opening day for Md guys

[DaveHawk]

Something to think about. The transit for opening day will be perfect for deer movement in the morning 10:16 Am the deer will bed down so getting in just at day break so not to spook deer in the dark will be a key to success. Deer will begin moving around 7 AM .

I think Jarrod will post the daily transit times once the season starts.


Tuesday
15 September 2009 Eastern Daylight Time

SUN
Begin civil twilight 6:23 a.m.
Sunrise 6:50 a.m.
Sun transit 1:03 p.m.
Sunset 7:16 p.m.
End civil twilight 7:43 p.m.

MOON
Moonset 4:45 p.m. on preceding day
Moonrise 2:58 a.m.
Moon transit 10:16 a.m.
Moonset 5:22 p.m.
Moonrise 4:14 a.m. on following day

[GF.]

Is the transit when the moon is right over head? So the movement starts how many hours before that?

Looks like the bottom line is that sun-up is a good time to be in the woods....:D

So let's see here.... School will be back in session at that point... Buses start running pretty close to 7:15.....

I'm predicting good numbers of deer sightings from 8:30 to 11:00 in my neck o' the woods...

[DaveHawk]

You got it GF

[purple heart]

Our bow season here in Vermont doesn't start until October 3.
I'll read about your hunts to get me pumped up for our opener.:)

[dave-t.]

I don't know that I've ever hunted the opening day of bow season. I have buddies that never miss it, but late Oct is more to my liking.

[GF.]

I could see taking it as a personal day, just for the sanity break.:D

On the other hand, as slow as I am when it comes to butchering, I don't know that I dare kill anything in weather like that!:eek:

Luckily, Pete (one of the UK guys) sent me some DVDs, so I'll be sure to watch them before the season rolls around...

I also need to get back out there with the block and the bow. I need new broadheads (100s) and probably a dozen new shafts before the season hits....

But mid-September... If I had a brain, I'd figure out how to take a week off and go Elk hunting.... :cool:

[Bushman]

I always figured that a guy had two good chances to get a good buck during the bow season. The first one was opening day or the first couple days of the season in mid September when you could still catch the bachelor groups in the tail end of a daylight feeding pattern. After the bird hunters and the bow hunters chase them around a little, mine always went nocturnal until the pre-rut and full rut periods.

[DaveHawk]

I have this one location that is a nice cluster of trees in a creek bottom and I want to put stick climber in and a stand. There is a good amount of vines growth also. I've pulls 2 nice bucks from this place and hopefully opening day will be good.

[dave-t.]

Even when the start in MO was Oct 1, there were a lot of stories of guys losing deer to spoilage. I took one around Sept 22 last year in the evening, and had it called in/registered and in the fridge by 11.

It might have went 60lb though. Best kind to pack out in the heat.;)

[DaveHawk]

My shop is so close to where I hunt early season I can have a deer hanging with in 45 minutes.

I picked up 2 locations with 10 minutes of the shop and a dozen or so places 15-20 minutes. So I'm not to concerned about spoilage.

[dave-t.]

That one last year was about 250yds from the house.

I may be able to cut the distance this year. There's one that is flat uninterested in anything going on around it. It was less than 100yds away while I was on the tractor brushhogging in the same field. The doe was calmly grazing in the clover at 1pm.

Not much challenge, but there is something I don't like about deer that aren't in the least concerned about human pressence.

[DaveHawk]

"deer that aren't in the least concerned about human presence."


hahaha That's why I have so many places to hunt.

[ncboman]

"deer that aren't in the least concerned about human presence."


hahaha That's why I have so many places to hunt.

and perhaps why you seem to do well hunting the transient times.

imho, moon times quickly become null and void once hunting pressure enters into the equation. :)

[DaveHawk]

Alan I have to agree with you there. When I hunt the farm in Va I do see deer move with the transit times but not the big boys. Small bucks and doe's will follow the transit. When I hunted in SC totally different story. Deer are hunted from the road and will show themselves till just before dark.

[Smokey]

Most times when I travel out of state I try to coordinate the times when Lunar Tables indicate a group of days to be highly productive.

At times when I have kept some extensive notes on sightings, they corresponded to the tables very well. I suspect though that I hunt harder when the tables indicate a good day for movement.

[DaveHawk]

Smokey, me too buddy, I will sit from sun up till sun down on a day where the feed cycle is set for 3 times during daylight hours. Pick up and move during the bedding hours. Knowing the transit is the best tool you can have or use to get from one place to another in the woods.
If used properly sitting back way off the trail and monitoring the movement you can get a good idea how the deer will move in the area with spooking of leaving scent on there trails.