Bzo

[onedash]

I got my crossbow dialed in. Here is 3 shots at 30 yards. Guess I could use a little practice but it might not be realistic to hit that black dot shooting off hand every time. Not sure. Only fired it a few dozen times so far. Opening day is less than 2 weeks away.

[capncarl]

That's fantastic accuracy! What bow are you using? I started bow hunting in the early 80s so I could get in the woods before the gun hunters. The bad thing was I was also in the woods with all the heat, the skeeters, ticks, red bugs, rattlesnakes horsefly, gnats.......... It didn't take me long to decide I liked the gun season opening date better, it was Thanksgiving weekend back then and somewhat cooler and had less distractions.

[onedash]

Tenpoint Turbo GT with pro elite arrows. This will be my first year hunting in Maryland and we have WAY TOO MANY deer. I think they are all starving. Our woods have nothing growing on the ground because they eat everything except a few ferns and wild holly bushes. They come and eat all my flowers and bushes. The spray worked if I kept up with it but then it rains, the deer come and eat everything. I put up some fences but haven't fenced everything. And I plant cover crops hoping to bribe them but they eat those and my plants. So this year they lowered the safety buffer to 50 yards from occupied dwellings. Now I don't need to ask any neighbors permission to hunt on my own property. Some reports suggest we have as many as 170 deer per square mile. Maybe if I can shoot enough of them the remaining deer will have enough food to leave my stuff alone. But I suspect it will take several years to make a dent in the population. We can shoot unlimited number of does so if I can get enough people to shell out $85 to pay the butcher I plan to keep shooting them. I will probably only keep two a year tops. Don't think my wife will want to eat venison every single day of the year.

[capncarl]

That's a lot of deer per sq mile. I fully understand and agree with what you are doing and support it. The only drawback I see is how you handle deer that don't die on the spot and run into your neighbors yards and die. The huggers might have a field day with that. Have you discussed this with your neighbors and gotten them on board with our deer population control?

[atgcpaul]

We can shoot unlimited number of does so if I can get enough people to shell out $85 to pay the butcher I plan to keep shooting them. I will probably only keep two a year tops. Don't think my wife will want to eat venison every single day of the year.

$85 sounds like a pretty good deal. I helped my Uncle dress a deer before and it was definitely more than $85 of work.

[capncarl]

2 a year is not going to do squat for your overpopulation problem. You have to get your friends and neighbors onboard to take unwanted deer you harvest. Around here a lot of people want a deer for the freezer until they hear the butcher price and that they will have to put down the pie and go the processor and pick it up. A lot of processors will take in excess deer and donate them to charity.

[onedash]

I am surrounded by woods on 2 sides. I am fairly certain the deer are going right back towards the woods after they are shot. And I hope they don't go far. I have several people at work that have said they will take a deer. Once I actually start shooting them I will be getting the word out more. The butcher I plan on going to only takes donations for crop damage tags right now. If I run out of takers I will search a little farther I guess. Plus there are Amish that live relatively close by. I don't know any of them but I suspect if I talk to any of them they would be happy to take as many as I can get.
In Wisconsin the butcher we go to charges $65 and does a fantastic job. People come from very far away to take their deer there. Everything is boneless and packed exceptionally well. I hope this one I go to here is close to as good as that one.

[capncarl]

Does your butcher also skin and field dress the deer? I found that to be an absolute must for afternoon hunting when a deer was shot near dark and we needed to get on the road and get home.

[atgcpaul]

Funny you mention the Wisconsin thing. Whenever my Dad or Uncle had a deer dressed, they always have it processed into roasts, steaks, and ground. My coworker's family is from Wisconsin. When his brother gets his deer processed, he always gets a bunch of jerky, too, and ships it over here. That was some good jerky!

[onedash]

They will skin it ($10) but I have to field dress it YAY. Our butcher In Wisconsin gives you $10 for the hide. I guess if I get too many deer I will have to dig holes for the guts. Otherwise the raccoons and possums will probably be able to keep up with the gut piles. Coyotes have been seen in our county but their population hasn't really grown I don't think. Not sure if foxes would eat guts. Might have a battle over them.

[capncarl]

I think our processor charged $20 to field dress and skin a deer. Well worth the money because where I hunted there was seldom a good place to hang a deer and after hauling a washtub full of full of stuff into the woods to bury, ***. Doing this in the dark would break you up from deer hunting. Our rule was to get the deer to the cooler/butcher as soon as possible even if it meant the hunt was over for everyone. The season started in Oct ( for guns ) and ended the last of Jan. And unless it was an unusually cold snap you had to get the deer to the processor quickly.

[onedash]

These deer are very delicious. We had some steaks and burger so far. He adds 10% beef fat to the burger. I'd have to say better than Wisconsin deer. Not sure if it is because they are smaller or starving or ???. Where we hunt in Wisconsin the deer are eating the crops (cow food) and are good tasting deer. Didn't think these could possibly be as good. But they say the deer around the Chesapeake Bay are some of the best in the country. I think I have to agree with them.