03-28-2011 Quality deer management effort expands in Garrett

A cooperative effort in Garrett County has set aside more than 25,000 acres belonging to 80-some landowners that will restrict the harvest of young bucks this coming deer season, according to A.J. Fleming, president of the Mountain Maryland Chapter of the Quality Deer Management Association. That means 6 percent of the county’s 656 square miles will operate under rules intended to create healthier deer herds and, yes, bucks with bigger antlers.
“And it is continuing to grow,” Fleming said recently. “We are adding landowners and acres just about every day.” Considering that the effort to form the co-op began in December, the amount of ground brought into the fold is impressive.

“It is made up of landholdings of 10 acres up to 4,400 acres,” Fleming said. He estimates that the lands will be hunted by more than 1,000 hunting license holders. Some of the parcels are already owned or leased by hunting clubs, representing many members.
Fleming said each landowner is allowed to choose how buck hunting will be restricted. The idea, of course, is that older bucks have larger antlers and become better trophies.
“A lot of the people are choosing to shoot only bucks that have an antler spread of at least 15 inches,” Fleming said. “Going by width is the best way to get a buck to be three years old. You can have an 8-point yearling, for example, that would have a small set of antlers.”
About 20 percent of the hunters will use the 15-inch rule and another 25 percent will demand that bucks have 8-points before they can be shot, according to Fleming.

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Quality deer management effort expands in Garrett