Hanover Watershed? Grove Farm WMA?

AlBeight said:

Congrats for even booking Hanover Watershed, it’s a tough draw last few years. My father & I have had decent success there over last 10 years, and haven’t even been there in last 3 years. Not trying to discourage you, but that place is way, way, more popular amongst hunters allegedly “in the know” than it should be. I’d suggest a weekday, Saturdays are always booked by 7:31 am on call-in day.

Don’t get me wrong, I like hunting there, but we’ve hunted every inch of the place and there just simply isn’t tons of deer there, despite what you’ve heard. It’s not a dud either, just a normal average public land that holds some deer, some days more than others. You do have a pretty good chance of filling a tag, but you also have an equally good chance of not seeing a living creature. Many people I’ve talked to think the place is the Mecca of deer hunting - it just isn’t true. That being said, I’d hunt there tomorrow if I could, I just like the property.

As far as some suggested locations, there are two parcels, one on Bandhall Hill Road which is the larger area, the other on Weaver Lane. The Weaver Lane side is smaller but really thick, should hold more deer and I’ve seen/harvested my few bucks off that side. There’s some cleared pine areas on this side that are open enough for some shooting lanes, but no fields (on either parcel).

The Bandhall Hill Road side has more open hardwoods, a good mix of thickets too. I’ve seen more deer by quantity on this part. If you aren’t in decent physical condition or just hate hills, don’t hunt this part. The actual Mason-Dixon Line is the boundary, and it’s a tripple roller-coaster from Hell of green grass “rolling” hills. If you brave that walk, leave the parking lot, go down the hill, go up the next hill, then go down the next hill and at the bottom, take the dirt road to the right about 150-200 yds. Stop, and turn left and climb the big hill about 50-100 yds up. That should be a good starting point for you. CAUTION - DO NOT HUNT HERE WITHOUT A GOOD GAME CART! Below is a YouTube video I stumbled across one night, showing the Bandhall Hill side, and my directions are almost the exact tree this guy is hunting. BTW, he uses a 300BO. I don’t take you to his tree (yes I can tell exactly where he’s hunting since I’m very familiar with the whole place), because the nitwit is hunting the intersection of two dirt fire roads. This is how folks get in and out of the place. If you want to be disturbed all morning with people moving around, then do what he does. Plus it’s unsafe.

**Another important warning - many people simply just sit on the many grass and dirt fire roads, and shoot down them. Be careful walking around.

https://youtu.be/cpRRpw6hn6s

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AlBeight said:

Watch that YouTube video. The guy films a little bit of the view from way out where he was back to the truck. It’s a daunting trip. I had a cart, and brought out a 130 lb 4 point on Xmas Morning (2010 ???) up and down those damn hills. A trip I’d like to forget. When I saw it on video I had a PTSD-like reaction

Seriously though, good luck. You’ll like it I think. Take the hills in sections, don’t try to Ranger thru it too much. Hope you enjoy.

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Zman9398 said:

Wow thank you so much. That is so helpful. I'm really liking the sounds of the bandhall hill rd parcel. I'm guessing you have a first hand experience with no game cart? haha and yeah I am going on Wednesday.

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Zman9398 said:

Wow thank you so much. That is so helpful. I'm really liking the sounds of the bandhall hill rd parcel. I'm guessing you have a first hand experience with no game cart? haha and yeah I am going on Wednesday.

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GutPile said:

whoops wrong qoute - referring to youtube link.

I like how the dude in the vid has no hunter orange on. Pretty sure you still need to be in it even when up a tree? Last time I was there all I saw were what looked like abandoned hang on stands and we found a recent gut shot doe. Not a single car in the lot but the place was fully booked up. Going again later this week. Hopefully I see a live deer.

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AlBeight said:

Not only is the guy not wearing orange, he is also hunting that property illegally, without a valid reservation. His first day hunt he says it’s opening day. At this location, that’s drawn via a Central Region Lottery by DNR Gwynnbrook. He then says he hunts the next day, which I assume would have to be Monday (no Sundays in MD on public land in Carroll County). This is physically impossible to do, you can only book a reservation 8 days in advance, which would be the previous Sunday, and the DNR office isn’t open on Sunday. Now, he could’ve booked it on Monday, but the rules say you can’t have two current reservations at the same time on the same property. This makes him hunting on the 1st Monday completely impossible to have done legally. He could only have booked that property again after he hunted Saturday, then called in the following Monday to hunt Tuesday at the earliest. I think DNR needs to investigate this poacher. It’s guys like this that forks things up for the rest of us. This was another year (makes 4 in a row now) that I wasn’t able to book this property because of it being 100% full every day, which pisses me off to no end. I may walk into Gwynnbrook one morning and show them this video. Hopefully they can get this guy on something.

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