Chesapeake Forest lands, which include nearly 60,000 acres in four eastern Maryland counties, continue to serve as excellent examples of public land in a deer-rich portion of the state.

"We've got a really good system on our Web site ( www.dnr.state.md.us) where you can download maps of the Chesapeake Forest lands," noted Hotton. "In terms of simply harvesting a deer, another good option is the special hunts that take place on certain state and county parks."

The annual hunting guide, as well as the Web site, contains detailed information on such special hunts and how they are administered.

The early muzzleloader season has been in place for over 10 years now, and offers still more great chances for hunters eager to bag a deer.

"For folks looking to put venison in the freezer, the early muzzleloader season is a good opportunity," said Hotton.

"In Region A, there are three days. In Region B there are three days, plus the six additional days of antlerless hunting."

Hotton notes that despite fewer hunting days being available, hunters take more deer during the early muzzleloader season than during the two-week late muzzleloader season.

The Idylwild Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Caroline County near Federalsburg is a 3,800-acre public land that Hotton feels is a good choice for deer hunters. Idylwild WMA contains a mix of bottomland and upland, and cover ranging from mature hardwoods to loblolly and Virginia pine forests.

NEW JERSEY
As with Maryland's, New Jersey's 2006 deer harvest ran on a par with recent seasons, with a slight downside.

"In general, last season's deer harvest was nearly the same or slightly above the previous year," said Carole Kandoth, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife's (DFW) deer project manager. "There was a decrease in the southern portion of the state, in the Pinelands."

The 2006 season provided a total harvest of 56,673 deer, down a bit from the 59,652 taken in 2005. As usual, the top county was Hunterdon, with 10,697 deer being harvested. Other top counties included Sussex, Warren, Burlington and Somerset.

To manage New Jersey's whitetail numbers, a rather complex plan is used, including various bow seasons and firearms seasons. At one time, the herd was managed on a county basis, but the state is now divided up into 67 deer management zones (or DMZs).

According to the DFW, these DMZs are areas with similar herd characteristics, hunting pressure and deer habitat. Highways, rivers and other easily identifiable landmarks bound these zones. Various sets of regulations are formulated each year to tailor deer-hunting regulations to specific deer-management areas.

Last season's highest deer harvest took place, as usual, in the north-central portion of the state. DMZ 8 accounted for the top deer kill, with 4,968. That included 1,524 deer from the fall bow season, 573 via the permit bow season, 50 from the youth day hunts, 804 from the six-day firearms season, 575 from the permit muzzleloader season and 1,364 from the permit shotgun season. Another 78 deer were taken during the winter bow season.

New Jersey's deer harvests have dropped a bit, stabilizing from the high kills experienced during the late 1990s and early 2000 seasons, when harvests sometimes reached well over 70,000 deer.

During our discussion, Kandoth predicted this fall's seasons would produce harvests much in line with those of the past couple of years.

"I have no reason to believe the hunt will produce much different results this fall than from the previous few seasons," she said.

"Harvest peaks have leveled out. I don't see why this fall would be any different."