About this time of the year, it's probably better to be a deer hunter than a deer, particularly in Maryland and Delaware. In both states deer harvests are at or near record levels, with deer managers seeing no reason not to expect more of the same for the coming seasons.

Here's a look at the current deerhunting situation, and what hunters can expect to take in regard to both "meat for the freezer" and trophy deer.

MARYLAND
Last year's record-breaking white­tail harvest in the Free State likely put a smile on the face of Maryland Department of Natural Resources Deer Project Manager Brian Eyler.

"The 10 percent increase in the antlerless harvest is great news and will aid us in managing deer numbers across the state," said Eyler. "Hunting license sales increased slightly this year, but we believe the major factor for the record harvest was that hunters increased their efforts to put more venison in the freezer during these lean economic times."

According to the Maryland DNR, deer hunters harvested over 100,000 deer in a single season for the first time since modern deer management began in the early 1900s. The record 100,437 deer taken during the 2008-09 deer season eclipsed the previous record of 94,114 deer set in 2002-2003 and is 9 percent higher than the previous year's harvest of 92,208 deer.

Last year's antlered harvest increased 8 percent from 32,221 deer in 2007-08 to 34,725 deer. The antlerless harvest increased 10 percent from 59,987 deer in 2007 to 65,712 deer last season.

In Deer Management Region A (Garrett and Allegany counties), hunters reported 9,876 deer in 2008-09, a 10 percent increase over the 9,004 deer taken the prior year. The antlered harvest of 5,367 deer was slightly higher than the 2007-08 harvest of 5,208 deer, while the antlerless harvest of 4,509 deer was a 19 percent increase over 2007's harvest of 3,796 deer. The large increase in the Region A antlerless harvest can be partially attributed to an additional day of antlerless firearms hunting on private lands beginning with the 2008-09 season. The extra day for antlerless deer hunting was provided at the request of landowners in the region who wanted more opportunities to effectively manage deer numbers on their lands.

The reported deer harvest in the remainder of the state increased in most counties. Hunters in Region B (all counties other than Garrett and Allegany) reported taking 90,561 deer for the year. The antlered harvest of 29,358 deer was 9 percent higher than the 27,013 antlered deer taken in 2007-08, while the antlerless harvest also increased 9 percent from 56,191 deer in 2007-08 to 61,203 deer last year. Washington County led the harvest totals for 2008-09 with 9,227 deer, followed by Frederick County with 8,238 deer, and Baltimore County with 7,016 deer.

The deer harvest in Maryland's suburban counties (Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's) also increased in 2008-09. Hunters in these counties took an average of 15 percent more antlerless deer last year than in 2007-08. In recent years, DNR has liberalized antlerless harvest regulations in these counties in an effort to address the impacts that high deer populations have had on Maryland's suburban landscape and residents.