In a little more than two months, probably sometime in March, the Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service will conduct public hearings about changes to the hunting regulations that will be in effect from the fall of 2010 through the spring of 2012.
It is not too early for you to start thinking about changes you would like to see. And, quite frankly, if I were you and had an idea about a change to a regulation, I’d get it to them now so they can chew on it a little bit and consider it as an option before coming up with official proposals in March.
I don’t know where to tell you to send it. Try Pete Jayne. He deals with a lot of wildlife things. Cyber him at pjayne@dnr.state.md.us.
Maybe you are a turkey hunter who thinks the fall season of only six days is way too short. Maybe you think wild turkey hunting for either sex birds could also take place for another five days during that week after the rifle deer season ends, but before the late muzzleloader season starts.
Maybe you are a spring turkey hunter who thinks there is no good reason for making you leave the woods at noon instead of allowing you to hunt all day.
Could be that you are a person who has applied religiously for a bear hunting permit, but just can’t get lucky. Maybe you would want the state to triple the number of permits or just shorten the season or the harvest target and let everybody hunt. Kentucky does it.
I have a feeling that the state’s deer managers may manipulate our Region A deer bag limits a little. I’m not sure how and they haven’t shared anything with me. Just a feeling.
In fact, I have a feeling they may actually manipulate Region A, perhaps bringing Washington County into it. An enormous number of deer have been whacked and stacked in Washington County in recent years.
We all have different ideas about how our hunting regulations should be written, but I believe too that we share the common goal of wanting the best for our wildlife resources.
When the public hearings take place this coming spring, I encourage you to attend and participate. There is usually one scheduled in Cumberland.
And, for those of you who remember the movie “The Graduate,” there is this.
Mr. Robinson: “I have one word for you, Benjamin.”
Benjamin: “One word, Mr. Robinson?”
Mr. Robinson: “One word, Benjamin.”
Benjamin: “What is that, Mr. Robinson?”
Mr. Robinson: “Crossbows.”
Benjamin: “Crossbows, Mr. Robinson?”
Mr. Robinson: “Crossbows, Benjamin.”
As we approach the public regulation hearings, keep that word in mind... crossbows.
W.Va. trout
John McCoy, outdoor editor at the Charleston Gazette, recently reported that the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources has plenty of trout to stock beginning this week, but is a bit concerned that the heavy snows will keep the hatchery trucks from getting to all of the waters.
Bear harvest gender
Of the 68 bears killed during the Maryland season in October, 27 were males and 41 were females.
Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.. His column and the Outdoors page will return to the Cumberland Times-News on Jan. 17.
Michael A Sawyers - Outdoors
Hunt regs up for talk
- Michael A Sawyers - Outdoors
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Worm dunkers still persona non grata
The studyWhen Bob Hilderbrand was an undergraduate student at Frostburg State University, he had a part-time job electrofishing the upper tributaries of the Savage River and reporting the results to Ray Morgan at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science - Appalachian Lab. -
They have their ways
“Brrrrrrrt! Brrrrrrrt!” my phone vibrates in my shirt pocket. Sometimes when that happens I think that I just burped.“Hello?” -
Md. hunt rules being formed
The Maryland Wildlife & Heritage Service, currently in the early stages of setting hunting regulations for the next two years, envisions no changes to the deer bag limits in Region A (Garrett, Allegany and western Washington counties).On the other hand, substantial changes are being eyeballed for Region B, which is all of Maryland from Clear Spring eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. -
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Is it legal for Maryland Natural Resources Police officers to walk onto your private land?
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Wapiti survey begins
What’s up with this elk stuff anyway?
I’m speaking, of course, about the news announced this past August that some folks are going to look around Garrett and Allegany counties to see if it would be feasible to reintroduce Rocky Mountain elk. Elk used to live here, you know. -
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Mother Earth, having been around as long as she has, should be given the right to choose elective surgery when needed rather than have exploratory surgery forced upon her.
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Gobblers hunted on Sundays; sun still rises
See. It wasn’t the end of the world.
Well, wait a minute. I better check before I speak too quickly.
Getting on the Internet, hmmmm, hmm! Yahoo now. Hmmmm! Nope, nothing there. Checking Bing. OK. Now MSN. -
2011 was a very (insert adjective) year
As January started, grumbling could be heard on both sides of the North Branch of the Potomac River.
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Progress in eye of beholder
Folks in the state-run hunting and fishing industry are always looking for ways to attract new license buyers.
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W.Va. buck kill up
I have always thought that the wildlife biologists for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources were brave. Each year, about the middle of November, they predict the buck kill for the upcoming firearms season.
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