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Post by tailchaser on Dec 21, 2006 21:54:41 GMT -5
I haven't seen anything since Monday and that was on the neighbors property. I hunting mid morning on Tuesday and the morning and afternoon on Tuesday. I thought for sure that the 20 night on Tuesday night would have had them moving and going to a corn pile Wed. but nothing. Is anyone else having this problem?
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Post by Hardcorehunter on Dec 21, 2006 23:16:41 GMT -5
I havn't seen a deer while on stand since the second day of shotgun. I have been out like 15 times since then.
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Post by Rommel on Dec 22, 2006 6:56:55 GMT -5
My friends and I hunt on 285 acres south of Nanjemoy and this happens almost every year. We put a bit of pressure on our herd and they seem to disappear which obviously is not the case at all. These deer simply go nocturnal and also start to bunch up this time of year we seam to have some luck catching them at our property borders at first light on their way to bed on less pressured property and at dusk on their way back to our corn piles. We will generally start doing some small drives in places that they bed on the marsh edges. Most of the time we are only seeing does and yearlings on these drives, occasionally we will get an opportunity to take a buck but they seam to be smarter about eluding our shooters at the blocking points. I guess thats how they get bigger. I have started, in recent years, to pass on shooting any deer for meat until late season because in the earlier part of the season you never know when that big boy is behind a doe or smaller buck. This is just my opinion based my personal experience I'm sure there are some guys who have had different experiences with killing larger bucks later in the season. Where I hunt we have had better luck with bigger bucks say up until mid gun season and after that siteings of large bucks and even does go way down, thats why we start to change our hunting strategies. When I talk about driving deer, It's not like the big deer drives of the old days when there were allot of people involved. I'm talking about 2-3 guys, 1-2 guys blocking known escape routes and 1-2 guys still hunting through known bedding areas. This tactic works well and brings a little group effort into play. The less people involved the safer it is to do drives. The last thing you want is for someone to get hurt or killed(harvested, lol), it also will break up the sometimes frustration of not seeing deer from treestands. Try not to get too frustrated, the deer are still there they're just a little gun shy. I've hunted the same property for almost 20 years and am very familiar with the deer movements on it and I'm still learning the slight changes that they make almost yearly. I'm very passionate about my deer hunting, it's been a yearly ritual in my life since about '73 when my dad took the time to take me to Garret county, MD. to deer hunt for the first time. What a cold night that was in that tent with the snow blowing sideways. Anyway, that's another story, good luck with the late season hunting.
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Post by mdhunter on Dec 22, 2006 14:52:40 GMT -5
Yea i've spent a decent amount of time in the woods this year and have only seen a couple of doe and small bucks. I just recently took a doe for meat because of it being late in the season....Just havent seen any decent shooter bucks this year.
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Post by davep on Dec 22, 2006 16:13:05 GMT -5
Been seeing does/yearlings this week,and one small buck. BUT,we've done well,on nice bucks usually between 12/30 and first few days of January.
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Post by Hardcorehunter on Dec 22, 2006 21:21:53 GMT -5
I need a Christmas MIRICALE! LOL Gonna do some duck hunting in the am and vacation all next week. Be able to spend a little more time in the woods. Maybe even see a deer.
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Post by prostreetcamaro on Dec 23, 2006 19:11:42 GMT -5
Ummm guys lets face the fact here. The deer population in maryland has dropped big time over the last couple years. Its time to tighten up the amount of deer a person is allowed to harvest. People seem to want to argue with me that the deer population is just as strong now as it has ever been but thats simply not true. Where I hunt I would never go more than 1 day with out seeing a bunch of deer. Now I am lucky if I see 1 or 2 in an entire 2 weeks. I will arguee this face to face with people till it leads to a fist fight thats how certain I am the the deer population is down a TON from what it was just 5 years ago.
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Post by THE DEER HUNTER on Dec 23, 2006 21:22:59 GMT -5
I agree. 2 years ago was the most deer I remember seeing in a season. Last year it was fewer, and this year even fewer. I MISS IT!!
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Post by THE DEER HUNTER on Dec 23, 2006 21:25:17 GMT -5
I am hoping on a Christmas miracle too. Going to get out on Christmas morning & hopefully bag/harvest/catch/kill/(see) a nice Christmas Buck!!!
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Post by davep on Dec 24, 2006 8:29:16 GMT -5
I agree,with the numbers being down,, but just how far down is a very specific thing,locale-wise. Here at home,we are WAY down,but some other places I hunt are still loaded.And they seem to be herding up now,at least the surviving does and yearlings,so it's either feast or famine.I either see a lot or nothing. 5-10 years ago,it would be surprising if I didn't have shot opportunities EVERY time I went out.Of course,I've been at it over 30 years,so I remember seasons when I was lucky to even SEE a deer.
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