Deer have disappeared

[outrider58]

Stick with corn, it's cheap this year. I found it at $10 for hundred pound bag,

Whoa!!! where?

 

[outrider58]

Not sure about MD, but I saw a 175" plus monster in a field, off of I-70 in Concordia Missouri, yesterday afternoon.
Finally left MD for good, on the way to Washington State for good.
The awesome feeling of leaving for a free state....is indescribable.
Good luck to you all this year, I should be hunting blacktails, elk and bear with the family....starting the end of this month.

Good on ya!

 

[mark71211]

Whoa!!! where?

The two places I go to are in Salisbury. One is jacks produce stand/Amish market on the east bound side of 50 and the other is just before the Salisbury bypass in the west bound side. They are both farmers and your getting it right from their fields.

 

[jimbobborg]

Who are you asking?

I shot a 32# male from the back porch here in Louisa County in May. We now have a group of 6 that run the farm at night and howl within 1/2 mile at least 4-5 nights a week. They were 200 yards from the house at 10:30 night before last. Used to keep the 6.5-284 bolt gun by the kitchen door, but keep a scoped/Streamlight equipped AR-15 with a mag full of 40 grain BTs these days.

I train on another farm about 6 miles from home and there are fresh tracks in the sandy road every morning. Killed a mangy half-grown pup over there last summer.

I'd just trap them, but everybody around here seems to have at least 3-4 rabbit/deer/coon dogs and they run everywhere.

I was suggesting that maybe coyotes may have run off the deer to the OP.

 

[danb]

I have seen a half dozen deer in the last 72 hours during the day. They are definitely around.

 

[Pstango]

I was suggesting that maybe coyotes may have run off the deer to the OP.

Actually, a coyote study I recently heard found that coyotes have had little impact on deer population size. While there is certainly predation, especially on fawns, coyotes instead seem to have more of a stabilizing effect. And just in case anyone is still unsure, we have coyotes in every county in the State.

Here is a good link discussing this dynamic. It's a pretty interesting read too - http://emammal.wordpress.com/2013/07/19/do-coyotes-cause-deer-declines/

I wonder, with all of the efforts to reduce deer herd size on state and federal lands here in MD and up in PA this past winter (night time sharp shooters)- combined with the cold winter we had, if this has had any noticeable impact on herd size. I've been seeing plenty of deer around where I live so my guess is no, but then, my season hasn't started just yet. Happy hunting!

 

[SHMEEB]

 

[rico903]

I usually see a bunch of deer in my condo development when I walk about 11PM but the last few weeks have seen none. It's not hunting pressure so very strange.

 

[jmike1487]

Almost clipped two on my drive from old Ellicott city to long reach tonight.

 

[Doctor_M]

I'm drowning in them. Every evening we have the same 4-6 in my back yard. Every morning on the drive in, I see at least 2... this morning it was 10... and of course they ALL want to run in front of my car.

 

[outrider58]

I'm drowning in them. Every evening we have the same 4-6 in my back yard. Every morning on the drive in, I see at least 2... this morning it was 10... and of course they ALL want to run in front of my car.

I'll be right over!

 

[Doctor_M]

Got a new freezer in the garage ;-) Should be a good season.

 

[Bean Guy]

They're all in my backyard, I live in Carroll County near Liberty Reservoir. Last week saw a herd of about 15 of them having a convention in my yard.

 

[Mark75H]

Got a new freezer in the garage ;-) Should be a good season.

And a sharp knife

 

[Erno86]

I saw my first fresh buck scrape {probably a spike or a fork horn} today, while surveying a creek bottom in Montgomery County --- So the bucks are probably setting up scrape lines throughout the woods an meadows.

 

[j_h_smith]

Unless they have completely turned off to grass and gone entirely to acorns, I don't know what has happened here. I've got a little 6 pointer that comes to my camera between 10pm and 2 am. Never before and long gone before sunrise. The 2 10 pointers and the big 8, have fallen off the face of the earth. I doubt they have been harvested, but maybe they have. I'm hoping this rain we are to get tonight and tomorrow will make them hungry for grass again!

My knee is hurting so much now, I doubt I'll be in the woods after this Saturday. That's 1 week earlier than I thought.

That's okay. If they are still around, I'm going to have 2 gigantic 10 pointers and I have no idea what the ginormous 8 pointer is going to be next year.

I wish everyone the best of luck for the rest of the year.

Jim Smith

 

[outrider58]

The two tens and one eight point have probably move to their fall-winter ranges. Good chance seeing them during the rut as they may swing back through to check on the local gals. All is no lost. Also, keep in mind, for every buck you lose to the fall breakup, somewhere else there may be a nice buck leaving someone else's AO to move into yours!
Stay positive.

 

[wilcam47]

Squirrels are plenty in SoMD. I had to put up with them this morning.

where there are squirrels there are ticks

I'm kind of curious as to how you're aging them on the hoof?
Just figured I'd ask how so I can try it out.

its pretty accurate once you get to see a lot of deer. http://www.agingdeer.com/

once you kill some take a look at their teeth that is accurate and how DNR uses them for their research.