Under the Department of Natural Resources' Cooperative Wildlife Management Area Program, county hunters have nearly 3,000 acres of land available to them. Most of it is privately owned and offers decent hunting prospects for all varieties of small and upland game, plus deer.
The properties include Saw Mill, near Union Mills, and the Speigel property nearby. Saw Mill offers 500 acres to a maximum of 10 hunters daily while Speigel's 250 acres can be enjoyed by eight hunters at a time. Both properties may be hunted Monday, Wednesday and Friday throughout the hunting seasons.
The Maring, Farver and Woodbrook properties are in the Woodbine-Mount Airy area. Maring sports 237 acres and is limited to five hunters daily, but Woodbrook features 326 acres and can accommodate seven hunters. The 23-acre Farver property is available to three archers daily Monday through Saturday, the same days as offered at the Maring site. Woodbrooke offers hunting Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
The Harper property is off Mexico Road near Hampstead. This spot offers 515 acres of land to four hunters each Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The Seiler and Brooks sites sport 330 and 215 acres, respectively, and are found off Coon Club Road, also in the Hampstead area. Both are open to four hunters daily. The Seiler property is available each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and the Brooks site is an option each Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
There is also the Dover site, just over the county line, south of Hampstead, off Dover Road in Baltimore County. Dover's 151 acres is open to three hunters daily each Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Most area hunters know that Liberty and Prettyboy reservoirs are available for bow hunting via permit. But, did you also know that 337 acres belonging to the Hanover Watershed and straddling the line between Carroll County and Pennsylvania is available, too?
The watershed is open to 15 archers and 10 firearms hunters each Monday through Saturday. If you'd like to take a crack at woodcock hunting, this is an excellent place.
The Hugg-Thomas Wildlife Management Area's 276 acres is also available Monday through Saturday and is limited to eight hunters daily. It is off Route 32 near Sykesville.
You need a free permit to hunt each of these areas. Visit the Gwynnbrook Wildlife Office, 3740 Gwynnbrook Ave., Owings Mills, or call (410) 356-9272 for details on obtaining the necessary permits and daily reservations. Reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis, but you may reserve two permits for yourself and two for a pal at any area you wish, if space is available.
Deer hunting is surprisingly good on most of these areas. I vouch for the squirrel and rabbit prospects on most. Don't be surprised if you should bump into the odd turkey, either.
Local notes
Carroll hunters bagged 123 bucks during the recently concluded three-day muzzleloader deer hunt. The top county was Charles, with 308 followed by Allegany with 281 bucks. Hunters were allowed a buck or doe in Charles as well as most of the counties east of Carroll. The western counties were restricted to bucks only. Last December, during the traditional muzzleloader hunt, Carroll hunters bagged 245 whitetails. This year's season will begin Dec. 18, after the Nov. 27-Dec. 11 modern firearms season.
* A hunter safety course is scheduled for Nov. 17-20 at the Carroll County Agricultural Center in Westminster. Call (410) 848-4611 to register.
* The Patapsco Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited has finalized its winter schedule. The Dec. 8 meeting will feature a presentation by Steve Stover on preserving the Patapsco River. Tom Blatz, noted guide on the Letort and Yellow Breeches, will cover those waters at the Jan. 12 meeting. Chesapeake guide Norm Bartlett will discuss saltwater fly fishing at the Feb. 9 meeting. All of these meetings begin at 7 p.m. at the Bear Branch Nature Center.