As deer season approaches, I couldn’t help thinking back to the deer increase in my lifetime. The first deer season was met with a bunch of inexperienced deer hunters. We had no idea how to hunt deer in this area. Some hunters had hunted in other states, but for many of us, this was something new.
My first hunt was near Jarrettsville and my first gun was a single barreled, 12-gauge shotgun loaded with what was known as pumpkin balls, a solid lead round ball. I saw two deer but couldn’t see horns and it was at that time buck only, so no shot.
It was several years before I took my first deer and that was with a long bow. This was a six-point buck taken at Eastern Neck Island. Several years would pass before I took a small buck in Potter County, Pa., with a rifle.
Slowly the laws changed and I took several more deer here in Maryland with bow and shotgun. The weapons changed as shotgun barrels were made to shoot slugs. Also, the numbers of deer that could be taken had increased. Our deer herd was growing fast.
Then it was muzzleloader season and we had longer to hunt deer. In fact, deer hunting was pushing all other hunting on the back burner. The numbers of small game hunters were dropping as hunters didn’t want to disturb their deer hunting areas before season.
We, in turn, were learning different ways to hunt deer. Tree stands were becoming the in thing. Some hunters still liked to put on drives with standers at the end to cut off the deer. Camo clothing and scent killer products were developed to aid the hunters in getting close to their game.
Deer hunting locally has become big sport and is bringing large amounts of money into our area. The purchase of clothing, hunting licenses, food, gas, guns and ammo, archery equipment and many other items add to local income. In addition, many pounds of meat are donated to feed the needy.
Deer hunting is the only way to control the numbers of deer. All that is needed is to get more people to open their land to hunters.
