Photo by BillKinney.com

By Gary Diamond

Hunters experienced varying degrees of success during the 2003-04 white-tailed deer seasons in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. Traditionally, there seem to be some parallels between both Maryland and New Jersey's overall harvest figures. This dates back more than two decades to a time when harvests were a mere fraction of what they are today. However, last season's whitetail harvest seemed to have gone awry in Maryland where the overall harvest dropped by nearly 6 percent. In contrast, New Jersey's harvest increased by just over 5 percent.

It's entirely possible that New Jersey's increase resulted from improved hunter access to locations that were previously closed to all forms of hunting. This is particularly true in many of the urban sprawl areas where tract housing, vast shopping malls and industrial development has essentially created small, encapsulated parcels of woodlands surrounded by various forms of developments.

While deer can adapt to their new surroundings, their populations grow rapidly to well beyond the carrying capacity of these small parcels of land. The problem is compounded when these areas are closed to all forms of hunting, thereby eliminating hunting as an effective management tool.

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) recently decided to take a more aggressive stance in managing the state's deer populations. This was accomplished by lengthening hunting seasons, increasing bag limits, expanding the number of hunting permits issued, plus offering additional incentives for hunters to harvest larger numbers of antlerless deer.

Obviously, hunters cannot control deer populations in dense suburban settings. This is mainly an issue of safety. However, some townships also prohibit the discharge of firearms on public lands, ordinances that over the years have allowed deer numbers to increase dramatically. The same is true on private properties where young urbanites feel hunting whitetail deer is akin to shooting Bambi.

In trying to cope with these types of situations where sport hunting is not considered a viable management tool, the DFW has established a new Community-Based Deer Management Program (CBDMP). While the program was created in 1995 to explore alternative methods of deer population control, it has only been during recent years that the project has made inroads into many of the state's small, fragmented, isolated wood lots.

Zone 8, which is located in that highly productive northwest quadrant, is located at the confluence of Warren, Hunterdon and Morris counties. This particular zone consists of rolling hills, heavily wooded valleys, small to midsize agricultural operations and towering stands of hardwoods atop mountains that soar to 1,200 feet above sea level.

The latest statistics reveal that New Jersey hunters bagged 5,721 whitetails in this zone, which is slightly fewer than last year's harvest of 5,767 deer. According to New Jersey's wildlife managers, the harvest in this area is well balanced; however, the deer population remains extremely high at 60 to 70 animals per square mile. Additionally, this is one of the state's problem areas with crop damage.

In Zone 12, which is located just south of Zone 8 and split down the middle by the Hunterdon/Somerset county line, has similar topography, consisting mainly of small to midsize farms nestled in picturesque valleys surrounded by towering peaks of New Jersey's highest mountains.

Hell Mountain and Round Top are between the area's two highest peaks, both of which are located in the heavily wooded Tewksbury region. Hunters bagged a total of 4,900 whitetails here last season, of which 1,659 were taken in the permit shotgun season alone. Bowhunters harvested 1,104 deer.

While the majority of the deer were taken from the western segment of this particular zone, there were some exceptionally large bucks bagged from the largely agricultural segment along the zone's eastern perimeter. In these problem areas, where crop damage complaints are constantly heard, the average herd density ranges from 60 to 70 deer per square mile, and higher at locations where hunter access is limited.

The towering peaks of the Kittatinny Mountains to the west border of Zone 5 are centrally located in Warren and Sussex counties. These peaks rise to nearly 1,400 feet at their highest elevations, then slowly fall to 500 feet above sea level at Swartswood Lake.

If you're looking for the highest concentration of deer in New Jersey, look no farther than Zone 10. More than 70 deer per square mile inhabit this area, a midsize zone situated in the southwest corner of Warren County and northwest corner of Hunterdon County. The eastern segment of the zone is quite rugged and encompasses the towering peaks of Scotts and Pohatcong mountains, both of which reach to heights of 1,000 feet or more. The closest major town is Phillipsburg, a relatively small hamlet perched on Delaware River's eastern shore. Hunters bagged 4,013 whitetails here last season, with more than 1,100 taken during the permit shotgun season alone. There are lots of opportunities here to bag that once-in-a-lifetime buck as well, but that's another story.

Western Maryland whitetails spend much of their time browsing on greenery that is well off the beaten path, mainly in high mountain meadows where the only access is via footpaths that fan out from dirt roads. This is the case in Frederick County's Catoctin Mountains, which are part of the city of Frederick's Municipal Forest lands.

Free State hunters bagged a total of 8,168 whitetails in this area, of which 3,616 were bucks. While the number of bucks was a bit lower than in past seasons, the current ratio between bucks and does harvested is far better than it was just a decade ago. Back then, local hunters considered does off-limits and refused to shoot anything that didn't have antlers. During the past year, 4,552 antlerless deer were taken in this county alone, a figure that had wildlife biologists smiling when the final tally was recorded.

Washington County, where the terrain is extremely rugged, consists of towering peaks reaching to elevations of nearly 1,700 feet at the southern end of Fairview Mountain. Nearby, Bear Pond and Heartstone mountains rise to nearly 2,000 feet with some of the rocky outcrops exceeding that elevation.

Hunters harvested 7,283 whitetails from this particular county, 3,494 does and 3,789 antlered bucks, a ratio that wildlife managers were extremely happy with. This is one of the few counties where biologists have succeeded in controlling the burgeoning whitetail population, and it was only accomplished with the cooperation of hunters who were more than happy to target antlerless deer.

Garrett County hunters braved the elements and conquered rugged peaks exceeding 3,000 feet in search of the elusive whitetails that roam the heights of Meadow Mountain in Savage River State Forest. While the mountains are laced with myriad dirt roads, most of the best hunting often takes place not far from civilization.

A significant number of exceptionally large bucks and does came from the fringes of apple orchards, for which this part of Maryland is quite famous. Again, this is one of the counties where wildlife managers feel they've been quite successful in controlling the growth of whitetail herds, especially in areas that are open to public hunting. Some of the largest state forests and parks in Maryland can be found in Garrett County, where 6,432 whitetails were bagged last season.

Allegany County's deer herds are finally in balance, where a 50/50 harvest ratio between antlered and antlerless deer has been achieved for the past several years. Hunters bagged a total of 5,776 whitetails from the towering peaks of Piney and Wills mountains, of which 2,861 were antlered bucks and 2,915 were does.

Again, you must be in top physical condition to access some of the most productive areas, many of which are small mountain meadows surrounded by towering stands of hardwoods. A narrow dirt road leads to the 2,300-foot ridge that runs due north from Braddock Heights, access that is only open during bow season.

When the snow hits in western Maryland's mountains, many hunters opt to hunt closer to home in heavily populated Baltimore County. While hunters only bagged 5,746 whitetails here last season, you must keep in mind that the success rate likely exceeded 90 percent.

Hunters were permitted to bag as many antlerless deer as they wished in this particular area of the state, which is the result of an all-out effort by Maryland's Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologists to try to manage a growing deer herd.

There are no public lands in this county that are open to hunting, therefore, hunters must rely on obtaining permission to hunt from a dwindling number of small operation farmers. State parks that are overrun with whitetails, some of which exceed 150 deer per square mile, are still closed to all forms of hunting. Therefore, the only locations still open to hunters are adjacent farmlands, locations where farmers can no longer tolerate increasing financial losses created by marauding herds of whitetails.

Hunters who do a bit of pre-season scouting, and then contact landowners who are obviously plagued by deer, have a good opportunity to enjoy some of the most productive hunting in the entire mid-Atlantic Region.

"Sussex County will likely account for half the total harvest, while Kent County will account for about 30 percent, and New Castle County will make up the other 20 percent."

Biologist Reynolds says Delaware is currently trying to open more days to firearms hunters, who currently only have one week to hunt. "What we are proposing is to add one day to our October muzzleloader season. And then most of the other Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays in October would be designated as hunters' choice days, times when any legal hunting weapon could be used to hunt deer.

"The exception to this would be the one day preceding the start of muzzleloader season. While there is some opposition to this proposal from bowhunters, keep in mind that bow season currently exceeds 100 days, and bowhunters can also use a bow during firearms season. This gives them a total of 130 or more days of bowhunting in comparison to a very brief firearms season," he said.

Reynolds says the wildlife agency is constantly dealing with deer damage issues, and this is one of the best ways to increase the state's overall harvest. Reynolds says part of the proposal includes giving hunters two extra doe tags with the purchase of their hunting license.

"Generally speaking, unless the average hunter has access to deer damage tags issued to certain farms, he or she will only be able to kill two antlerless deer when they buy a hunting license. Under the proposal, in addition to the two antlerless tags, each hunter would also get two doe tags, thereby increasing the general bag limit from two to four deer."

Among Delaware's most productive areas are the dense hardwood stands that are situated on small hummocks in Burnt and Cypress swamps, both of which are surrounded by large agricultural operations that primarily grow corn, soybeans and winter wheat. Local folklore claims the swamp's whitetails have webbed feet and can walk on water just as if it were dry land.

In reality, the deer have narrow, well-beaten paths that wind through the swamp, all of which seem to connect hummock to hummock like the bridges in South Florida that connect the Florida Keys. Crop damage at farms adjacent to the swamps is beyond comprehension, with some farmers claiming up to 50 percent of the corn crop being destroyed annually.

Sportsmen who can obtain permission to hunt these areas frequently enjoy success rates exceeding 90 percent. This is also one of the regions where big bucks abound, especially in the swampy terrain near Salisbury, Maryland.

Next month, we'll take a close look at where all those big bucks came from in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. You'll be amazed at just how many of each state's largest bucks came from locations just a short distance from major metropolitan centers.