As the title says, the season opens tomorrow here in Maryland. As you can guess, I can't wait. Got my rifle all sighted in and ready to go. As soon as I get home from school, i'm going to change grab my gear and go to the farm. Wish me luck.

Cory: hope you have a lot of fun! I remember getting off the school bus, and running for the house to get my shotgun, or later during deer season, my rifle.. Glad to see a young fellow carrying on the tradition... Les

Cory,
How'd it go?
I never fired a shot,but the wife drilled a 160# 7 pointer yesterday evening, here in St Marys.
I liked your bit about rushing home from school.Brings back alot of memories.I've been hunting over 30 years and STILL feel that way! Take care and good luck! Dave

I went hunting both thurs & fri. and didn't see a damn thing. I don't know where you go hunting but I go on the what use to be the wathen farm on Friendship School rd. The farm has been sold off but some land still belongs to us. I really hope I get a deer this year as now I drive and want to get some blood in the bed of my truck. Good luck to you too dave, and tell you wife I said congrats on the buck.

quote:

Originally posted by C.Wathen:
... I really hope I get a deer this year as now I drive and want to get some blood in the bed of my truck. ...

Hey Cory, Be sure to wash it out after your buddies see it, because it is VERY corrosive.

I can't help you with the BP, but I probably can with the Deer. Sneak in to your Stand as quietly as possible. You can practice sneaking up on cats and dogs.

Sit still.

Wear a face mask and a Boonie style hat. Pull the face mask up so you are just looking over the bottom of the eye-holes. Pull the Boonie hat down so you are just barely looking under the brim. Now your eyes are hidden.

Sit so still that you forget to swallow - you can practice this in school.

Don't make ANY sudden movements. Every movement should be in s-l-o-w motion.

Sit so still you even blink slowly - be careful with this in school, they will think you are going to sleep.

Try to have Stand locations that allow you to pick the one to go to based on the wind direction. Needless to say, you do not want your scent blowing over where you expect to see the Deer.

Sit STILL!

If you can find White Oaks and water, the Deer will come.

SIT STILL!!

Wear some kind of "Cover Scent" on your boots. Anything which is normal for your area. Don't wear scented deodorant. Wear a non-scented anti-perspirant. No aftershave, but for sure wear clean clothes washed in non-scented soap. If you have Pines in your area, store your clothes in a plastic Bin with a bunch of fresh Pine Needles.

And finally SIT STILL!!!
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Good hunting and clean 1-shot kills.

Thanks for the info. I don't hunt in a stand, ground hunt. But I'm thinking that is my problem. Maybe I'll build a stand, or buy one of those climbing stands.

Hey Cory, The same information applies to Ground Hunting. Find a spot with a lot of fresh tracks crossing a creek and stay back 40-50yds. Settle in next to a tree so it breaks your outline and get comfortable. Take a cushion to set on if need be.

Jam a few limbs into the ground in front of where you will be sitting if possible. I found a great "Spot" one time that looked directly down into a slight opening in the woods. I could back up to a large tree and directly in front of me(about 4ft) were a ccouple of small bushes.

I walked down and looked around to find lots of displaced leaves where something had been rooting through them to get at the Acorns. Could have been Squirrels, but of course the hope was for Deer. Looked back up at "The Spot" and it was broken up by those bushes fairly well.

I left it alone for a few days since I'd been walking around where I expected to see the Deer. Then went back and killed a Doe. And the second trip resulted in a 6-pointer. Plenty of Birds and Squirrels to keep things from getting boring.

If you are just randomly roaming around in the Woods/Swamps(aka Still Hunting) the chances of a young beginning hunter actually seeing a Deer before it sees him is very slim. The stories of people sneaking up on Deer and touching them require many cumulative years of sneaking time.

Nothing wrong with Stand Hunting, but you can do it from the ground. Just settle in and wait silently. If you do not hear birds moving around you in 15min after settling down, then you are not sitting still enough and for a long enough time.

Try to locate someone to hunt with that has done it for a long time - with good results. If you get with the wrong person, it can do more to reduce your chances than to enhance them.

Plan to do a LOT of Scouting this coming year during the off Season. Being out in the woods then gives you the best possible opportunity to practice and learn the small tricks needed to enter and leave the woods/swamps without them knowing you were ever there. Once you determine the routine movement trails for the Does, the Bucks stay off to the side typically on the down-wind side. But during the Rut, they will travel the trails that the Does move along just like a slow tracking dog will.

Be patient and sit still.

Best of luck to you.