Maryland Natural Resources Police Report Busy and Safe Opening Weekend Of Deer Season

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Maryland Natural Resources Police Report Busy and Safe Opening Weekend Of Deer Season

ANNAPOLIS — Maryland’s most popular deer hunting season opened Saturday, November 25 and the Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) reported a busy but safe opening weekend for the modern firearms deer season.

NRP made 3,112 contacts, (a 35.8 percent increase from last year) and responded to 190 incidents over the weekend. Officers issued 143 citations, (a 26.5 percent increase from last year) and 269 warnings. Officers investigated two hunting accidents over the weekend, which is one less than last year’s opening weekend.

The first accident occurred on Saturday, November 25 at 7:40 a.m. in Talbot County. A 15-year old boy from Trappe was deer hunting on private property when his 20-gauge shotgun malfunctioned and exploded in his hand. The youth stated that when he shot a deer earlier the gun had operated correctly, and when he fired a second time at another deer the firearm sounded “muffled”. When he fired a third time the malfunction occurred. He was transported by family to Memorial Hospital in Easton where he was treated and released with non-life threatening injuries. The incident is still under investigation.

NRP responded to Memorial Hospital in Easton again on Sunday afternoon to a report of a subject shot while hunting quail. Frederick Thomas Kaszubski, of Staten Island, NY, was treated and released for non-life threatening injuries he sustained after allegedly being shot by Wolfgang H. Schmid, of White House, NJ. The two were hunting quail at 1 p.m. on a regulated shooting area near Denton in Caroline County. Schmid shot in the direction of Kaszubski as a quail flew between them. Kaszubski was struck with 4 pellets to the head and left hand. This incident is also still under investigation and charges are pending.

NRP remind hunters to always:

Identify your target

Be aware of what is beyond your target

Treat every gun as if it were loaded

Never point a gun at anything you don’t want to shoot

Unload guns when not in use

November 28, 2006
The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) is the enforcement arm of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). With an authorized strength of 280 officers and a dedicated staff of civilian and volunteer personnel, the NRP provide a variety of services in addition to conservation and boating law enforcement duties throughout the State of Maryland. These services include homeland security, search and rescue, emergency medical services, education, information and communications services on a round the clock basis. NRP is the only police force aside from the Maryland State Police that has statewide jurisdiction.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the state agency responsible for providing natural and living resource-related services to citizens and visitors. DNR manages more than 446,000 acres of public lands and 18,000 miles of waterways, along with Maryland's forests, fisheries and wildlife for maximum environmental, economic and quality of life benefits. A national leader in land conservation, DNR-managed parks and natural, historic and cultural resources attract 11 million visitors annually. DNR is the lead agency in Maryland's effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay, the state's number one environmental priority. Learn more at www.dnr.maryland.gov