Lefty26

I agree, it's very unlikely that everyone will get a buck so you do need some big boys to help with the averages.

deadstick

Hi guys, looks like we have an active team here. Got out hunting for the first time (early goose season here) this weekend and it was GREAT to be out in the field again. Hung a treestand in a new location yesterday (CRP that just came out and has soybeans planted this year) and also spotted a monster 6x6 last evening - doubt I can get on him though, he's out at the in-law's farm where I primarily rifle hunt and bowhunt just a few timesa year. Plus he's smart, we watched him with my nephew's Swarovski HD spotting scope from about a mile away and he kept his antlers down and stayed in the revene's all the time. Come rifle season though, we might get a shot at him or a couple of the others we saw that were pretty noteworthy.

Here's a pic from the peafield I goose hunted Saturday as the sun came up here in ND- it's cooling off, fall is coming, and it feels great to be back into the hunting time of year!

deadstick

And for you waterfowlers, here's a pic of the the ducks coming in like crazy (season is open for geese only, so my camera was my gun until the geese started flying). I sure love the sight of cupped wings.

deadstick

In followup to the conversation on more vs. big bucks for this contest. My personal goal is a 140" + buck. However, late in the season I'll take a 120" buck.

Everyone's hunting areas have different deer densities, different quality of deer, etc... If I don't have a shot at what is a decent buck for my area, I'll be using my bow tag on a doe. Hopefully it won't come to that, but I'm not going to take a 1 year old 4x4 out of the herd that could grow into something special so that I can enter 60" or so in this contest.

Saying that, I fully realize that some are hunting public lands with high pressure and in your area, any buck is a "shooter" and if you let a young buck go, the only thing you're doing is ensuring that the next guy gets a shot. But, for where I hunt, that isn't the case, and hopefully I won't hurt the team with this way of thinking as I'm fully planning on putting my tag around bone, not through an ear.

Carpmaster

Those are awesome pics!!! I cannot wait for our early goose opener on Monday!! How did you do on geese???

Carpmaster

Where I am at I have the potential to get up to 130 - 140 class deer but anything over 100 is big for the most part....I am setting my goal at 2.5 yo....

davepjr71

Last year I jumped a huge buck in the area I'll be hunting the first day. It's a public hunting spot but with a limited # of people allowed in each area.I think I only saw 3 or 4other guys hunting the 1200 sq acres that comprise the area I'll be in (There are over 12,000 acres broken up into segments that are from 400 sq acres to about 1200 sq acres on military training grounds. They only let 24 guys in at 1 time in my section but none seems to want to get back into the woods). I've been studying aerial pictures and topo and may try to get back into a swamp. In MD it stays pretty warm until late in the season and the deer will be near watermost of theseason.

On the Eastern Shore I hunt an area where I got a 100" buck a few years ago.I only get down ther about 3 times a season.

I'm looking forward to early tealhere.When archery is in early anything else does not exist.I learned that when I was 17 and was squirrel hunting and jumped a nice 8 pt that just stood there broadside looking around. it was the only day up until tht point that I did not have my bow and was only 40 yds from my stand.

Lefty26

Our goose season starts next Monday as well. It will be nice to be back out a field.

As for the size of bucks I agree that it depends a lot on your location and personal goals. We are lucky in MD to have very liberal back limits. We can shoot 10 does in archery so you get plenty of opportunities to sling arrows at does and pass up small bucks.

Dave,

Do you hunt teal on public or private land? I make it down to the shore a bit for Sika but have never waterfowl hunted there. Hunted Blackwater and Fishing Bay, tons of birds around there but I don't think I have the equipment to hunt that big water.

Carpmaster

I am torn whether to field or water hunt for opener....Goose hunting is always a nice low key way to fire the season up!!! If I water hunt Ican start the am by targeting these before the sun rises:

davepjr71

It's all public land. Wood duck/mallards and back ducks (and other various species)is on Pocomoke River. The river is my favorite place down there. we've had some amazing Wood duck and big duck hunts there. We usually hunt teal at Fairmount Wildlife Management Area. We lay out on ground blinds on sand bars and shoot as the zing on by us.

I've hunting Assateague in the past but that place is a mad house sometimes. Never hunted big water or anything. Although one year we went out to Cedar Island and I almost got killed twice in the same day. Once crossing one of the inlets and the second when we hit rough water coming back to shore. That was the last time we hunted there.

I was crossing an inlet on footwhen all of a suddenI sunk3 ft in the mud. I was almost up to the top of my chest waders (I'm 6'3") and every time I tried to separate my feet they'd slide back together. So, I sat down on the mud, used my gun as a lever and swung one leg around back toward shore and then the other (still can't figure out how I accomplished that feat)screaming my head off for my brother and a friend that were back on the boat 100 yds away. All this is going on while a storm is moving in and there are 40+ mph winds so they can't hear me at all. If i would not have kept my gun with me I think things would have been a lot worse. It was a brand new Benelli and I thought about tossing it on the shore so it wouldn't get ruined. If it would have been high tide I would have drowned.

On the way back we hit 10 or so foot waves in a 16 ft boat. Not fun at all.