Feds investigate ‘illegal killing’ of reintroduced Colorado wolf
1
The Looming Threat of a Catastrophic Volcanic Eruption
Hey Musk & Ramaswamy: save $1.35 billion! Ax the barred owl-killing scheme!
Maryland’s Winter Firearm Deer Hunting Season Opens January 10
by David M. Higgins II, Publisher/Editor January 4, 2025
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
- Click to print (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
- Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
- https://southernmarylandchronicle.com/2025/01/04/marylands-winter-firearm-deer-hunting-season-opens-january-10/
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will open the winter firearm deer hunting season on January 10, 2025, in Deer Management Region B, covering most of the state except the westernmost counties. Hunters with a valid license can pursue both sika and white-tailed deer during this season.
Season Details
The firearm season will run January 10-11 across all of Region B, with additional hunting opportunities on Sunday, January 12, in specific areas:
Sign up to receive our free Daily Digest newsletter, in your inbox each morning.Sign up
- Private and designated public lands: Cecil, St. Mary’s, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester counties
- Private lands only: Calvert, Caroline, Carroll, Charles, Dorchester, Frederick, Harford, Kent, Montgomery, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, and Washington (Zone 1) counties
In Kent, Montgomery, Talbot, and Wicomico counties, shooting hours will conclude at 10:30 a.m.
https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-8050465362032369&output=html&h=280&adk=2470670822&adf=2717006163&w=936&abgtt=7&fwrn=4&fwrnh=100&lmt=1736007307&num_ads=1&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=6599183340&ad_type=text_image&format=936×280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsouthernmarylandchronicle.com%2F2025%2F01%2F04%2Fmarylands-winter-firearm-deer-hunting-season-opens-january-10%2F&host=ca-host-pub-2644536267352236&fwr=0&pra=3&rh=200&rw=936&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&wgl=1&fa=27&uach=WyJXaW5kb3dzIiwiMTUuMC4wIiwieDg2IiwiIiwiMTMxLjAuMjkwMy4xMTIiLG51bGwsMCxudWxsLCI2NCIsW1siTWljcm9zb2Z0IEVkZ2UiLCIxMzEuMC4yOTAzLjExMiJdLFsiQ2hyb21pdW0iLCIxMzEuMC42Nzc4LjIwNSJdLFsiTm90X0EgQnJhbmQiLCIyNC4wLjAuMCJdXSwwXQ..&dt=1736007243361&bpp=3&bdt=9786&idt=3&shv=r20241212&mjsv=m202412090101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Df61cb08a98ca2dd6%3AT%3D1736007240%3ART%3D1736007240%3AS%3DALNI_MYas–KOpFMvMI1N7mmEy0Ise72rQ&gpic=UID%3D00000fa8d93d549e%3AT%3D1736007240%3ART%3D1736007240%3AS%3DALNI_MYor4mohYqOs8WXBKTnh9nZPHfyhQ&eo_id_str=ID%3Da897edb657e0efa9%3AT%3D1736007240%3ART%3D1736007240%3AS%3DAA-AfjaSgLSInrWi8pbLyVzZ2gOk&prev_fmts=0x0%2C1200x280&nras=3&correlator=1136362080188&frm=20&pv=1&u_tz=-480&u_his=1&u_h=864&u_w=1536&u_ah=816&u_aw=1536&u_cd=24&u_sd=1.25&dmc=8&adx=36&ady=1795&biw=1513&bih=689&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=42533203%2C31089324%2C42531706&oid=2&psts=AOrYGsnDchJ9eBTCiQScvqjBrsgWKCsK2EtJkupHQRSOiVefwjXWqfXv1AcxaI8fGA7TduLWZD42gkeNzh54iN9vArY06fcv&pvsid=632211611008230&tmod=1449230572&wsm=1&uas=0&nvt=1&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1536%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1528%2C704&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&cms=2&fu=1152&bc=31&bz=0&td=1&tdf=2&psd=W251bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLDNd&nt=1&ifi=3&uci=a!3&btvi=1&fsb=1&dtd=64174
Encouraging Participation
“The January firearm season offers hunters another chance to embrace the cold weather and fill the freezer after the holidays,” said Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Karina Stonesifer. “The historically strong antlerless harvest helps us meet population objectives in Region B and provides a great opportunity for many to harvest their first deer of the new year.”
Bag Limits and Restrictions
Hunters should note the following guidelines for this season:
- Antlered white-tailed deer restrictions: Hunters may harvest one antlered white-tailed deer within the yearly bag limit that does not meet the requirement of at least three points on one antler. Any additional antlered deer must meet the three-point minimum. Junior hunters and apprentice license holders aged 16 and under are exempt from this restriction.
- Sika deer bag limits: Hunters pursuing sika deer must purchase a sika hunting stamp. The season bag limit is three, with no more than one being antlered. An antlered sika deer is defined as having at least one antler visible above the hairline.
Safety Guidelines
The DNR reminds all participants of safety requirements:
Juvenile injured in apparent hunting-related shooting in West Oahu
Sweden’s wolf hunt starts, aims to halve population
Three men charged after deer hunting trip goes awry
Twenty elk harvested during 2024 hunting season
Poaching and uncivilized hunters: seven reports and a flurry of sanctions in the Cagliari area
‘Birds falling from the sky’: Nonprofit confirms at least 35 snow geese test positive for bird flu in Lehigh Valley
- Rose Itzcovitz
- 16 hrs ago
- https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/lehigh-county/western-lehigh-county/birds-falling-from-the-sky-nonprofit-confirms-at-least-35-snow-geese-test-positive-for/article_975f7ad4-c972-11ef-a51b-53b0dc62a89c.html
https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.679.0_en.html#goog_1070104034Play Video
spaceplay / pause
qunload | stop
ffullscreen
shift + ←→slower / faster
↑↓volume
mmute
←→seek
. seek to previous
12… 6 seek to 10%, 20% … 60%
A wildlife nonprofit in the Poconos has confirmed dozens of snow geese in various parts of the Lehigh Valley have tested positive for H5N1, which is also known as the bird flu.
This, as the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced it suspects bird flu killed hundreds more.
“I have never seen it this bad,” Janine Tancredi said.
Local Trending News
about:blank
Tancredi, the co-executive director of The Wilderz at Pocono Wildlife, has been spending the past few days doing the tough part of her job.
“We’re euthanizing on arrival,” she said. “We don’t really have a choice.”
She and her team found hundreds of birds already dead, she said, when they arrived to a quarry in the Nazareth area on Thursday.
“People were reporting like birds falling from the sky,” Tancredi said. “And it seems far-fetched, but because they become so neurologically disabled, they don’t know their whereabouts. They’re flying into trees. They’re flying into houses.”
She says over the past few days, over four sites in the Nazareth area, and one in the Bethlehem area, every snow goose her team has tested for H5N1 — that’s at least 35 birds — has come back positive.
“So, at the first place, there was 15 dead on arrival,” she said. “We had to euthanize one.”
Tancredi added some of the sites were private property, and owners did not want the locations to be made public, but she says residents within the areas were notified.
She also said she believes the total number of those affected is “probably more like thousands.”
Her findings came as the Pennsylvania Game Commission just announced the deaths of 200 snow geese in the Lehigh Valley are suspected to be bird flu cases.
The game commission said results are yet to be confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at its National Veterinary Services Laboratories.
Tancredi said it’s unlikely those cases are anything but the “highly pathogenic avian influenza,” as H5N1 is known, considering the game commission recovered the geese from Lower Nazareth Township in Northampton County and Upper Macungie Township in Lehigh County.
“Less than 4 miles from the location that they all tested positive,” Tancredi said.
Still, the Pennsylvania Department of Health says it, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are “confident” the current outbreak “poses a low risk to the health of the general public.”
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture said the commonwealth has been on “high alert” since the outbreak that happened in 2022, and stated:
“To date, there have been no infections in…humans in Pennsylvania.”
But the virus is particularly contagious and lethal to domestic poultry, the Pennsylvania Game Commission said.
“It doesn’t matter how clean you are,” Tancredi said. “I mean, somebody can be going out there, the reality is, five times a day and cleaning their chicken coop, and it takes one bird to fly over that is contaminated and droppings and there’s exposure.”
So what should we be doing? Officials say to avoid contact with bird feces and saliva, where the virus is spread.
Tancredi said organic materials can’t be disinfected, but hard surfaces should be be cleaned with a 10% bleach solution, or what’s called Rescue Disinfectant.
If you have a dog, consider staying away from waterways, and maybe buy some dog booties on Amazon.
“I know it’s like extreme,” Tancredi said, “but would you rather avoid walking your dog for the next several months? Because this is not going to be over soon.”
If you see any dead birds or other animals — or if any look disoriented to you — officials urge you not to touch them, but to report them to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
You can call 1-833-PGC-WILD (1-833-742-9453), or email pgc-wildlifehealth@pa.gov or use the online Wildlife Health Survey tool.
