2nd brute of the year

[bowbender]

this is my 2nd buck of the year. shot dec. 16 with the muzzleloader. 19" spread good mass and nice tine length.
he was trailing some does. 2nd rut is in, look at his neck. this one was the smaller of the two this year

[05wrangler]

Congrats! Nice looking buck. I don't even want to talk about my opening day of Muzzle loader season.

[nybuckstalker]

Good Work! I wouldn't want your taxidermy bill for the year! I still don't have a muzzleloader so I had to settle for a couple of geese yesterday. But, with success like yours, Ill be getting one this summer! Congratulations again!

[Hardcorehunter]

Congrats on the buck. I havn't seen anything since the second day of shotgun. I'll be trying one afternoon this week. You catch him heading to a bedding area? Trying to firgure out where to set up sat. morning.

[bowbender]

yes he was heading to a bedding area but he was following behind some does. 2 nd rut is in. i would say next weekend dont hunt near the bedding area. stay between bedding and feeding areas. moon phases usally determine where and what times i hunt.

[prostreetcamaro]

hardcorehunter said:

Congrats on the buck. I havn't seen anything since the second day of shotgun. I'll be trying one afternoon this week. You catch him heading to a bedding area? Trying to firgure out where to set up sat. morning.

Its funny that you say you havent seen anything since the second day of shotgun season because all I ever hear is "you have only got 1 deer this year? There is so many deer you should have gotten 5 or 6 by now" and I think the next person that tells me that I am going to break there jaw. The deer population right now in MD is way down from what it was just 5 years ago. I dont care if people disagree but I know it to be a fact. At least in montgomery county anyway. I use to spot light till 9 because it is legal. Never would I see less than 150 deer around the fields where I hunt. Some nights we would see close to 300 in just a couple mile loop around ......... <<< LOL gotcha! Now we are LUCKY if we see 12 deer. I use to pass on deer every single day of the week multiple times a day. Now I may see 6 or 7 deer ALL season. IMO maryland needs to restructure the unlimited does to individual counties and its now time to stop the park hunts. Another example is lake needwood. I would see tons of deer there every time i went through it. I havent seen a deer there is almost 2 months and the same goes for seneca state park on clopper road. Its very depressing to be honest.

[Hardcorehunter]

From opening day bow until the second day of shotgun I can honestly say I saw deer 90% of the time. Thats going out three to four times a week. Maybe it was jumping them going to or from my stand or mostly on stand. But they were around. That's St.Mary's/Charles county.

Now that you mention it, I have seen little to no field action. All my deer have been in the woods. The fields near my house and where I drive have been empty since August. Years past you could bank on seeing deer in any of them at anytime. I atributed that to the acorn mast this year. They fell early and seemed to keep falling. This has been the first year that fields have not been the place to be.

I have no idea where the deer I was seeing are now. Maybe so pressured from shotgun season they are mostly nocturnal. I should have collected some acorns, put em in the freezer and had a pile for this time of year. Vacation next week, I expect to at least see some. Hopefully.

[bowbender]

i think alot of people dont see deer late cause they try to hunt feilds all year long. soy bean feild and corn feilds are good early but late no way. if you want to see deer PUT IN FOOD PLOTS. they may not hit them early when corn feilds are out or when acorns are falling but late when food is slim food plots are the best. we have a 1.5 ac. clover feild and may see a few early but come dec. and jan. they hit it hard.