He said the agency hasn't done the research to tie the connection of suburban deer populations to older age-class deer, but feels there is good potential in such areas to down an exceptional buck -- especially for bowhunters. Whenever hunting opportunities are limited, such as by development, the chances increase for deer to live longer.

For example, Hotton cited the bowhunting found within the Prettyboy and Liberty reservoir properties.

"Though they are located in Baltimore County and are open to the public, when you limit hunting to bows, you limit the effectiveness of the hunter. Some bucks will live an extra year or two," noted Hotton.

NEW JERSEY
Like many areas in the eastern United States, deer management in the Garden State is a complex one.

Balancing the needs of society, available whitetail habitat, and a thriving whitetail population is not an easy task, particularly in New Jersey, where development is commonplace in many regions.

For several seasons now, one of the main focuses of New Jersey's deer program has been to reduce overall deer numbers in many areas of the state. As was pointed out in Part 1 of the Deer Forecast, this is still the case. Because the reduction of deer densities is typically directed toward the antlerless segment of the population, this can also benefit the antlered deer.

New Jersey is also in the midst of an experimental multi-year program aimed at determining the value of antler restrictions in regard to creating more balanced deer populations.

The study is not yet complete, but the results at this point do not suggest that antler restrictions are having their desired effect.

According to Carole Kandoth, principal biologist for the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife's (DFW) Deer Research Project, antler restrictions were established in some zones on an experimental basis to determine the regulation's effectiveness in producing older age-class deer. Inasmuch as hunting can be controlled, unlike natural events such as the annual mast production, the idea is to see how the regulation affects the quality of bucks being produced. The antler restriction requires that bucks taken from certain zones have at least three points on one side of their rack.

Kandoth noted that after having been in use in select deer management zones (DMZs) for about eight years, the antler restriction doesn't appear to be having the desired effect of producing older larger-racked bucks. Earlier this year, a change was made in this regard, with the elimination of the antler restriction in Deer Management Zone 6.

On a general scale, Kandoth said that while good bucks are taken from various areas of New Jersey, odds are better in the northern portion of the state.

"The agricultural areas tend to be the places that produce the highest numbers of big bucks," noted the biologist.

When asked if any particular public areas stand out in their ability to produce older deer, she stated many of New Jersey's public areas have trophy potential.

"Many New Jersey hunters became accustomed to seeing lots of deer during the days when deer populations were high," she said. "Now that deer numbers have been brought down to more reasonable levels, many have not made the adjustment in their hunting tactics."

Kandoth is referring to the fact that the majority of hunters don't venture too far into the woods, even on public areas. This allows tremendous trophy-deer potential for hunters willing to stretch their legs.

"Most hunters tend to drive around the perimeter of public areas, park, and walk a short distance into the woods," she noted. "The interior of many public areas harbor older age-class deer that see little in the way of hunting pressure. If you want to kill an older buck, you need to hike in."