Hurricane Sandy 2012

As hurricane Sandy approaches us here in the Mid-Atlantic we all have spent our time preparing for what could be the worst storm we have seen in many of our lifetimes.  The northeast just does not get these type of storms, and it could not have come at a worse time.  I found myself taking this week off from work to sit in a tree and try to find that rutting buck that I have been looking for since the beginning of the season.   Well, rut is coming as I have started to see increased activity in the woods and the trail cams have gone nuts with new deer the past 3 or 4 days! (those pictures will be coming soon) and my 3D targets were once again jumped by a smaller buck  from what the trail cam shows.   Well rather then sitting in a tree this past weekend or this coming week as planned, I spent the weekend moving things and sandbagging around our house. (We live in a flood prone area). 🙁

Hopefully this storm pass without causing us too much pain or damage to our home, for that matter to any of you as well.  Please be safe and remember even after the storm passes hunting out of trees will be in soft wet ground and could be dangerous to climb.  Please be very safe when climbing for the next week or so.

Rut will most likely be changed by this massive weather event and could make hunting after the horrible weather either very good for very bad.  Just a wait and see game.  From what research I have done we have 50/50 odds of it being really good or really bad.  Back in the 80's the Northeast saw a bad tropical storm that brought rain just before peak rut and from what information I could find it ended up making rut short but intense.  However, as most of us remember in the past 20 years extended periods of rain has made hunting hard and seriously effected rutting activity to the point where it has moved to the next full moon in some cases. For more information about how hurricanes affect deer population check out our article The Effects a Hurricane has on Local Deer Population.

We will all just have to wait and see what later in the week brings when the sun comes back out.  Until then everyone be safe and we hope everyone keeps power and does not have to deal with flooding.  However, if you do as we could experience either or both ourselves each and every person affected is in our thoughts.

Remember, storms like this are nothing to mess with, be safe and don't risk your life, stay away from flood waters , downed power lines, etc.  Not worth it, plus you need to get back out in the woods later in the week 🙂

Pictures will be coming in the next day or two depending on if we have power etc. But what have you all been seeing?

Seen any giants or seen bucks chasing does? Have any cool trail cam pictures? Share them with us as we all could use something cool to look at or read during this awful storm!

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  1. Adam
    I follow your website closely. I seen my first big buck of my bow hunting lifetime yesterday. Good luck avoiding the flood, we are ready here as well.
    Reply
    October 29, 2012
    • admin
      Adam, Great that you follow our site and thank you. We love to hear from our readers. Great to hear you saw a big boy, how big? Love to hear the story. Flood waters are slowly coming up.. But still have power :-) Hope everyone else is doing well thus far. Hope to hear a story about you getting that deer of a lifetime!
      Reply
      October 29, 2012
      • Adam
        I live in southern MD and we made pretty well with the storm. No damage to report. I saw at least 10 pts but it was the shear width and mass of his rack that is why I called him a beast. We heading out tomorrow to hopefully pull an all day hunt on a private farm in Charles County. Don't know how much of the land we will be able to get to, because a creek runs through it and it maybe flooded. Either way good luck to you, and well be looking forward to some updates on here.
        Reply
        October 30, 2012
        • admin
          Adam, Southern Maryland is one of those wonders of the world I haven't explored yet. Headed down there in December to do some muzzleloader hunting on public land so we will see how that goes! Sounds like a great deer and one of those deer that never leaves your mind. Good luck to you tomorrow on your hunt. I have to work today to deal with the aftermath of the hurricane but plan to hit the woods tomorrow! Once again good luck!
          Reply
          October 31, 2012
  2. Ramsay
    Good Morning, I hope your house stayed dry last night! I live in Hunt Valley/Sparks and the storm wasn't too bad for us. I decided not to hunt this morning, and instead take inventory of any damage around the house. However, I am happy to report that I saw a nice buck (not quite a shooter) on the prowl just past the back fence of my yard (about 100 yards from the house). I live on about 50 acres of woodland and next door to a horse farm and everything I've seen leading up to the storm indicated classic pre-rut behavior. The rutting moon was yesterday, and if that buck making quickly down the trail is any indication, everything seems to be right on schedule with little effect by the storm. Things may be different elsewhere, but in horse country, it's on! I plan to be in stand no later than 3. I'll keep you posted!
    Reply
    October 30, 2012
  3. Ramsay
    15 mins after my last post, I saw a Doe stroll by and then 5 mins later, two young bucks following right down the same path catching her scent. I might have to get in a stand now!
    Reply
    October 30, 2012
  4. Ramsay
    Okay - last post. Now, less than an hour later, I just watched a doe-buck chase on that same path. They are definitely chasing.
    Reply
    October 30, 2012
  5. Ramsay
    And now the big 8-pointer just walked into my back yard. I'm outta here and getting in a stand! You all should too!
    Reply
    October 30, 2012
    • admin
      Ramsay, Sounds like I would like your house a lot! :-) Good to hear the bucks are back up and moving after the storm. I hope you got one of those bucks this morning or tonight! I went out for a drive to look at damage and check out water levels and boy, Loch Raven is up! still some closed roads from flooding, minor trees down, nothing too bad other than of course those who lost power. I battled and won I want to note water all last night. So I spent the rest of today sleeping and took a drive, not sure where I would have gone even if I had gotten out in the woods today. Hope to get out most of the end of the week, I hope everyone survived the storm alright and good luck to you when you get out into the woods next!
      Reply
      October 30, 2012
  6. Ramsay
    Well, I could see the big 8 pointer in my neighbor's farm field about 250-300 yards away yesterday and this evening. I grunted and a rattled a bit, but couldn't get him to come over. I saw him over there again today too. The good news - the farmer gave me permission today to hunt his land too! So, it's on. I'll keep you posted. From what I could observe it is still relatively early in the chasing phase of the rut. Bucks were a little more interested in eating, but when the does started running a bit, that would catch the bucks attention and they'd start chasing. So, we still have some great weeks of rut hunting ahead. Also, I got the big guy's attention from some light grunting (3 short bursts at a time) but he wasn't too interested in rattling yet. Now, that could be because our doe to buck ratio is terrible, but I think it is more about the stage of the rut. So, I'd recommend nothing more than just some light grunting, if anything, for a few days until the rut really kicks in. I'll keep you posted.
    Reply
    October 31, 2012
    • admin
      Ramsay, Sounds like you are headed in the right direction. Thanks for the update, and from what I have seen the bucks are interested in the does but still interested in eating as well. I think you are right the next few days are going to be good ones as this nasty weather finally leaves. Thank you for keeping us posted and good luck!
      Reply
      November 1, 2012
  7. Clay
    Hello, Do you have any updates on the rut? I am seeing a lot of dead deer killed by vehicles near the roads. In one case, near my neighborhood, deer was killed crossing a road to no where. Woods on one side of the street and houses on the other. I am hunting the next 4 days. Hopefully, I won't need all 4.
    Reply
    November 1, 2012
    • admin
      Clay, Rut updates, well, not much more than what you just said. Lots of deer being hit on roads, I heard a friend of mine had a deer run into his car around 11am this morning on York Road down towards Towson. (for those who know that area there aren't normally deer there). Bucks seem to be following and doing some light chasing, nothing really hardcore yet. I think had the storm not shown up we would be seeing more serious chasing. I would say get out in the woods! The next couple days and even into next week should be very good. Due to the weather I am also thinking we may even see another mini rut during the November full moon cycle. Good luck this weekend Clay and keep us posted!
      Reply
      November 1, 2012

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