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Post by osprey on Oct 17, 2007 9:26:06 GMT -5
Just got back from the beach, hunted Assateague National Seashore for the primitive black powder hunt. No deer in the truck, but it's always a neat hunt. Got out with the flintlock, finally got to meet DaveP (how long did you guys stay Dave?), got the Scrambler out on the beach, even saw a few deer. Everybody gives the same reports, that the sika are nowhere near what they used to be, population wise, and everything I've seen confirms it. Very spotty sign and never heard a bugle in the hunt zone in two days of hunting. Saw deer every hunt - one was a sika running through brush, rest were all whitetails too far to shoot. One of them was a nice 8pt whitetail, coming out at edge of dark last night, he was silhouetted against the sunset crossing a tide pond about 300 yards away. Of course like normal there were sika on the road on the way out after the hunt in the zones you can't hunt.  The primitive angle was good. Not many hunters, only saw one other guy while hunting. Last I heard there were only about 10 deer total taken from Sat-Tues. pics to follow... |
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Post by osprey on Oct 17, 2007 11:53:53 GMT -5
Scrambler on the beach!! Was waiting to see what shook loose on her from all the bouncing over ruts - it was almost the carb! Smelled gas last night and today while driving, which isn't that unusual in a 25 year old Jeep, but found out when I got home the carb adapter plate on the Weber needed tightening. Still ran fine, just a bit smelly of fuel.   This is part of why Assateague is so cool, where else can you sit and eat lunch after hunting and watch the porpoises play just off the beach? ;D  |
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Post by Bartman on Oct 17, 2007 14:03:21 GMT -5
Any nude sunbathers?
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Post by davep on Oct 17, 2007 16:33:52 GMT -5
Just me! And THAT cleared the place out. Well, except for Osprey. And that made me NERVOUS! ;D Good to finally meet Osprey.And the grain on his rifle is even better than it appears in the pics! But in the interest of full disclosure, I'll now tell him that the seemingly innocent act of me just handling his flintlock has forever doomed it to remain a virgin. They don't call me Black Cloud for nothing! I mean BAD hoodoo juju! Anyway, interesting hunt. A buddy wound up going over Friday night. Fed campground was FULL, so he spent $30 to sleep in his truck in the state park! (Sat night too) He asked if he could hunt "my" tree,and I told him no problem. I put him in it a few years ago,and he took his first sika (all 18 lbs).Well Saturday evening, he CRUSHED his record, by dropping a 24 lb'er!!! 1 of 6 killed on Sat. (2 on Monday) Caught some nice flounder to 19" right off the beach at the campground amd tons of blues. Another guy came by with a tent and set up Sunday.(had more lbs of fish in the cooler than sika ;D) I rolled in for Monday afternoon. Went to another spot I've taken a few at,and walked into a guy with a bow in a trpod stand. Then another.Then a guy in "my" pine tree. So went to my "Pine B". Nothing,and I ALWAYS see lots of whitetails here. Turns out 4 or 5 guys with bows in the area. Next morning I went in pretty early, get within 10 yds or Pine B, and hear a voice. "Hey!". I turn on the flashlight. Tree is empty. Guy is sitting at base, saying "I'm climbing in when it gets light". I head about 200 yds to a small break in the phrag where they often cross. Hear one coming just before light. SLOWLY thru the phrag. Then I see it's headlamp! Then another guy passes by. Dragging what looks to be a tripod stand. About 0830, guy gets out of pine.Hmm, maybe he'll stir something up. He stirred something up alright! Reappears about 75 yds from me, upwind ,and proceeds to drop his pants and squat. The "Mad Crapper" doesn't know I'm there. I fight the urge to holler "Nice Ass!" or simply applaud when he's done, but I didn't. Headed out about 10, then gave up and headed on back, while the other two guys went after some more flounder. I was HOPING Osprey would do some good down the island, but things were SLOW. And my usual haunts were mobbed. Odd considering that there really weren't that many folks there, at least compared to years past. Numbers were way down, both what was taken,seen, and eyed while cruising around at night. Usually see from 10-50 drving the length of the park, but only 2 Monday night. A few bugled on and off overnight. And one was in the parking lot at 1030 AM bugling when I came out Tuesday! They flat out KNOW! Was told that they have REALLY trimmed the sika back over the last two years. Almost as many as their population model projected there were! Also noticed the last few years that the areas I hunt now have knee high grass, where it used to be close-cropped. I guess the reduction in pony numbers has let it come back. Always an interesting hunt though! |
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Post by osprey on Oct 17, 2007 17:49:04 GMT -5
Just me! And THAT cleared the place out. Well, except for Osprey. And that made me NERVOUS! ;D So that's what that was up the beach, wondered why it looked like a full moon at noon!  Between this year and last year going down there, I've seen whitetail 10-1 over sikas in the Fed section of the park, it's much better in Dorchester. I always leave saying I'm not going back down to Assateague to hunt, but they always pull something out, like the primitive hunt this year, to draw me in. Oh well, still beats working! Hoodoo juju, huh Dave?? What, do you think you're BIG FOX now?!?!? |
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Post by davep on Oct 17, 2007 18:02:43 GMT -5
Just me! And THAT cleared the place out. Well, except for Osprey. And that made me NERVOUS! ;D So that's what that was up the beach, wondered why it looked like a full moon at noon! Hey the one butt I did see, IN ACTION, was MORE than enough! |
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Post by osprey on Aug 19, 2008 10:35:30 GMT -5
They've got the dates up for the season, having a primitive hunt again! ;D Primitive is October 13-18, all muzzleloaders is October 20-27. Same definition for the primitive hunt..
“Flintlock, percussion cap or matchlock ignition systems, a single barrel long gun that loads from the muzzle manufactured prior to 1900, or a similar reproduction of an original muzzleloader, .40 caliber or larger, using a single projectile with use of iron sights only…NOT inline ignitions models with or without fiber optic sights.”
You heading down DaveP?? I'm not sure this year, may stay here for wood ducks in the AM and bowhunt in the afternoons, then muzzleload the normal 3 day season. It's fun down there, but better odds here I think...
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Post by davep on Aug 19, 2008 15:52:07 GMT -5
AFter last year I SWORE I was done, but I may well get over for a little crossbow, then the a few days of primative ML.
Ran into the guys (at the BUCKWILD EXPO) that I was down there with last year when we ran into you, and we talked about it, but nothing really firmed up. (they're 10 days from a DIY, CO bow elk hunt, so obviously preoccupied)
I'll probably wind up there at some point: have only missed a couple years out of the last 15 or so. I'll let you know when it gets closer.
And the way things were last season, I may spend more time with a surf rod than a smokepole!
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Post by THE DEER HUNTER on Aug 20, 2008 8:26:14 GMT -5
Guess that disqualifies my primitive pistol. |
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Post by osprey on Aug 20, 2008 10:12:25 GMT -5
You mean the primitive pistol we're STILL waiting to see pics of?  |
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Post by THE DEER HUNTER on Aug 20, 2008 20:45:02 GMT -5
That would be it. I'll have to take some pics when I come back from vacation & put them up.
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