Decisions, decisions! Like a kid turned loose in a candy store with a pocketful of change, Maryland hunters might be wondering what to hunt as they drool over the season openings of the next few weeks.
It?s not that we don?t already have a bunch of game in season. There are current, in-season choices of Region A and B archery deer season, mourning dove, rail (all of them ? clapper, king, Virginia and sora), ruffed grouse, snipe, crow and squirrel.
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Shortly, we can look to hunting for ducks (Oct. 14), black bear (Oct. 23, but only if you have a lottery permit!), turkey (Oct. 28), fox (Nov. 1 west of the Chesapeake Bay and Nov. 15 east of the bay), woodcock (Nov. 3), rabbit and pheasant (Nov. 4), quail (Nov. 4, except closed in Allegany and Garrett counties), along with some other miscellaneous species. Check the 2006-2007 Guide to Hunting & Trapping in Maryland for complete details.
Prospects for all look good, according to Paul Peditto, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources? wildlife and heritage service director. All game, he noted, is dependent upon available food and cover. For those with permits, black bear should be good, with the season quota of 35 to 55 bears projectedto fill up in the first few days. Turkey have a lot of available mast in oak and hickory forests, and hunting should be good by breaking up big flocks and calling them back, Peditto suggested.
Look for thick, low areas for woodcock hunting, which can be good when found as they are flying through. Rabbits and quail are best in fallow, unmowed fields, with quail favoring soybeans in southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore. Grouse are mixed with squirrels where a shotgun in place of the .22 might be in order.
It goes on and on ? you know the game and you know when and where to hunt, with no down side to the current fall prospects.
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Those who hunt and shoot and those who don?t are both welcome at the Baltimore County Game & Fish Protective Association?s NRA Day on Oct. 14 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event is free, and you can learn about firearms and get instruction in shotgun, handgun, rifle and air gun shooting from certified NRA instructors.
Vendors, Civil War re-enactors and hunting displays are also included, along with a talk from NRA president-elect John Sigler, who will be available 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch (for a fee) will be available on-site. The event will be held at the association property, 3400 Northwind Road in Carney, Md., about three miles north of the Beltway (Exit 31A) off Harford Road. Call 410-206-9299 for directions/details.
C. Boyd Pfeiffer is an internationally known sportsman and award-winning writer on fishing, hunting, and the outdoors, and he has more than 20 books to his credit. He can be reached at [email protected].
