I have hit the woods a number of times over the last week or so. I finally got some time to sit down and write about it so I figured I would give you a brief overview of how my hunts went!
The first hunt was a morning hunt on 11/4:
I hit the woods in Loch Raven for a morning hunt in one of my favorite spots. Had good intent to stay until mid-day. Well, the morning started off pretty good when shortly after shooting light I had a doe walk past me, sadly just out of shooting range, but got the blood flowing. About 7:20am I had a 3pt buck come up behind me and then turn and walk away feeding. Didn't seem to have a care in the world, also didn't seem like much rutting activity at this point as I had scents out and he walked right through the scent path and never even stopped to smell. Then things slowed down, I had nothing moving but squirrels. Nothing moved for 3 hours, when finally I had a pair of does run across the top of the hill about 80 yards in front of me. Sadly, they were 80 yards away and at an all out run. That was the end of my morning and I got down shortly after that.
Then my week got busy and I left for the eastern shore on 11/7 with a friend to hunt Pocomoke State Forest.
11/7 -
I planned on getting down to Pocomoke State Forest and hunting on Saturday evening. However, that didn't happen as it was pouring down rain..
11/8-
Sunday was scouting day. Walked miles of Pocomoke state Forest. Hunting the eastern shore is so much different than hunting here in Central Maryland, what the deer do is very different but the same. Because of the fact that land doesn't have natural funnels, you must think differently. Look for openings in the thickets or trails along swamps. Sunday was productive as I thought I had located 3 - 4 different spots that had high promises. Below is of 1 rub I found while out scouting.
11/9 -
The morning hunt started out pretty good other than I was about 10 minutes late getting into my stand. About 10 minutes after I got in my stand I had a doe run past me full tilt. I thought cool maybe a buck is chasing her or she may have other deer with her. Well that wasn't the case, it was 6:30am and I had seen my first deer on the eastern shore. Then nothing for a while, around 7:30am I had a fawn come walking in from off to my right. She walked right in on me following the trail I had scouted and walked 20 yards in front of me broadside and when she did I drew on her for practice. She did not have a clue I was there, and I let her walk on by. 45 minutes later I had the same fawn come walking back up on me and this time she walked 2 yards from my tree. Iwatched her for a while and she wondered off towards where I assumed the deer were bedding. That was the end of my more excitement, as I sat for several more hours with nothing but squirrels.
The evening hunt was in another location but and it was hot out with a chance of rain. I got super hot walking into my stand, couldn't find a tree, and ended up in an area I didn't like.... Well, I didn't see anything and the rain rolled in about 4:30 or so, and so it was time to get out of the woods before I was soaked.
11/10 -
Tuesday morning was a wash out. As in between Monday night and Tuesday morning it must have rained 3 inches.
Tuesday afternoon went back to it, went to a new spot and was basically winging it. I had to work around other folks down there hunting and so I went deep into the woods. I was able to find some fresh footsteps in the wet leaves and set up on it with the thought it was a trail. Well, the rain somehow moved back in with a brief 20 - 30 minutes shower that sure didn't put a spin on the evening. Right after the shower, I had a very small spike appear out of no where. I looked down and there was 17 yards from me staring at my mock scrape. He then turned and walked quickly under me about 5 yards from my tree and as I stood up to grab my bow he got out of range. After that it was about 4:40pm when I see another deer with bigger antlers walking in the wrong direction. He had come in towards me where I could see him but then was angling away from me. When he was about 60 yards away I grunted and he stopped on a dime and started walking straight to me. I had thicket all off to the side he was coming from but I quickly got ready and looked at what he actually was. It was another spike, this one with 8 or 9 inch spikes and he walked right under me within 3 yards of my tree. He too walked right over to my mock scrape and pee'ed in it. He was just starting to quarter away and I had to turn a slight bit to draw my bow. I figured what the heck it's meat in the freezer. But when I shift my weight my boots made a squeaking noise and the deer turned and trotted 20 yards out of range before I ever could draw my bow. Then it got dark and nothing else moved.
11/11 -
The morning hunt I went to a new area I had scouted Sunday that had lots of sign. I found around 15 scrapes all in this one little area. Well as I was walking down the trail and was about to turn into where I planned to hunt I found out that area was flooded out as it was the lowest area around. I ended up moving 50 yards into the woods off this clearing where all these scrapes were. I sat until around 10am, I saw nothing but squirrels.
The evening hunt I decided to try a new area. I walked probably a mile or 2 back into the woods and got in my tree in what I felt was an amazing spot. It was near a field, it had thickets on both sides and it was open where I was. There were a few scrapes and rubs in the are and I felt really good about it. Well, I guess that was the kiss of death, as I sat in that tree the whole evening never seeing anything but 1 squirrel. That hunt concluded my shore trip for this year. Maybe I will return in January who knows.
Back home today, after I get caught up on work hopefully I can get out in the woods in Loch Raven within the next few days with the cooler weather coming this weekend.
How did everyone else do this pas week?
Anyone hunt Pocomoke State Forest, how do you like it?
