Md. Opening Day Firearms Deer Season

[ChrisD]

Heard a lot of shots in the area around the farm I hunt off of Rt. 24 Northern Harford County. I saw 6 this morning and 13 this evening, 2 were bucks, but nothing came home with me today.

 

[HogCommander]

Passed on a yearling doe this evening in hope she may have a buck following her. No bucks following but saw a few more does in heavy brush while watching the yearling leave. Have been successful from this spot (PG county public land) last three years in a row and will be back as soon as I can this week.

 

[foxtrapper]

I didn't even see a deer. Just the usual stupid squirrels.

 

[remrug]

I went this morning and jumped deer right at my stand and didnt see anything from sun up till I left.My grandson went along(will be ready to hunt next year)with me this eve.About 5 mins after getting into the stand he says he sees one.He wanted me to shoot it but I knew it was too small for me.I then spotted a nice size doe and told him I will shoot her if I get a chance.Two more small deer went by and the big doe just wandered around in the thick stuff.My grandson asked a couple of time why I wasnt taking a shot.Told him we have to wait for a clear shot.It probably took 15 minutes but the doe finally followed the smaller ones into the open woods and I shot her.

I took him once last year and we didnt see a single deer.We hunted 5 minutes today and saw 4 lol.It was really cool being able to take a deer with my grandson there.He learned a lot today....wait for a clear shot.how to gut,skin and quarter a deer.Hopefully I can watch him shoot his own deer next year.

 

[ted76]

Went this afternoon and saw one Doe with her two fawns at around 200 yards in the open field, later I saw a lone Doe later about the same distance through the woods in the back field.
I didn't even think about shooting since it's only opening day and there are some pretty nice bucks on the farm that the landowner and his son have seen. I will be out tomorrow to see whats moving. Heard a about a dozen shots all afternoon, that tells me the action was slow out by Knoxville.

 

[Rich1911]

I finally got the bastard that'd been tearing up all my trees in front of my house

Dropped him this morning at around 7:45. A 265 grain .444 Marlin practically stopped him in his tracks at about 75 yards. Man I love that rifle.

One broken browtine shy of a ten-point.


PS. Nice looking buck h2u, I hope you took him down with one of your Finns

Is that the same deer in both pics?

 

[outrider58]

I went this morning and jumped deer right at my stand and didnt see anything from sun up till I left.My grandson went along(will be ready to hunt next year)with me this eve.About 5 mins after getting into the stand he says he sees one.He wanted me to shoot it but I knew it was too small for me.I then spotted a nice size doe and told him I will shoot her if I get a chance.Two more small deer went by and the big doe just wandered around in the thick stuff.My grandson asked a couple of time why I wasnt taking a shot.Told him we have to wait for a clear shot.It probably took 15 minutes but the doe finally followed the smaller ones into the open woods and I shot her.

I took him once last year and we didnt see a single deer.We hunted 5 minutes today and saw 4 lol.It was really cool being able to take a deer with my grandson there.He learned a lot today....wait for a clear shot.how to gut,skin and quarter a deer.Hopefully I can watch him shoot his own deer next year.

Great story! Thanks for sharing it with us. Hopefully you take us along on your next hunt together.

 

[j_h_smith]

Glad to see the little guy participate in a successful hunt. How did he take to seeing the dead deer up close?

 

[CorsicaSportingGoods]

My 9 yo son's first deer

7 pointer he dropped where it stood. Pretty excited

 

[SRD]

Not the typical WW III (public land) I'm used to on opening day.Son saw 5 does pass by but couldn't get a clear shot in the am.I had 3 small does run to about 50 yrs. from me around 1645 and meander around until O-dark-30.

Still better than a good day at work.Nice deer h2u

 

[SRD]

7 pointer he dropped where it stood. Pretty excited

 

[mark71211]

Are you gun hunting Mark, or bow?

Gun hunting with the .270.

Saw 4 this evening and took a dressed out 95lb doe. She puts me in the lead for our biggest doe contest in my hunting camp.

 

[Sgt. Psycho]

I didn't even see a deer. Just the usual stupid squirrels.

Same here. Could have whacked a dozen of those noisy little bastards.

 

[SRD]

I didn't even see a deer. Just the usual stupid squirrels.

Same here. Could have whacked a dozen of those noisy little bastards.

Squirrels were about average for me,actually on the mellow side, but in the afternoon the turkeys were off the hook.They were everywhere and not "spooky" like they normally are,had one roost not far behind me.Not a turkey hunter but it seemed odd as I thought they normally roosted together and this one split from flock I was watching (no obvious beard so it could have been a hen or Jake)

 

[MilsurpDan]

Is that the same deer in both pics?

Yup. The first picture was near where we found him, the second one is just a photo op we took of him later.

 

[swimtb]

3 of us on the farm and all 3 of us go skunked. Did not see a single deer. We all saw a ton of squirrels. I didn't even hear more than 3 shots all afternoon. Maybe next time.

 

[ebranger]

Stayed in my blind from 6 AM until end of shooting time. Saw nothing but squirrels and birds, but with 5 mins of legal shooting time left, heard a deer coming in. Was so dark by then, I couldn't even see it, but searched with my scope (P.S. Nikon slughunter light collection is awesome!), and could see a small spike bright as day. After sitting that long, I decided to take him. One antler had a small fork in it, so I'm calling it a legitimate 3-pointer!

With how warm it is, took it to a butcher after field dressing it. They butcher only had 5 deer brought in today, and oddly enough, all 5 were spike bucks.

 

[Kimber45]

Saw 1 small doe at 7:30, 300 yrds away this morning.
Pushed another small doe out as I was walking in for the evening hunt. 6 of us hunted the farm today, 2 deer down. A small doe in the morning and a decent 8 at last light.

 

[kauffjd3]

I ended the day with seeing 28 deer total with one decent size buck. Out of all of them I'd say only 4 were decent size deer, and figures the only ones I had a clear shot at were tiny and not worth messing with. Kind of annoyed I was not able to take a shot, but there is always tomorrow.

 

[MSC]

Not quite as nice as last years Opening Day buck, but I wasn't passing him up

Congrats, nice!