Maryland Hunting with my son... Meh

[Vince1]

So my son turned 12 and I took him for a two day trip down to Maryland, first he had a GREAT time. loved it, so for that I am happy. 

Now the issue I have is that I paid an outfitter a pretty penny for this trip and we got in 4 sits and only one of them was a good sit where he had an opportunity right at sundown but the guide sent his buddy to pick us up and he spooked the dear when he walked in. 

Go figure.

I kinda went back and forth about how much to tip the guy was prepared to give him $200 and just gave him round about $150ish. 

The thing is I was planning on doing this with both my boys on a yearly but after this trip I feel like i wasted over a grand for what i could have done with my boys for MUCH cheaper, me and a buddy go to finger lakes every year for usually for Columbus day weekend and see more deer in one sit than I saw down there for 4 sits. 

Am i missing something or did i get screwed. It was their three day gun in January and man this place was hunted HARD, one day we were on the edge of a cornfield well after the corn had been cut (janurary) mind you i saw tracks in the mud when we went in but i know that was night activity and so i didnt say much especially since i dont know anything about hunting farms. another time he put us on a food plot with a 40 to 50 yard shot and advised us to use his rifle, but i want my son to use his bow so i just opted to use the xbow i brought just in case. again no deer. i finally had to say to him on the final sit to put is in where its close and he put us on a decent spot with a feeder that was a 20 yard shot in the middle of hardwoods and it is there where we finally saw some deer. had he put us there all hunts i would have been happy. 

The guide was a nice enough guy and my son had a great time at the lodge so like i said im not all bent outa shape but i really feel like we should have at least "SEEN" deer. and it wasnt just us alot of guys at the lodge said the same thing. 

So is this what guided hunts are like for deer? i have done hunts for hogs down in florida and NEVER had this issue. did i just pick the wrong outfitter? if so then i will give it another shot with a different outfitter next year. but if this is what i can expect then man i will save my money and just plan the trips myself to public land. 

Just needed to see if its just me or if there are better outfits out there to use. maybe it was the state? i have no idea.

 

 

 

[Marion]

That is why they call it hunting and not shooting

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[Buckmaster7600]

2 days of hunting and you saw deer, you didn’t get screwed you have too high expectations. If it was a week hunt and you didn’t see deer it would be one thing. It’s mid January with an almost full moon, ruts all but over, what were your really expecting?

If you want a more successful hunt and only want to dedicate 2 days you should look into a hunt on a game farm.

If the boy had fun it sounds like you had a great trip to me.


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[Vince1]

Yup. Had a great time but yeah I guess I was expecting to much.  Done hog hunts twice and walked away with nice hogs Everytime. Every sit seen hogs. Different animals I guess. First guided deer hunt though. Will stick to hogs then. If he has a bad season next year will maybe look into a game farm like u said for him or take the trip back down to Florida if covid is over.

 

Thanks for input. And I say it to people myself. Hunting not catching. But not paying for guided deer anymore.

12 minutes ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

2 days of hunting and you saw deer, you didn’t get screwed you have too high expectations. If it was a week hunt and you didn’t see deer it would be one thing. It’s mid January with an almost full moon, ruts all but over, what were your really expecting?

If you want a more successful hunt and only want to dedicate 2 days you should look into a hunt on a game farm.

If the boy had fun it sounds like you had a great trip to me.


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[Fletch]

First thing it is hunting so there are no guarantees. Even the best places have bad days/weather etc. That said if they are promoting an area not hard hunted and you figure out they have been hunting the heck out of it they are misrepresenting.

I'd stay away from game farms. There are plenty of places you should and can at least see deer every day pretty much, even on a bad day. Especially if your not looking only for trophy bucks. You just need to find the right place.

 

[suburbanfarmer]

You can go here.. guaranteed to shoot a deer 

https://www.carterwhitetails.com/

 

Just dont tell us how much you paid..lol

Edited January 28, 2021 by suburbanfarmer

[Uncle Nicky]

Guided deer hunts are funny, in the respect that you are hunting a mostly nocturnal animal, and really have no control over who may have been sitting in the stand before you did. Early & late season hunts are even harder, deer move the most in November & December (in my experience).

I moved down to the Eastern Shore last summer (Delaware). It is definitely different than anything I've seen in PA, NJ, NY, or Texas where I've deer hunted before. These woods are mostly pines with some oaks mixed in, so if there are no acorns, there's not much reason for the deer to move around to feed, they seem to be living on the huge agriculture fields & whatever the combines missed. I know there are a fair amount of deer here, but the only time I seem to see them is after dark in the fields. About 20 days hunted this fall & winter (public land for now), and I've seen 1 doe in the woods while sitting, probably kicked up 10 total coming in or leaving. I've been deer hunting 50 years, so I have some idea what I am doing, but these deer don't seem to move until dark. I guess if I could get on private land I'd set up a feeder, that might help some.

My advice (since you are asking) is if you are seeing more deer in NY, why drive all the way here? But I will say the ES produces some really big bucks, but if you don't have prime land or a feeder set up, it will be very tough.

Edited January 29, 2021 by Uncle Nicky

[First-light]

Shit load of deer in Maryland. Next time if you want to go PM me. Big camp next to mine in the Finger Lakes are all from Maryland. They can help. 

[G-Man]

It happens, deer are funny, I have friends that come see little for many sits and then shoot buck of life time. I cant fault outfitter ,only objection is if you wanted bow range deer then he should of provided that.

  I started doing swap hunts with some friends out midwest, they came here and saw a ton of deer and both connected. But they said we dont have deer numbers you have. Couldnt do it this year with covid but I plan on going for 5 days to Missouri and see it myself. Though I just expect a nice vacation. 

[Vince1]

Appreciate all the comments guys, definitely done with the outfitters though. Great experience with my son he loved it and had a great time. Was looking at land years ago may get back to that. 

Vid of our hunt so you can get an idea of what im talking about.

 

 

[steve863]

44 minutes ago, Vince1 said:

Appreciate all the comments guys, definitely done with the outfitters though. Great experience with my son he loved it and had a great time. Was looking at land years ago may get back to that. 

Vid of our hunt so you can get an idea of what im talking about.

 

 

 

I think you guys didn't see any deer because that Santa puppet was talking a bit too much!     

[LICOASTIE]

I was recently stationed on the eastern shore and regularly hunted Maryland public. I had a tough time and only took one doe in 3 years there. It sounds like you hunted the late rifle season. That time of the year can be really tough. The deer have been pushed and hunted hard after the November gun season and December muzzleloader season. I think you would have better luck hunting early season archery in September in MD. The bucks can be patterned if you know what field they are visiting. Feeders would be good too early season