Well yesterday was Maryland's deer opener for Muzzle Loaders, and I was out in the woods with Trudy, my .54 flintlock "PA Mountain Rifle" from Cabin Creek. I had a good spot; deer scat in several places looked like it wasn't more than a day old.
No shots all morning BUT I expected that as I'd seen deer in my area where I hunt as late as Monday, in the evening right at sundown. The area can be a favorite bedding spot. So although I spent the day waiting, a day in the woods isn't a bad day at all. :grin:
It's been dry for a week so the leaves are very crunchy. The squirrels this year are thick. Had I been squirreling with my trade gun instead of deer hunting I probably could have taken 2x the bag limit. (Not suggesting poaching, just there were a lot of squirrels :shocked2: ). I like squirrels since not only can you hunt them but when deer hunting I find their movements in the crunchy-leaves helps to keep me nice and alert.
Chipmunks too are plentiful this year. I don't hunt them :haha: but they are fun to observe. Lightning fast and silent..., until they cross over into another chipmunk's territory, then the chase is on and they don't care what noise they make. They squeak pretty loud when mad too.
The pair of Pileated Woodpeckers is still there in the woods, as are some Eastern Hairy Woodpeckers. A couple of Red Tailed Hawks cruised overhead. A male Crane stopped by the creek down below, looking for a meal.
Yes it was quite hectic all day.
So at around 1:45, then at 2:00, and then again at 2:15 I heard a single shot, pretty close. From the North East, and in that direction is a fellow in the corner of a piece of property, who has had a problem following the property lines in the past. I've found his stand so close to the property line that he had to be on the wrong side to step onto the ladder, and the stand itself only gave him a shot onto the farm where I hunt. The following year his stand was 10 yard beyond the old fence line. I went out and marked the boundary with posts and blue paint rectangles (that's how they mark boundaries in this state). Made me wonder if he's pushing the edge again this year. :cursing:
I was a bit miffed, BUT I figured his shot if it was on doe, might make the rest come my way so I got ready. Then fifteen minutes later a second shot. Well, maybe he's a poor shot, so dispatched a wounded deer. I was still ready, alert, checking for any movement my way. Then the final shot, so perhaps he reloaded after his second shot that dispatched the deer, in case he needed a third shot..., and collected his deer and was unloading to go home...or maybe he's a bad shot and missed three deer? :shake: Could've been more than one guy, one had a deer, and his buddies just unloaded their rifles...pretty small area though to stuff with three hunters. Who Knows?
I will check the area Sunday to see if he's "confused" again about the property line. I won't go tramping over that way, although it would be legal, since I'd run the risk of spoiling his shot and me might be respecting the property lines..., darn fool might take a shot at me moving about even though I'll have on an orange vest and hat. :nono:
Things quieted down as far as shooting was concerned. The squirrels went back to their business, the chipmunks returned to theirs.
Around 5:30, as expected, I saw movement of doe coming toward the road which is my Western border. The came closer and closer, but as the light faded they didn't cross and come up the hill to bed. Two yearlings crept up from the South on me. Now on Monday it was a group of about 8 that I saw, so I watched them through thick brush hoping they were the point of the larger group coming in, but at the same time I'm thinking I don't want to shoot something the size of a very large dog if I can help it. I'd prefer a mature doe at least. They didn't give me a clear shot, and I think they winded me as they trotted off the way they had walked up.
The group that I thought was coming across the road reversed direction and headed back toward the creek on their side of the road. (bummers!)
So the light faded pretty as the sun set, but I was still waiting for a larger group or a lone straggler to maybe come in, and at sundown and being on the North side of a hill, it was getting pretty dim, I retired from the woods and headed to my car up at the house. To the East, in the open with plenty of light, I saw about a dozen doe moving South near a corn field. But they were on the other side of a property line.
OH well, I saw plenty of deer, just none to harvest, and a lot of other wildlife. Saturday and Monday will come.
:grin:
LD
No shots all morning BUT I expected that as I'd seen deer in my area where I hunt as late as Monday, in the evening right at sundown. The area can be a favorite bedding spot. So although I spent the day waiting, a day in the woods isn't a bad day at all. :grin:
It's been dry for a week so the leaves are very crunchy. The squirrels this year are thick. Had I been squirreling with my trade gun instead of deer hunting I probably could have taken 2x the bag limit. (Not suggesting poaching, just there were a lot of squirrels :shocked2: ). I like squirrels since not only can you hunt them but when deer hunting I find their movements in the crunchy-leaves helps to keep me nice and alert.
Chipmunks too are plentiful this year. I don't hunt them :haha: but they are fun to observe. Lightning fast and silent..., until they cross over into another chipmunk's territory, then the chase is on and they don't care what noise they make. They squeak pretty loud when mad too.
The pair of Pileated Woodpeckers is still there in the woods, as are some Eastern Hairy Woodpeckers. A couple of Red Tailed Hawks cruised overhead. A male Crane stopped by the creek down below, looking for a meal.
Yes it was quite hectic all day.
So at around 1:45, then at 2:00, and then again at 2:15 I heard a single shot, pretty close. From the North East, and in that direction is a fellow in the corner of a piece of property, who has had a problem following the property lines in the past. I've found his stand so close to the property line that he had to be on the wrong side to step onto the ladder, and the stand itself only gave him a shot onto the farm where I hunt. The following year his stand was 10 yard beyond the old fence line. I went out and marked the boundary with posts and blue paint rectangles (that's how they mark boundaries in this state). Made me wonder if he's pushing the edge again this year. :cursing:
I was a bit miffed, BUT I figured his shot if it was on doe, might make the rest come my way so I got ready. Then fifteen minutes later a second shot. Well, maybe he's a poor shot, so dispatched a wounded deer. I was still ready, alert, checking for any movement my way. Then the final shot, so perhaps he reloaded after his second shot that dispatched the deer, in case he needed a third shot..., and collected his deer and was unloading to go home...or maybe he's a bad shot and missed three deer? :shake: Could've been more than one guy, one had a deer, and his buddies just unloaded their rifles...pretty small area though to stuff with three hunters. Who Knows?
I will check the area Sunday to see if he's "confused" again about the property line. I won't go tramping over that way, although it would be legal, since I'd run the risk of spoiling his shot and me might be respecting the property lines..., darn fool might take a shot at me moving about even though I'll have on an orange vest and hat. :nono: Things quieted down as far as shooting was concerned. The squirrels went back to their business, the chipmunks returned to theirs.
Around 5:30, as expected, I saw movement of doe coming toward the road which is my Western border. The came closer and closer, but as the light faded they didn't cross and come up the hill to bed. Two yearlings crept up from the South on me. Now on Monday it was a group of about 8 that I saw, so I watched them through thick brush hoping they were the point of the larger group coming in, but at the same time I'm thinking I don't want to shoot something the size of a very large dog if I can help it. I'd prefer a mature doe at least. They didn't give me a clear shot, and I think they winded me as they trotted off the way they had walked up.
The group that I thought was coming across the road reversed direction and headed back toward the creek on their side of the road. (bummers!)
So the light faded pretty as the sun set, but I was still waiting for a larger group or a lone straggler to maybe come in, and at sundown and being on the North side of a hill, it was getting pretty dim, I retired from the woods and headed to my car up at the house. To the East, in the open with plenty of light, I saw about a dozen doe moving South near a corn field. But they were on the other side of a property line.
OH well, I saw plenty of deer, just none to harvest, and a lot of other wildlife. Saturday and Monday will come.
:grin:
LD
