|
Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Sometimes the hunter can be perfect and the guide just sucks. Such was the case last night. Len and I went hunting at the invite of Mark. Put Len and his son on a clover field. Threw me out of a truck moving 50 mph. He called it the "RAT PATROL" ride. I was sitting in the back ricochetting off the cab, bed, side walls, tail gate etc. When we arrived at my drop off point it was easy to find all my stuff.... it was all twisted up in one big ball. Pull on one piece and the rest all rolled out with it. I walked a trail looking for sign but didn't find what I wanted. Walked up along a field and fought my way through one of those bugger places that Mark said is so thick snakes go around it. Found a couple trails intersecting and paralleling the field. Got settled in, right at dark a deer comes down out of this snarl.. too far to shoot. Slipped out to the edge of the field when it got dark in the thicket to do some scouting. Got there just in time to see 3 pop out about 75-80 yards away. Got dark and walked out.
The problem was... we had the cameras warmed up for a mass photo shoot. We almost filled out a few tags before we went hunting we were so confident. A few deer were seen but none were shot. It's the guide I tell ya'.... we know it can't be the great white hunter.:eek: Had fun, great place, long ride... got home at 10:45... will be back. |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
That rat patrol ride sounds like fun. Maybe you could market it to six flags. As for the hunt, you know what they say. If you want something done right......
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Well that is just a shame, where are you guys hunting so early in the season?
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
LOL, the Rat Patrol ride reminds me of how some of us used to 'bowhunt' coyotes. Try bouncing around with a recurve and a quiver of broadheads in the back of a pickup barreling off across a pasture and, at the same time, trying to draw down on the coyote your driver is chasing.
Needless to say, I was MUCH younger when we were doing that.[&:] |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
I found the secret to Rat Patrol riding safety. Start up near the cab if you're sitting in the back. As long as he keeps it below 70 when hitting the bumps... you'll always land before reaching the tailgate. "USUALLY" there's enough time to claw your way back to the front of the bed before he hits the next crater.:eek:
We were running a little late... he slowed it down on the way back to the barn. I'm not sure if he was being nice or his night vision was screwed up.[8D][&:] |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Man...you must have a set of basketballs to do the rat patrol ride!:D:D
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Hey... I didn't volunteer for this stuff. He said, "throw your stuff in the back and I'll drop you off at a spot". He did let me get seated before I found out he has 2 speed.... "Too FAST" and "BLUR".
Kidding aside. He was a gracious host and really is a hoot. |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Who's Mark?
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
My only question is.. who's deer season is currently in season?
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Mark is Mlaubner. No deer season is in season. We're just a bunch of outlaws that the rules don't apply to.[8D]
Seriously, we're hunting on crop damage permits. It's a case of too many deer doing to much damage. As soon as the crops are up they allow us to start hunting. They give you X amount of permits based on damage assessment. Maryland has several zones that there is no doe limit..... shoot all you want. This just allows us to have a longer season. It's does only. We can use any weapon that's legal during the regular seasons. We just chose to do it with bows. If we get near the end and haven't filled all the tags we can always switch to fire sticks, although Len and I haven't had to do this in 3 years of crop damage permits. |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
WOW... I bet that puts a dent in the population pretty quick..
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Davidmil,
I have been ROTFLMAO reading your account of last nights activities.   I gave you fair warning and told you to "hold on" OK, next time I'll go a little slower...but if we weren't all standing up at the barn yackin' like bunch of ol' ladies we could have meandered down there a little slower. I am just sorry there weren't more deer out moving last night for you guys to take a poke at. I had 4 bed down about 60yds right in front of me in the hay field[:@]. I can't wait for them to cut the hay. I was told it was going to be cut next week after the rain:D We can try again then. I think I'll go out there and spread some corn near the tree line just for good luck! That or I'm takin' the 60mm recoilless rifle[:o] Either way, I have to post results or I loose the property:( |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
You guys "South of the border" just have too much fun for your own good........;)
Dave, 2 words my man...........Bungee Cords.:D Mark, I though you were coming to the get together? Chuck told me I just missed you at the Camp Mack shoot. We'll have to hook up sometime and shoot something. Havre De Grace is right near the top of the bay right? |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Hey Matt,
Got shut down by the Mrs. for the get together. She had just put in 12 at the hospital the night before and I had to mind the 5 boys while she slept...plus it poured rain:( And Chuck kept telling me all day at the shoot..."you just missed him, he was right here..." That always seems to be my luck. Sometimes if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all[:@] But you are certainly welcome in my camp anytime...I95S to exit 89 from there I'm about 1/2 mile:) |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Next time Mark will have to let the deer out of the pins behind the barn. Had a great time anyway and it was nice to meet you David.
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Wade, you better get back to work and quit messing around on the computer on company time!
Yea, locking up all the deer before those guys got there, so we could shoot 'em all;), was a good idea...did you remember to let them out?, they are going to scare the $hit out of the first person that goes in the barn today.[:o]:D |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Uh oh! Better call the farm.
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Get back to work Doomsday. You're wasting company money.[8D]
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
I do not know how to say this without offending anyone so here goes? Don't you worry about shooting a doe that has a fawn hidden in the brush somewhere? The little fawn will have a slow death. The little thing will starve to death.
I am not sure why your DNRC has a season so early in the year? Maybe your fawns are born early and hanging next to there mother already? I have yet to see a fawn this year. |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
NOt saying it can't happen. BUT... it has to be done. We try hard to avoid it. We don't really start after them hard until the end of July and in August. Yes it's an unpleasant deal... but either we do it or the landowner will bring in some guns to do it. There was a guy who was suppose to do it on one of the properties we have. Instead he just used it as a great woods with lots of deer and he trophy hunted. He's quite ticked about loosing it but had his chances for several years.
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Without being here, you have no idea of what we face in this State. Every year it gets worse and every year we think we have a handle on it. The number of dead deer on the roadsides is ever-increasing and we're seeing it happen more often. It used to be prevalent during the rut; but, we're seeing a lot of dead deer along the roadsides all year long now.
Many of our liberal citizens have come up with all kinds of ideas on how to curb the problem. NONE have worked to any degree and the bulk of their ideas are VERY costly. It seems like many of them have 'come around' to allow hunting as one of the best methods. Problem is, it's almost too late. Their actions have allowed the deer herds to increase to the point of ridiculousness. Some of our landlords graciously welcome us to their properties. The ones who have the biggest problems ARE in a position to make demands on our effectiveness. If not, others are standing in line to take our places. I'll say it another way, you have to see it to believe it in some areas of our State. |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Wolf,
You are not offending anyone. As Len said, the population here is out of control. We have close to 300,000 deer in the tiny state of Maryland. Maryland is a good agriculture state that produces tons of different crops and lots of bedding areas. The liberal gun snatchers and anti-hunters have only helped to increase the herd to, IMHO, the point of oversaturation. We have a responsibility to help keep the whole herd healthy. You can't just keep developing land into new housing, schools and shopping malls, pushing the deer into an overcrowding situation, w/o having some plan to thin the herd. Up till now the liberals didn't acted like they cared about the health of the animals. Just this year we are allowed to hunt on certain Sundays because the problem is so bad. I think Sarah Brady hit one with her car;) No hunter wants to leave a fawn w/o a mother to take care of it. That is human nature. Regardless, I accepted the terms of the deal and now I must live up to my end of the bargin. Unfortunately there is no real way to know if the doe you shoot has a fawn in the thicket, but shoot the does I must and hope for the best. I have already seen a dozen or so buck in velvet. Groups of 20-25 deer traveling in a herd. In some small way this is a form of QDM I guess. This farm backs up to a huge state park and my guess is that you could shoot a deer a day and never put a dent in the population. So the short answer is "no" you are not offending anyone, this is just a job that has to be done, and if not by me and a few of my close friends...then it will be done by someone else![:o]:) |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
I figured you must have a huge population problem to warrant a season so early. We have some ranches here that will not allow any hunters. They always seem to be the first to complain about having too many deer.[:@] I am in no way, shape or form an anti hunter. I just had to ask. Good luck hunting.
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
To give another example of the problem here in Maryland - One Saturday morning about a month ago, I got out early before the clean-up crews. I saw five dead deer on the roadside. Two of those were on the Maryland portion of the Washington DC beltway. Another two on Interstate 270 and the other on a heavily traveled two lane.
That's five cars that were damaged in one night and five chances for people to get killed since these were all 55 mph roads. We're not taking offense at your question since it is a very legitimate one. I expect that you would see it our way if you were here in Maryland. Also, it's not an open season, it's special crop damage permits for specific properties. |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
ANother reason for the tremendous population problem is that Maryland is the land of treehuggers. Land access is really tough to come by. Even when you get it you can have problems with the neighbors. We had a piece of property one time that was adjacent to a large all woods park on one side and a neighborhood of 2-5 acre lots with $500,000 to million dollar homes on the other. When we first started hunting the neighbors called the DNR. They came by and checked us...no problem. They took our vehicle tag numbers and said they wouldn't bother us. The neighbors called again... the DNR/Park police said we were legitimate and not to worry. Then they neighbors started on the land owner. When they got no results they started making false complaints about us shooting dogs and gunshots in the neighborhood. We were bowhunting only. The landowner finally caved in and said they just had too many people pestering the crap out of them and they didn't need it. She knew it wasn't happening but decided it was easier to cave into the treehuggers than answer the phone calls and threats. I did get to hunt it for 3 years. It was probably the most over populated and beautiful piece of woods I've ever hunted in Maryland. It's still there and not being hunted.
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
I don't think you can blame "tree huggers". I think it is more along the lines of "uneducated tree huggers". If tree huggers (which I consider myself to be) were educated to the benifits of herd thinning they may go for it. Unfortunately it usually takes their "vauleable" shrubs being eaten :) or a collision with a deer;) to make them see the benifits. It's really too bad.
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
I have a couple of more questions?
1) How many deer are you allowed to harvest during the couse of one year in Maryland? (I can harvest two in Montana. Sometimes more if they issue special permits?) 2) How long is your total hunting season. (Montana is 11-weeks. 6-weeks archery, 5-weeks-rifle.) 3) Does the state of Maryland even fine a person for shooting a deer out of season? (a.k.a poaching) I feel for you guys, I am sure I would be out there with you, if I lived there. |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
1) How many deer are you allowed to harvest during the couse of one year in Maryland? How long is your total hunting season Does the state of Maryland even fine a person for shooting a deer out of season? |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
YUP... I'm sure they'll fine you. If they didn't the "Treehuggers" would demand your job.;) Besides that... the Treehuggers have been educated and talked to for decades with little results. That's how the herd got this way. We've lobbied for Sunday hunting etc to get more hunters involved. We were screaming for more bag limits before the herd got out of hand. They'd rather do a study or an environmental impact study than kill a deer. They're usual proposals include, sterilization, transplanting, slower speeds etc etc etc. Our last Governor(an avowed anti) even placed an anti on the commission that sets seasons and bag limits. When the guy took office he held a news conference and invited all the press. The main topic of his conference was his intended goal of abolishing bowhunting. With that type in charge it's a miracle we have hunting. The state is broken up into 4 zones. I live on the border of two. Within 15 minutes(across 2 zones) of the house I can shoot 9 bucks and enough does to feed Baltimore. Len and I started crop damage around the first of July the last 2 years. Our crop damage permits for last year and this year end on Jan 31st. Our new ones on one property started Feb 2nd I believe it was. So in fact... we are right now in the mist of a 19 month season.[&:] That said, we hunt two 5 acre parcels, a 75 acre parcel and a 265 acre patch. That's Len, his boy, myself and another fellow with another 2 or 3 occasionally on the 265 acre patch.
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Dave: You forgot about the 'House'. It's 16 acres of total woodland with an abandoned 2 story house right in the middle of it. It's a great place to hunt when the weather is REALLY bad. BTW, I didn't ask Mark how many acres at the horse farm.
Wolf killer: Tonight I was in a tree and had a doe with a new fawn walk right under my stand. She had NO IDEA that I was there and even stopped broadside 10 yards from my stand to 'do her business' - all the time looking away from me. She had NO IDEA that she was a dead deer, but I let her walk. The fawn was probably about 1 week old.;) |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Len,
The farm is 200 acres with about 75 acres of woods, kind of shaped like the country of Italy, right in the middle of it. She had NO IDEA that I was there and even stopped broadside 10 yards from my stand |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Thanks for answering my questions guys. I wish I were there to help out.
Good luck, WK |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
I will be hunting on a crop damage permit soon. Will butchers handle deer this time of the year? How about the farmers and hunters feeding the hungry program? I can only shoot five on my permit and I am looking for ways to utilize them.
Thanks in advance. Steve |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Steve:
I haven't really found anyone to handle mine. Then again, I butcher them for myself or give them away whole. I'm sure 'regular' butcher shops will handle them for you. As far as those who do deer butchering on a 'seasonal' basis, they're probably not open. I don't know how FHFH handles the DMP issue. They don't have enough funds right now to handle the regular season, so that may be your answer. Ask CJ Winand. If you don't know how to get in touch with him, let me know. Hope this helps and good luck. BTW, when you fill your 5 tags, you can usually apply for 5 more.;) |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Why do tree huggers think they need to live in the woods? Don't they know they're doing more damage than any hunter ever could?
1. destruction of habitat in order to build their $500K+ house, drive, roads, ect... 2. see #1 |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
I live in Roanoke Va. and we too have damage permits but they are limited to the amount of damage. Fish and game will come out and assess the damage and issue you tags for how many deer he thinks you can kill to minimize the damage. I had the privalage to help out a hay farmer a few years back because they were tearing up his hay and that was how he made his living. No hay meant no money and no food for his family. So guys if you ever need help let me know I am about 5 hours from yall and would take one for the team and give up a few days to help LOL
|
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Well Davidmil, if the hunt was too much for you let me know...I can try to tone it down for you!:D;)
Either way we need to post some results...I just got a call from the land owner...he wants to see fewer deer...soon.;)[:o] |
RE: Sometimes it isn't the hunter....
Mlaubner,
How many have you all taken so far this spring? |
| All times are GMT -8. The time now is 10:21 AM. |
Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.