Saturday 10.24

Sykesville, Morning Disgustingly warm and humid

Got setup around 7 waited waited and waited took a little nap then waited some more. Finally about 10 am I got sick of waiting and I got down and went to take a look at another spot on the property. There is a feeder setup with a timer and a trail cam. There were 101 pics on the trail cam. So there are definitely deer there but I have not seen any. When I was walking towards the other stand there were two doe bedding down in the pines near the pond. That is the extent of the deer that I have seen on this property. I am not giving up hope. I am taking some corn up there this week.

Friday 10.23

Scouted out a new spot today in Ellicott City off route 99. 5 acres mostly a wooded hillside into a stream bottom that runs into Patapsco state park. I am really excited about this spot the land owner has told me he has seen some really nice bucks grazing in his yard. There was a heavily traveled path from the stream bottom to across the street to the gas line. The path was rubbed up pretty good. Will this spot get me on the deer? Stay tuned. I will be going there on Wednesday for my first hunt there.

Wednesday 10.21 Evening

Old Ellicott City Evening Warm north east wind.

Got in the woods late spooked two deer setting up my stand. Wind was not cooperating was blowing right where the deer are supposed to come from. Thats all to report didn't see any deer after that except when walking back to the car saw them all running from the meadow back into the woods. I am hoping to get a shot on a deer sometime this year.

Monday October 19

Sykesville, MD afternoon 70 degrees

Thought I would be hunting over my corn that I put out 2 weeks ago. Nope no corn something ate it, was it deer? I have still yet to see a deer in my stand but they are telling me they are there. Only thing I saw was a fox. I may be the last thing he saw. I am still waiting for my deer there.

Crabbing Sunday 10.11.09

Only a two man voyage this time. Colder then last week. There was a guy already set up where we were last time so we decided to go across the river and run two lines of about 11 pots in one line and 14 in another. We dropped the pots going in the creek near the Airport in a range of 9-12 feet. First run we got three then averaged 3-4 crabs per line. Best run had 8 in it. Only got blanked on 1 run. 4 females and about 8 or 9 small ones we threw back. Ended up with 61 crabs probably 2 dozen over 7 inches. They were very tasty. I think that may be the last crabbing run. Time to get into the woods. Deer hunting should be getting good.

Crabbing 10.4.09

Sunday Morning 7 am Middle River Maryland Weather Sunny mid 60's

Greg, Kerwin, Deuch and I set sail on the S.S BigHead Sunday morning. We left the dock around 7:15 there were a few boats already set up crabbing. I thought it was a half hour past sunrise but maybe not. We ran 18 pots in 11 feet of water. The first run the first pot there was a crab so we were thinking this was going to be a good day. First run 2 crabs each run after that 1 crab. We tried to go shallower with another string but same luck. Wind started blowing really bad and the ravens were coming on so we headed in around 1145. Ended up with 18 decent sized crabs and Greg ran over 1 pot. We are going to try again this sunday.

Wednesday 9/30

Evening 55 degrees Ellicott City, MD

Got set up on a known path that deer take in a poplar tree about 20 feet up. The tree is in a bottom area with a creek that runs behind me down around to my right side. There is a tree directly in front of me and my only shots would be to my left as there are branches to my right. On my left side about 30 yards from the tree is a hillside that wraps around the property. The wind was not to my favor as it was blowing from behind me to my front right. This is only my second time in my climber so I am still getting used to it, I'm still unsure how much I can move around so that it does not fall. Sit there for about an hour and around 5:45 then I see some movement coming from my front right on the wood edge (directly where the wind is coming from). I see 1 small body doe leading the pack followed by another deer that is the size of Bella. Behind that one was another small doe followed by a small bodied 5 point buck after him was another doe. So the the lead deer is walking to my left definitely in my kill zone (if i had been standing up and ready to shoot) She is walking, sniffing the air, looking around I met eyes with her once or twice. It looked like she went directly to the base of my tree and was looking around she knew something was out of place. She circled behind me then back to my right while the smallest deer followed her. The other doe's and buck went around to my right that's when I saw he was a decent 5 point. By decent I mean I would have shot him had the opportunity presented itself, not a trophy by any shape of the imagination. The third doe walked all the way from my front right to back left while the others congregated to my front right. The lead doe started stomping and snorting to get its attention almost like saying "hey dummy we gotta go" I was covered by the tree branches and leaves so I started to stand up and see if I could get into position to shoot. As soon as I start to get up the doe that is behind me hears me and looks directly at me I was busted. She trots back to the herd and they move to my far left and start walking up the hillside out of range. So I sit for another hour and do not hear or see anything, climb down out of the tree and go to Double T dinner for dinner. Not what I wanted to have happen for the day but I cannot complain. Hey I actually saw deer this time. This is my first time in my climbing stand that I had deer in my area. It was a great learning experience for me. Things I would have changed or done differently. 1st thing is maybe I could have used more scent away, 2nd is changed the way I was sitting in my tree stand. I was sitting really scrunched down so it took a lot of effort to stand up. I knew this the whole time but i was thinking to myself if I move a deer is going to see me and will not even come within eyesight. Third, when there is about an hour and a half of light left Stand up and be ready. I also need to fashion some sort of Bow holder so I do not need to hold onto my bow the whole time. A lesson learned for the next time...hopefully Saturday.