Deer harvest down 12%: Acorns blamed.

[tdt91]

How do you guys see all the acorns through the leaves?

 

[molonlabe]

Yeah thats a joke from a year or two ago. A women called in to a talk radio station and she said they should move the signs to less traveled roads. She was serious and they played along with her for a bit. It's classic!!!


BTW, I saw a few deer this afternoon about 4:55 moving through my woods. They were to deep in for me to have a shot. The first one looked pretty big.

I saw that too and I was talking to a neighbor across the street from me when I lived in Owings mills about the injuries I went to when I was in EMS. I told him if they get to out of control because of lack of hunting they call in professional marksmen. He replied gee I would hate to see them killed. Why don't they just move the deer crossing signs. I looked at him with amazement when I realized he wasn't kidding. I think there are more people than we realize that are completely out of touch with nature.
On another note my wife called me and said 8 deer went frolicking across our property today.

 

[danb]

How do you guys see all the acorns through the leaves?

Well, first look for oaks. Usually I see large areas where the leaves have been pushed aside down to bare dirt. Often near the base. Its different than a scrape. Usually you'll see acorns. If you are lucky deer poop too.

 

[Flying_Mustang]

My game camera was full of deer in August, and they had vanished by opening day. I don't know if the acorns were to blame or not, but I can count the number of deer I've seen on camera in the last month on one hand.

 

[balttigger]

In western MD, the deer have been dwindling year by year. I hunt on property bordering the C&O Canal, so I still see a decent amount, but they are all does; which can't be legally harvested but for a couple days each season.

 

[shocka04]

I haven't seen deer in my fields during the daylight in a while. Now at night is a different story. See plenty of them out at night. But that seems to be typical for my area once rifle season starts.

 

[tdt91]

went out this afternoon for 1.5 hrs. saw no deer.

 

[BlackBart]

EXCEPTIONALLY huge acorn crops = large deer and nice racks from what I have seen.

 

[RiveraJr]

went out this afternoon for 1.5 hrs. saw no deer.

what times?

 

[tdt91]

what times?

3:30 -5:05

Oh and I have to go adjust my stand again. The ladder sunk down in the ground when I stepped on it from being so wet from all the rain. I sat in it with it tilting very much forward/downward. Not comfortable at all.

 

[tdt91]

So I got a game camera for Christmas and after two nights not showing anything I moved it closer and down to about 2.5' - 3' high. Finally got some pics. They started coming in at around 8pm and last pic was at 7am. 6:55 is shoot time tomorrow so I hope to have one there for me at shoot time tomorrow.

 

[fabsroman]

I was out stacking firewood just now and thought of this thread. At the end of December, the only thing I am wearing outside is a sweatshirt and t-shirt underneath and I was actually sweating. Wasn't even wearing a hat. This time of year, coats are usually mandatory even while doing labor.

The weather is just all screwed up this fall/winter.

 

[foxtrapper]

Supposed to get cold by wed, I'm looking at wed and thurs so far as good for hunting. Maybe the deer will move more. Just hope my triple seven powder is still good and I tamp everything down tight... ( I'll probably see a fox LOL- not sure what powerbelts do to a fox- I have foxes coming to eat my corn)

 

[tdt91]

So I hunted this morning and killed a nice size Doe. I watched them move in just after 0700. I watched two walk in and the other three must have came in under darkness and I didn't see them or they came from behind the trees at my feeder. If they did that they would needed to have jumped a small creek about 10' wide I I think I would have heard them. They also could have crossed the creek by going down and then back up. It's a little trickle of a stream right now they could have walked it no problem.
I picked the largest one of the five.
Three started to leave the feeding station area and got directly down wind and in my scent path. The first one stopped and started sniffing hard. Then the other two started sniffing. The they got up tight side by side to each other and noses were darn near touching while they were trying to figure out what it was they were smelling. They finally gave up and continued on thier way. Then the other two started leaving and the big one got right were I needed it to be about 25 yards away. She ran about 50 yards and dropped. Clean shot through the chest and lungs out the other side through the shoulder.
One deer is enough for me cause my wife don't eat it. I'm going to try and find some beef fat and make burger out of most of it. Back Straps will be steaks of course.

I moved my game camera to view the carcass. I know it will show buzzards and Fox but I want to know what else will eat on it. It would be neat to see a Coyote.

 

[j_h_smith]

Congrats!!!

Jim Smith

 

[Jerry M]

Saw 14 on Friday afternoon, all just out of range or in the thick stuff. Buddy did kill a doe on the property. The deer were moving and feeding at night per our game camera.

Good luck

Jerry

 

[foxtrapper]

The 3 of us were up at our place Thursday the 25th, and mom insisted on trimming vines and things away from a holly, right by my corn. My dad and I were also walking back and forth there. Well cam pull today has a deer show up near the corn at 4:50, and a 2nd deer pic right at the corn at 5:11. Then nothing but maybe a squirrel for 2 days, then squirrels and doves yesterday, then last night/this early morning there were 2 deer hanging around for a couple hours back and forth midnight to 2-ish, and later a raccoon. Then 2 deer again between 6-6:30am. What was going on last night? And what's with the 2 deer, they look like fawns but no mother doe, unless she is hanging back. I think the 2 days of nothing was some idiots on 4 wheelers who trespassed maybe spooked everything. I really feel like putting spiked boards out and putting signs up "caution, old boards with nails in them laying around".

 

[tdt91]

I didn't hunt my patch last year and I think it helped with having deer in my patch this year. I think most places get hunted so hard that deer have learned to only come out at night in the dark.

 

[willtill]

Well, I am fixing go go out to my spot in a couple of minutes; and give it the ole college try again. I haven't seen much deer either; I concur with most theories here as to why they are scarce.

 

[willtill]

Ya... crap...

This is why they call it hunting and not killing:

Got in my stand at 0630 this morning.... didn't see anything except a couple of whitetails that flagged me from afar; as they pranced on land adjacent to me that I can't hunt. Sometimes they do come back. The spot that I hunt is a good spot; and I've taken at least 15 deer from it, in 8 years of hunting it....

So... at 0900 I usually disengage if I haven't had any success. I stared down and contemplated the bowed out Strong Built metal ladder stand that I was in. This stand has been attached to the tree for three years straight; and the tree sways and bends and the ladder stand does not. I decided that I'd go ahead and climb down and straighten the ladder out. And then leave for the day.

So I detach my tree harness and toss my cushion to the ground. Then I grab my muzzleloader and climb down to the ground. Lean my muzzleloader against the tree and go to work on the ladder stand.

After about 5 minutes, something made me look up and I see a whitetail high-tailing it away. If I had waited 5 minutes... I could have shot him/her. Muttering to myself... I continue to work on my ladder stand.

Another 10 minutes later, I hear a very distinct "crunch crunch crunch..." coming out of the woods behind me. 'Lo and behold, here comes a big boy 6 point buck straight at me.... 20 yards away... I'm like screaming "shit" silently and he started trotting past me at 20 yards still; I take a step to the tree and grab my muzzleloader and swing it up on him; simultaneously cock the hammer back and look through the scope.

Scope is on 3 for magnification and I have a hard time trying to get the scope on him... swinging the muzzleloader to the left I track him and he's still 20 yards away trotting slowly... perfect broadside shot... I have the crosshairs on his side; right behind his front leg, and he's dead and will drop in a second....

....and then I realize that he walked in front of an area too close for me too shoot him... there are a set of homes and backyards facing the woods I hunt; and they are too close.... in case I missed... or the bullet passes through...

He continues to trot away through the woods and I thumb the hammer and squeeze the trigger; putting it back to uncocked... and lower the muzzleloader.

That buck has NO IDEA how lucky he was this morning.

And I had a wonderful hunt. I saw deer.