DE Archery Season Opener
 

OK Guys. We' re just 9 hours away. I' m hoping that the rain will just hold off until noon or so, so we can get the morning hunt in. The weather maps look good for now. Keeping the fingers crossed.

Report all events here! Cant wait to hear how everyone does. [:-]

For all venturing out tomorrow, good luck, god bless, and be safe!

RE: DE Archery Season Opener
 

Rain? its beautiful down here! Anyway im leaving in 30 minutes, good luck all!

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Got in the stand around 5:15. Sat till 9:00 and seen nothing, zilch, notta :( It did feel GREAT just to be out there again. Going back to the same stand this afternoon, if the rain holds off, hopefully with better results. Hope you all did better than me :D

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The weather man blew the wind forecast again. When I left they were calling for E - SE Variable. It kicked up SW right before day light. 3 deer were coming right to my stand and winded me at 50 yds out. [:' (] Get them next time I guess.

Drove by the Public place I' ve been scouting. At 9am just 1 truck. Im thinking maybe it didnt get pounded too bad. Went and checked out the Tag Board and 8 guys hunted in there this morning! Glad I didnt try to slug it out with that crowd. Funny, I' ve been down there every weekend since 8/1 and have never seen anyone else scouting or found evidence of others (foot prints, etc) the whole month, but today 8 - 9 guys out there. I wonder if people do any leg work before hand or just wander out opening day hoping for the best? There were no deer harvested posted to the board. [X(]

Hope you all did better than I. Hope to hit it again this week sometime if the weather permits.

Good Hunting to all.

RE: DE Archery Season Opener
 

didnt make it today, buttttt....wed is the day that i will try my luck at 2003.

has anyone heard of anything big taken on this opener??? good luck and i will have more info after thurs...hunting a bean field at the back of a corn field...sounds great and looks better:)

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come on guys...who TAGGED OUT:)

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Duckmaster What color is your pickup, I think you told me last year it is a GMC, a green one with a cap followed by a burgundy Suburban with PA tags passed me this afternoon and I was thinking it was you and your dad. Those vehicles were going North on Rt 9 after leaving the State ground at Flemings Landing sometime around 2;30 was that you?

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Nope Ron. Wasn' t me. My GMC is Black. I didnt hunt the public land at all today. My truck was pulled into the weeds off Rt 6 in the morning at the leased farm. We were done at 9am. Didnt get out in the evening.

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Had a fun opener...saw some deer, didn' t get heat exhaustion (too bad!), not many mosquitoes, and very few chiggers....off to a good start I' d say:D!!!

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Well, family stuff kept me away, but I' ll be hunting Friday and Sat for sure, maybe Thursday(feeling sick ;) ).

DEBob, did you see any bucks, and were they in velvet?

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I must be cursed. I switched this weeks afternoon off to today because 1) its suppose to rain Thursday and 2) the wind down Smyrna way was suppose to NW - NE until tomorrow. Well, get down there and it was blowing good from the NE. After getting in the stand for 20 mins, it swings to the SE! and stays that way until decide to call it quits at 7pm. Saw no deer, but with that wind, they would have made me before I even saw them. [:@]

Im done now until next week. Keep the hunt posts coming!!

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well..the only thing that i can say about the wind blowing wrong once u r in the stand....Scent loc

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Adam,
The bucks still have full velvet:D...I saw one that had a patch scared on his main beams.

Looks like Friday and Sat should be good. Cooler temps and steady winds! [:-]

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That' s what I wanted to hear. :D :D

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i read thAT when the velvet is off ...a deer is ready to breed even though the does arent. meaning they may respond to some breeding tactics?? anyone have anything on that subject. if so, tactics that u use in november may work in mid october.

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I would say they are pretty much ready to breed at a moments notice like the rest of us.

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hunted this evening,,,,and saw alot of deer:) i was shocked actually, but they were out. 2 bucks and 8 does. all were seen near bean. sooooo, i will be out earlier on the next hunt and i know to hunt as far away from everyone as possible...i took the 20 min walk. way backkkkkkkk

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Any of you hunters hunt the cd canal (bow). i scouted quit a bit before the opener but have only been out twice so far. been hunting around the beans, lots of sign, but have not seen anyhing since my last scouting trip. think it could have somthing to do with dove season? real thick and skeeters are bad. thermocell works good but the deer may be able to smell it.

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I spent Monday morning in NCC near the pike creek area and didn' t see a thing. I' m going to say it was due to the rain because just one week before I saw 5 deer in less that two hours. I wont be able to get back at it until the weekend.

Still knocking on doors asking permission but no luck as of yet.

I have hunted around the canal a couple of years ago. Just didn' t like the area. Alot of people driving and or walking around. I found a spot that looked like a small shanty town where homeless folks where camped out. It kinda gave me the creeps and I haven' t been back.

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DE HUNTER, was that on the north side of the c&d, have' nt seen anything like that yet but you diffently need to check around your vehicle before coming out of the woods. i' ve seen some weird stuff while out there. it seems like most of the sign i find is almost always where there r no trees, i know it sounds weird but do you think the deer could be that smart. i dont hunt there during firearm , to dangerous

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Adam, I need to pick your brain about Sika' s...went a time or two last year and had a ball! I might be able to swap you a hunt for some info :D!

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[quote]thruthevitals i have seen the area that u r talking about...i think///near de city??? i also see deer on the north side of the canal when i come across the new bridge. they r in a big field to the right. i think the rut may b a good time to hit that area...i have never hunted it. where r u scouting and seeing deer??

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thruthevitals: The area I' m refering to is just across the street from Lums Pond (North Side). I tried Lums a couple of years ago and saw lots of sign but it seemed to be crowded with hunters and not many big trees. I talked to a guy that said he was from the area and said many of the deer come from the canal area cross the street and go into the feilds between Lums camping area and the flying feild. Thats when I figured I go over to the canal side to meet them. Thats also when I noticed not a lot but a few strange looking folks walking on the roads and in the woods. It' s bee a few years and I might be willing to give it another try but in a different spot. How are things on the south side???

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DEHUNTER, the area im talkjing about is on the north side, havent scouted the south side yet as much as i need to. i did kick up two nice bucks in velvet last year on the south side but never went back for lack of scouting. I talked to an older guy last year and he said the same thing u did about the area across from lums. Also had a game warden tell me the same ( when he chased me down while i was post season scouting, thought i was hunting like some other people he had just caught). i scouted that same area also and saw the same. if you decide to hunt there you should park where you vehicle cant be seen, so other people who dont want to do the leg work dont horn in on you. i havent seen any other bow hunters out yet where ive been hunting. lums has been getting hammered the last couple years ,i think because of all the new houses going up in the area. i think eventually that will have a lottery for that park also. lemond, i know the area you are talking about, i had permssion to hunt the farm that was just on the other side when i first started hunting, but there are houses there now. im hunting fairly close to that now, and that is one places on the list. havent hunted that yet though, but i think,if i rember right,there are some decent trees there.

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i hate scouting without my bow:) that area looks pretty good and there are new homes going there....are there alot of persimmons on that tract. i love hunting them in the fall. i see deer in that field, but i dont know how many are bucks. it' s ard to tell when u are going across te bridge at 100+:) shhhhhhhhhhhhh

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:D Wasn' t on the opener but a fuzzy head none-the-less!! :D Got him Friday at 6:30pm, 18 yard shot, 75 yard recovery! Still smiling big!!!![8D]

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nice shot debob and pretty lookin deer. rack looks good. did u shoot him from a stand??? over food?? was he relaxed or tense. the deer that i am seeing seem to be a little care free:

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Nice buck! That' s a very good rack and looks nice in velvet. I' d have to get that one mounted.

Congratulations on a fine deer! ;)

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Here' s another view:D


lemond, Treestand. I shot when he stopped downwind (intentional set-up). Hit slightly forward of heart. Took out jugular vein. I could see the blood trail from the stand. He was staged up about 80 yards back from a bean field.

DaveH, Thanks....it' s been a 25 year quest for a good buck in velvet! Finally gonna get a buck mounted[8D]

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DEBob nice looking deer , did you get it at your grandpop' s, looks like a Sussex county big boy, ha ha . Friday evening I stopp \ed out at Eric Hopkins and Jeff' s to check out their deer stands and their setup, what a great setup they have. They have built 16 ft stands over the most plush clover I have ever seen. Deer sign everywhere, even built a side door that opens beneath the window for archery shots. I had to leave before the deer started so I could go home and mow grass.

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Nice deer DEBob! Congrats on a fine animal.

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debob...looking at the base...nice deer. last night at the angle of the other pic i couldnt really see what i am seeing in this pic. good shot. have u seen any deer that are bigger than that in your area???

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Nice Deer DEBob! Also nice to see the 1st kill report of the year. I was out of town Saturday and missed this nice cool blast, but this weeks looking good and I' ll be out Tuesday evening and Thurdsay morning. Hope something like what you got there wanders by me at 18 yds! But a nice fat doe would as well! :D

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DEBob, beautiful deer, congrats. Gonna make a nice mount.
I was out Friday and Sat, saw some deer, but nothing too eager to become venison. Sure was nice to see that first flash of brown coming through the trees up ahead.
DEBob, what little I know I' d be happy to share. Send me an email.

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Thanks everybody! I truly appreciate the congratulations!

Ron, Nope...that' s a Kent County buck...Sussex County bucks are much bigger[:-]! Were you at Eric and Jeff' s home farm? If so, that' s a pretty place! Tell them I said Hi next time you see them...been awhile since I visited with either one!

Sika, EMail is on the way!

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Congrats DEBob. He' ll look great hanging on the wall!

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Hey Ron,

Got your business card. Yes that was me out, but no luck. All was quiet. It was nice to finally get a good wind for one of my ambush spots, just wish it wasnt blowin so hard! Cant have it all I guess.

Was in a good spot right up against the marsh. I was on the ground right off a trail that was being well used before the season started. The stand though in the area is popular so lord knows how many people have been tramping around since 9/1. The F&G guys nailed the clip boards to the sign in boards and removed the old sheets so there' s know way too tell how much pressure is being applied and where. The draw backs of hunting public land.

On a good note, the private place I hunt is being hit hard (by deer, not people) and it looks like Thursday morning I' ll finally have a good wind for a hunt. Put out some more corn today and my hopes are up! I' ll you all know how it turns out. ;)

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Scott I was just leaving work about 7;20 lwhen I stopped , if I had not been so tired I would have waited for you , but I was beat , 2 12 hour days cleaning wheat for fall planting. not llwhere you were but planting about 1500 acres everywhere else. We are not allowed to chase geese off wheat on state lands so we dont put it there., they can decimate a wheat fiield in short order... It was cool and windy tonight, great lfor bow hunting.. Sometime this fall stop at the grain dryer North of you on Rt 9 the white with green trim buildings , I should be around there some... When we get ready to pick that cornfield I will give you a heads up, always deer running around there when we are shelling corn,

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hunted...nothing this evening...a couple of does, but not in range:)


when will the acorns come into effect?? next month???

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lemond,
White oaks (rounded leaves) will come into effect next year:(. They generally have a two to four year cycle and rarely produce heavy each year. Last year being a bumber crop, don' t expect many white oak acorns ' til nexted year. Reds (pointed leaves) produce each year and are falling now...I' ve never done well over them though but hear from others who have. Willow oak, overcup and post oaks are alos dropping now.

I' d put more faith in beech nuts and persimons this year. Cedar Swamp is littered with Beech trees/