question for MD hunters
 

Well, I have an obsevation, and was wondering if anyone else was experiencing the same thing. I have been hunting in muzzleloader season, about 6 times so far, and I cannot believe that there are 1. No other hunters out, no shots fired no trucks parked along the road, not even on opening day of M/L. 2. there are NO deer around either, I mean my 200 acre farm that normally holds 30-40 deer annually is desolate!!! I cannot recall the last time I hunted for an entire week and not seen a single deer. I have talked to other hunters that do hunt in a 10 mile radius, and they are experiencing the same thing. Is there truth to the rumor that they have built dug tunnels and are living underground until Feb? Anyone else seeing this???

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I dont live in Md. but the fact is people dont hunt like they use to.same with fishing .It will even decline more with deer population down.first day or to and your pretty much alone

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I think some hunters are getting tired of shivering for nothing. The deer movement has been so little this year, and I know a couple guys who have already hung up their guns for the season.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

Central MD hasn't been crazy like before, but there are no shortage of deer here. Of course there isn't much gun zone here either so go figure.

But what little gun zone there is, you can still score somewhat easily.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I am fortunate to have a couple hundred acres to hunt here in MD, and have observed the same thing. No hunters, no shooting and no deer. This past Monday I walked the entire length of the property along the river... NOTHING. I walked along the property line to the bottom of a ridge. Took a stand for more than a couple hours... NOTHING. Walked the bottom portion of the ridge half way back to where I started... NOTHING. Up to the top of the ridge and along the edge... Nothing. Back and forth through the hill top hard woods... NOTHING. No tails, no shots, no hunters. On this property it is rare not to at least see a tail. I know this property gets hunted pretty hard during gun season and my best guess is at least a dozen or more were taken out. On the muzzel loader opener there were at least five other hunters here. No shots no deer. I'll be back out Thurs., Friday, and Sat. I have to get a least one more in the freezer.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

Yes Mossy, the deer have located the old tunnels from the underground railroad used during the civil war. Word has it, PETA is the one that showed them the tunnels.

Seriously, though, deer sightings have been hit or miss. One time I see 12 deer in a 3 hour sitting and the next time, none. The only think I can think of for this weeks inactivity, is the full moon has something to do with it.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I'm with the rest of you guys. Deer sightings have been down this year. I know the deer are still around it just seems they havnt been moving during hunting hours. The moon cycles have fallen at bad times this year too. I usually tag 6-8 deer per year. This year I have been stuck at 4 for a long time. I havnt even taken a deer with a firearm in MD this year. I think its just been an off year, everything wasnt as hot as last year, especially the rut. Hopefully next year will be better....

RE: question for MD hunters
 

The facts are,that not many people are hunting,Also all have done some serious control of the deer herd this year.DNR post ,a New record for Shotgun Season,But what others dont look at,is that this does not count,Road Kills,Crop Damage permits,and the ones people do not check in.
The weather,and moon phase ,has really screwed up the minds of all the deer,I have been handling Dead deer removal for a couple county ans also a part of the state roads depts.And also feind calls from local police,to put down deer that are still alive after being hit,What has really caught my attention this year compared to past years,is that 99% of the calls I get during the mid part of the day,to pick up fresh road kills,or the ones,I go out and put down,have been bucks,And the ones killed over night have been about 90% doe's.This is a total turn around from past years.

There are still plenty out there,But down here in the southern portion of Md.,They are grouped up in tight packs,and seem to be moving mainly from 6pm-10pm.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I've been hunting in Howard County and everything was great until Shotgun season came. It wasn't until the last day of shotgun that I even had a doe to shoot at. This past Saturday was the first time I saw a buck since Friday after Thanksgiving. They just know to change their habits quickly once they get crazy pressure.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

Its been hit and miss here in southern maryland, I went ou tonight with my brother nad we saw 7 on land I can hunt but as we were leaving in a field I can't hunt there were over 50 deer in it. I know up at Andrews I see deer every night, but they are pretty much confined to the base and if you know where they hang out you'll see them.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I have seen plenty of deer so far this year, but haven't been out ML yet. I am headed down to the Eastern Shore tomorrow so when I get back I'll let you know how it worked out.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

Same goes here for the western maryland area. I hunt Frederick and Garret countys have only even seen 4 deer since opening day of bow season. Its really been a crapy year so far. West virginia hasnt been any better. I hunt in Berkley county over there. Been over there 3 times and have only seen a buck destroying a PVC feeder i was going to fill ( no weapon in hand ) but thats it. Still have Jan 7-8 for rifle and the rest of bow season , maybe things will turn around?

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I think at this point it is safe to say this is an off-season. One indicator for me is a couple buddies of mine who are out on the road all day long have not seen what they usually see during the rut. Most of the time, they will catch sight of at least a few big boys doing something really insane when things get heated up. Neither of them has witnessed that this year.

I hunt Howard and Montgomery counties, and while I have seen numerous deer given the urban environment. I still have hunted days with no deer in sight. That is uncharacteristic for this part of Maryland. Around here I should see at least one deer every other hunt.

Between the moon and weather, the hunting in MD this season is not what it usually is. We had some pretty warm days during the rut, and some popular hunting weekends saw inclement weather. Hopefully next year there will be cooler, dryer weather during the rut and during popular archery weekends.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I took off this week to do some ML hunting and honey do's. The wind was brutal Monday and Tuesday. I did see one doe late last night, but diecided to pass on her as I already have two. Hopefully the weather will cooperate the rest of the week.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I've experieced the same thing. Just not seeing the hunters in their usual places as years past. Likwise I've seen very little deer movement. I'm guessing these two observations are directly related.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

Chaz, I could not agree with you more. I hunt several populated areas in eastern fred. county. The moon phases have been off this year as far as the prime days. Mature buck sightings have been way off among my friends. It's not that they are not there. Rather seem to be extremely nocturnal. The last couple weeks I have choosen to hunt either when moon rising and setting was right and with high pressure or the days with the most pressure from others hunters and I have been having more sightings than others. Have taken 6 does, no mature bucks.. Passed up many more does. central MD seems to have such a long season and so many deer that people seem not to hunt hard, rather spread it out. Only had one day of dozens with no deer sighted.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

Everybody's replies are right in line with we've seen in Washington County, too. We managed to see a couple of monsters this year (which is normal) and we passed up a bunch of small bucks, we just haven't seen the numbers that we're used to seeing. Part of me thinks that this is a good sign since the deer population has been out of control for the past 20 years, but the other part of me is concerned that we're gonna wipe them all out. Especially with Maryland's appalling bag limits this year (with the exception of Alleghany and Garrett Counties).
Is anybody else concerned about these ridiculous bag limits??? [:o]

RE: question for MD hunters
 

between the fact of the rut was pretty much a nocturnal rut and the fact that md is populating so much is your reasons im sure. think about it the deer love to be around houses and those expensive landscape designs. they get pushed out of their land with no where else to go then they have to adapt to their new environment. i gre up in montgomery county and my parents have a house their in germantown and i use to run all over comus,clarksburg,poolseville, and those areas and there were tons of deer and that wasnt too long ago since im only 31. where my parents live there are heards of deer and they live in a subdivision. these deer know its safe there. more and more deer in md are becoming domesticated to a degree. as far as wiping them out theres no way that will happen. if your not hearing the shots then deer arent being killed. md is a hard place to hunt anymore unfortanetly.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

You make some good points, but your theory wouldn't apply to western Maryland where most of the land remains untouched.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I went out today in the 63 degree weather & of course did not see any deer so i may hang it up the deer are not moving too much now,I may go out on the 8th maybe?

RE: question for MD hunters
 

Did a Deer management job the past 3 nights,in the Hughesville,Charlotte Hall area of Charles and St.marys county.Cant get into specifics of why,But had to take a few deer out,even some bucks,And to my surprise,The bucks were running the doe's hard,and necks swelled up big time,What a srewed up Rut.This has to be in all my eyars of doing what I do,The most unpridictable ,Deer movement and rutting stage timing ,I have ever seen.

On a side note,Shot a Spike 5 inches each spike,that was what I can a "himshe" ,Sceintifically,it is classed as a buck,But had no "Scrotum" and had no testicle,Except for a 1/4 urinary track trace tube,for urinating,Also has Nipples,but no other female performations.Aged at 5 years.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

There is definitely no shortage of deer in suburban MD. As a matter of fact, I don't see the herd downsizing to a manageable level anytime soon. Regardless of the liberal bag limits, I wouldn't worry about devastating the herd.

I concur with the rut being nocturnal this year. I did hear of some stories where people heard or saw some action during the dark of night. The weather was a major factor in generating this I believe.

Who knows, with January cool weather there maybe some daytime rutting activity left over to enjoy.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I've read alot of things on several forums about how bad or weird the rut was this year, and even saw it myself. We hunted Ohio during what was supposed to be the best time, but saw almost no rutting activity. The funny thing is that the guy who does the moon prediction for Deer and Deer Hunting Magazine predicted a "classic and intense" rut. I believe I read where this was supposed to be one of the best years for great rut hunting activity (based on his moon theory) in many years.

I always thought the lunar theory was a bit loony anyway. :D

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I have been seeing basically the same thing although I hunted a lottery hunt at the wildlife research center in Beltsville and saw 7 deer all bucks in one bachelor group this was on the 18th of dec. I hunted the eastern shore (fishingbay wma) on Friday dec. 31 and saw only three other vehicles parked on the roads in and didn’t run in to any other hunters. The only shots I heard all day where from goose hunters .There were five of use in our group and no deer were sited all day

RE: question for MD hunters
 

Preliminary numbers were posted by Maryland DNR. Looks like somebody was finding the deer!

RE: question for MD hunters
 

Well... I got my second deer, on the last day of MD muzzy season at about 4 PM. Actually it was a pretty good day for seeing deer. I saw a nice doe early in the morning but didn't have a shot. Stayed in the stand untill close to 1:00, I saw nothing more. I was back in stand on the other side of the property by 2:00. I had seen 2 other deer prior to the one I shot but they both slipped to the back side of a thicket. The one I shot came from the same direction as the others but she came to the front side of the thicket. She gave me a 50 yard shot, droped her in her tracks.

LnL

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I hunted the 7-8 rifle season and saw normal amount, the rut was differnt this year because the moon, the rut started the in December rather than the end of October.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

for the last 4 or 5 years the dnr has declared worrior on deer and if you harvest six or seven deer a year your gona see less deer,this year it was 10 deer for each season.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I had a pretty good year. I took 5 with my bow and 1 with shotgun. The LAST two were taken on opening morning of the modern firearms season. I took a 7 point with the gun and a huge 5 1/2 year old doe 5 minutes later with my bow. I only got out a few times after that, but when I did, the number of sightings was way down.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

Wow if all of you Md. boys do that good the DNR will love you!!

RE: question for MD hunters
 

my son and i did great down in maryland this year. i abandoned that half#$@%^ state of pa to hunt some great spots in harford county. we ended up with 5, could have shot dbl that easy but im not greedy

RE: question for MD hunters
 

ductman--sshhhhhhhh!!! Harford county is a sleeper county and we're tryin' to keep it that way! lol I could've killed many times the number of deer I did too, but I won't shoot any deer unless my family we use it or I have someone lined up who wil take it. We have 5 deer in the freezer and I gave one away to a nurse at work. I had days when I saw 40+ deer and could've shot nearly half of them. This was the last year for that area though. The landowner got some idiot who works for him in there who is a smart-a$$ and now has exclusive use of this incredible property.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

Hey Drakeman:

Where abouts in Howard county do you hunt? I live there too and would interested for next year. Any Turkeys in the Spring?

RE: question for MD hunters
 

Dave H. Do you work at Bayview by any chance? Howard County hunters...I hunt by Fulton and have been slamming plenty of deer there for the past 10+ years. They now have managed hunts there because my buddies and I still don't dent the population sufficiently.

RE: question for MD hunters
 

I had a pretty good year in Md. myself.
I shot a piebald doe and another doe with the bow.Then I shot my biggest bow buck a 11 point that scored 139 4/8's.
In rifle season I shot a 6pt. then took a doe in the late muzzleloader season.