"There are several areas," Knox continued. "First, northern Virginia, Loudoun, Fairfax and Prince William, for example, are probably the most critical. For the past decade, we have been trying to reduce deer herds in this area, and they have increased. Second, a triangle of counties in the southwest Piedmont (Amherst, Bedford, Franklin, Henry, Patrick and Roanoke) is where we have been trying to stabilize deer herds, and they have increased.

"Is progress being made? Yes and no. The bottom line is that doe harvest levels have not been sufficient to reduce deer populations in these areas. Something must be done to increase doe harvest levels in these counties."

During the past hunting regulations process, department staff solicited public input on strategies to increase the kill of female deer.

"One approach, an 'earn a buck' regulation, would have required deer hunters to kill an antlerless deer before their second buck," Knox said. "Although this regulation proposal was not approved, a special late antlerless-only firearms season has been created in Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties. However, it is the opinion of the department's deer management staff that hunter and landowner education is more important than regulations in solving deer overabundance in these counties."

Finally, I asked Knox if he had any closing words for deer hunters, with the new season only being a few months away and many archers already practicing with their bows.

"Yes, always the same message -- safety," he said. "I am sure you have heard it all before, but hunting safety cannot be overemphasized. No deer that ever walked across the Commonwealth is worth a serious injury. For example, if you allow hunting from tree stands, consider having a rule requiring a safety harness. Make all your hunters have a valid hunter safety card regardless of their age. We have an excellent hunter safety staff and program, so take advantage of it."

GAME PLAN FOR HARVESTING DOES
This past season, I went deer hunting over 50 times in the Old Dominion, and on only one of those outings did I go afield when I could not legally kill an antlerless deer. That one time was when I went hunting in Craig County on the opening day of the late muzzleloading season. Craig is one of the west of the Blue Ridge domains that only allows antlerless hunting during the late muzzleloader season over the course of the last six days.

The point is that I plan my outings so that I can tag four or five whitetails every season with the majority, or all of them, being antlerless. Yes, I would gladly take a broadbeam, but the truth is that most years a real bruiser does not come across my path. Last year, for instance, I only saw one buck that truly met the criteria of being a so-called shooter. The old boy walked by my stand once during the early bow season and three times during the first Saturday of the regular gun season, but never during those four sightings did he present a shot.

Therefore, my typical game plan is to locate concentrations of does during the early bow season. With any luck, I will be able to take one or two of them in October. With the knowledge of what the deer are feeding on in October, by the time the early muzzleloader season arrives, I hope to be in a position to take another doe or two.

The reason I was afield on the aforementioned Franklin County farm this past opening day of the early muzzleloader season was that a mid-October scouting trip had been extremely fruitful. It was at that time that I had located a creek bottom that connects a clearcut with a stand of Virginia pines. Several well-worn trails indicated that the deer were using the stream zone as their main highway, as the whitetails journeyed from a field into the clearcut, and then followed the stream until they entered the pine grove.

On that mid-October foray, I selected a large pine as a stand site. The pine was on a hump about 25 yards above the creek bottom and about 20 yards to the right from where the clearcut borders the pine grove. At 7:25 a.m. on opening day, I spotted a contingent of four does making their way through the area, and by 7:30, I was field dressing the lead one.

When the early muzzleloader season opened west of the Blue Ridge, I spent most of my time in Roanoke County, instead of my home county of Botetourt, because the former features doe days every day, while the latter only has one doe day, the first Monday of the early season. On one of those sojourns in Roanoke County, I was able to smoke a very large doe before work one morning.

So many counties offer numerous antlerless days that hunters across the state can use the regulations as I try to do, that is, to harvest four or five does per season. Besides the benefits of lean, healthy, protein-filled venison, there is at least one more potential benefit to an individual who concentrates on does. And I'll let the words of that Franklin County farmer speak for themselves.

"I hope you'll be back on opening day of spring gobbler season," he said to me as I left his home.