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According to the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife, Delaware hunters harvested 14,183 deer during the 2010-11 season. The total harvest was more than 14 percent higher than the 2009-10 season and ranks as the third highest harvest all time. Good hunting weather during the October muzzleloader and November shotgun seasons contributed to the high harvest numbers.

“Unlike last season, we did not experience any major negative weather events during any of our productive deer seasons, which resulted in an overall increase in the harvest this past season,” said Joe Rogerson, deer and furbearer biologist with the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife.  “The seasons impacted by weather during the 2009-10 season were the October muzzleloader and November shotgun seasons and the harvest this past year was up considerably during these two seasons but relatively stable during the other seasons.  This clearly shows that the nor’easters were a primary cause of the harvest decline during the 2009-10 season.”

Of the total harvest, 28.1 percent were antlered deer and 71.8 percent were antlerless. Fifty-three and half percent were female deer and 46.5 percent were males.

2010-11 marked the first time that hunters could use crossbows to harvest deer from Sept. 1, 2010 through Jan. 31, 2011 within the newly created crossbow season.

“Although the season was new, Delaware hunters still managed to harvest 398 deer during the crossbow season, compared to 1,400 during the traditional archery season,” said Rogerson. “When the harvest from the two seasons was combined, 1,798 deer were harvested which ranks as the all-time highest harvest for archery equipment, 116 more deer compared to the previous high of 1,682 deer taken during the 2008-09 archery season.”

My column from Thursday’s News Journal.

Last weekend marked the first time I could see my entire lawn since Christmas, and the melted snow and warmer temperatures prompted me to grab my bow and shoot a few arrows in the backyard. I shot well, but the rattling of my quiver and the faded pins reminded me that I want to make a few adjustments to my bow.

Rather than storing my compound bow until August when the bow tune up rush begins, I decided I will make the necessary adjustments now and practice with the modified bow all spring and summer. I suggest that those of you who hunt with compound bows or crossbows do the same because if you’re like me, you know that your bow has an uncanny ability to find its way to the basement rafters until late summer.

Don’t just take my word for it. John Massey, owner, bow technician, and archery instructor for Shooters Supply in New Castle, says now is the time to tinker with your bow and practice your shooting. “Bow season just ended, so bowhunters should be aware of any adjustments they need to make to their bows,” says Massey. “Moving sight pins, changing draw weights, and adding new accessories should all be done as soon as possible so shooters have enough time to adapt and practice. Far too often I have hunters adjust their bows at the last minute, and their lack of practice causes them to be unprepared when deer walk by.”

Spring turkey hunting is another reason to tune up your bow now. I know that turkey hunting is hard enough with a gun, but for the gluttons for punishment among us, using a bow to harvest a wild turkey is a feat worth bragging about. Delaware wild turkey season begins April 9 (youth season begins April 2), so you only have a month or so to get your bow in top shape. Wild turkeys are large birds, but proper shot placement with an arrow leaves little rooms for error. Your bow must be sighted in properly, which means you should change your sights and pins soon, if necessary. Likewise, to increase your chances of harvesting a wild turkey with a bow, your bow should be entirely camouflaged and as quiet as possible.

A tuned up bow with all the bells and whistles is only as good as its shooter. Therefore, offseason archery practice should begin now (if you haven’t started already). Practice can be as simple as shooting a few arrows a day several times a week in your backyard, or it can be more formal. If you choose to shoot in your yard, several variations of archery targets can be purchased from local hunting and sporting goods stores. I like to shoot at foam block-style targets until I get my pins sighted in, then I progress to 3-dimensional deer, turkey, and varmint targets to help me visualize proper shot placement on game.

If you have access to no property suitable for shooting your bow, several archery shops offer indoor and/or outdoor shooting ranges. For a more realistic approach to practice, Shooters Supply offers a non-traditional archery range called TechnoHunt that provides bowhunters with virtual reality hunting situations displayed on the arrow backstop. According to John Massey, “TechnoHunt allows hunters and target archery shooters to practice real-world scenarios in a controlled environment. Instead of just shooting at stationary targets, the TechnoHunt video targets look like real animals and move like real animals, which makes for better practice.”

Although I am inundated year round with mail order catalogs hawking just about every conceivable hunting-, fishing-, and military surplus-related product under the sun, those glossy photos of clothing and equipment just don’t compare to the real things.

Don’t get me wrong. I can certainly build a fine wish list by paging through the one hundred plus-page master catalogs and their associated specialty booklets that arrive in my mailbox every six weeks or so. In fact, stacks of catalogs with dog-eared pages can be found throughout my home on nightstands, coffee tables, counter tops, and office desks, but the marked pages and circled items greatly outnumber actual purchases. After all, it’s quite difficult choosing a turkey call when you can’t hear it, a pair of boots when you can’t size them, or a bow when you can’t judge how it feels in your hand.

While I enjoy ‘window shopping’ and making the occasional purchase from catalogs, I would much rather make my hunting and fishing gear purchases in person. Delaware has a handful of reputable outdoors-related stores, and several mega outdoors superstores are within driving distance of all three Delaware counties. I make it a point to support our local supply stores (as you should, too), but I have to admit that I always look forward to paying a visit to the annual Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show.

The Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show is an outdoors enthusiast’s playground, testing ground, fitting room, megastore, networking event, and knowledgebase that makes hunters, fisherman, and campers alike feel like kids in a candy store.

Held at the State Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, this year’s Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show opens Saturday, February 5 and runs through Sunday, February 13. Featuring more than 1,200 vendors, the show is the largest consumer event of its kind in North America, according to the show’s web site. The show, occupying nearly every nook and cranny of the massive Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center, draws outdoor sportsmen from all over the Mid-Atlantic region.

The sheer size of the show is overwhelming, and it can even be difficult to peruse every booth in every aisle in every building in one day. Seriously, this show is massive. Not only can you view, test, and/or try on hunting and fishing products directly from manufacturers and retailers, you can also visit with outfitters to research and book hunting and fishing trips; shop for boats, RVs, pick-ups, SUVs, motorcycles and ATVs; and observe or participate in outdoor sports-related educational sessions, autograph signings, game calling contests, archery competitions, and family entertainment offerings.

As a testament to how large the Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show actually is, the show’s web site provides a mobile site and iPhone app that enables web-connected attendees to navigate the show floor via interactive maps, locate new products and show specials, view show schedules and set appointments, and find restrooms and food courts.

For show newbies, arrive early (ticket lines form early, and yes, there is an entrance fee) and plan to stay all day. Fee-based on-site parking is available, and shuttle bus service from a local shopping center is typically available. If you intend on loading up with freebies (promotional materials, giveaway items, etc.) and shopping until your heart’s content, I suggest bringing a large backpack or other bag for carrying your gear. Dress in layers, as temperatures seem to vary from hall to hall, and wear comfortable walking shoes.

For More Information:

www.easternsportshow.com

Hours:

Saturday, February 5              10:00am – 7:00pm

Sunday, February 6                 10:00am – 5:00pm

Monday, February 7               10:00am – 7:00pm

Tuesday, February 8               10:00am – 7:00pm

Wednesday, February 9          10:00am – 7:00pm

Thursday, February 10           10:00am – 7:00pm

Friday, February 11                  10:00am – 7:00pm

Saturday, February 12            10:00am – 7:00pm

Sunday, February 13               10:00am – 5:00pm

I had a nice Saturday of hunting. After I bird hunted, I went to one of my suburban deer hunting spots on Saturday afternoon 1/8/2011. It was cold and snowy, and I saw nothing but a fox from 2:30 PM to about 5:00 PM. Around 5 PM, things got interesting.

As I was fighting the numbness in my toes by wiggling my feet back and forth from my deer stand, I noticed a deer coming toward me on a heavily used trail. I gently grabbed my bow off its tree hook, and patiently waited. It took about a minute for the deer to pass the stand, but she was followed by 4 more — all does.

All of the deer kept looking behind them, so I waited a minute or two more. Seeing no other deer coming, I picked out the biggest doe and drew my bowstring. I put the pin on the vitals, and released the string. The string caught the hand muff I had around my waist, and the arrow went off to the right, driving straight into the ground. The deer bolted about 10 yards away, but to my surprise, they came right back! That’s when I heard a grunt.

I looked towards the grunt, and I saw a big-bodied deer coming down the trail. I then realized the deer was a buck. He walked by me at a quartering away angle. I picked a spot where I could drive an arrow through the left back quarter in front of the back leg and up through the vitals. Aware of my hand muff this time, I let the arrow fly. I saw and heard the arrow hit, and I watched the buck run away.

I waited about 40 minutes before coming down from my stand to look for the deer. I found my first arrow, but didn’t find the second — and I found no blood. With the newly fallen snow, I was able to find the buck’s tracks. I noticed that the tracks showed at least one limping leg, so I followed those tracks in lieu of any blood. Within 60 yards of my stand, I found the buck on the ground. He was a smaller rack 7-pointer with 3 points on one side and 4 points on the other.

Knowing I put a good shot on the buck, I filmed my tracking him. The video is below. (The video is a bit dark since I filmed it with my iPhone and a flashlight.)

With so many things going on I have found little time to post actual hunting updates. I had some time off over the holidays, so I spent some time hunting in Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey. Here’s a quick recap.

Steven Kendus Bow Hunting Delaware 12/27/2010

12/18 New Jersey Snipe Hunt – I tried for some New Jersey snipe 12/18, although we were in the midst of a deep freeze on the east coast. During my two-hour hunt with my vizsla Gus, we got up two snipe. One was on the edge of an unfrozen stream, and one was hunkered down in the underbrush of a hedgerow. I manage to get some shots off at the second bird, but they were clean misses.

12/24 Delaware Woodcock Hunt – My friend Curt, my 11-year old daughter, and I hunted Delaware woodcocks on Christmas Eve morning. The ground was frozen solid, but we still found woodcocks. Curt and I each shot one, and my daughter got a shot off at one with her single-shot .410. At one point, Gus pointed three woodcocks sitting together. Two flushed at once, but only my daughter shot. As we commented on the double flush, the third one flushed, and none of us was ready to shoot!

12/27 Delaware Deer Hunt – We had a nice snow storm the day after Christmas, which left about 5 inches of snow at one of my suburban hunting spots. I braved 40 mph winds and 25-degree temperatures to get in a late afternoon bow hunt on 12/27. I saw a ton of tracks, but no deer.

12/28 Maryland Deer Hunt – I hunted in Maryland with my muzzleloader for about 3.5 hours on the afternoon of 12/28. I saw a ton of tracks, and even tried to follow some fresh ones. Unfortunately, the tracks all crossed onto the neighboring property, where don’t have permission to hunt. I heard some deer blow, but I saw none.

12/31 Delaware Deer Hunt – I went back to my suburban deer hunting spot on New Year’s Eve. Legal shooting time ended around 5:16 PM. Around 5:05, a fox walked passed me. I made a few calls to him, and he stopped. As I watched him, I noticed a lone deer coming toward me. As the light faded, I lost sight of the deer, but I could hear it moving. After shooting time ended, I began climbing down from my stand. The deer was about 10 yards behind me, hidden by a pine tree. It bolted away.

1/1 Delaware Deer Hunt – Well, if I wanted to shoot geese with my bow, I could have done so easily. I went to a suburban spot for some bow hunting, and there were about 150 Canada geese all over. I was able to creep into shooting range of a few, but I opted not to shoot since I didn’t want to spook any deer that could be around. As I walked toward my stand, I saw a deer jump up about 80 yards away and bolt. Again, I waited until the last minutes of shooting time. As I turned to grab my bow off the tree hook, I saw a buck standing 50 yards behind me. 9 times out of 10, the deer approach from the exact opposite angle. This one caught me off guard. I waited to see what he would do. He continued walking another 10 yards, until he got got right into the wind that was apparently blowing my scent right to him. He stopped, turned, and silently trotted away. The was the second close call in as many days.

First Chukars!

Great pheasant and chukar hunt!

I maximized my time off this weekend. Here’s a quick summary:

• Hunted deer in Delaware Thanksgiving morning with no success.
• Woodcock hunted Friday morning and shot with my hunting partner Curt. We each harvested one woodcock.
• Archery hunted Delaware deer Friday evening. Saw nothing.
• Hunted stocked pheasants and chukars on Saturday morning. Had a phenomenal hunt. I shot 3 pheasants. Better than that, my daughter went with me and shot 3 chukars. Great stuff!
• Deer hunted Saturday afternoon on the opening day of Maryland gun season. Saw 3 does, but they were out of shotgun range.
• Deer hunted Sunday morning in Maryland. Saw 5 does, but they, too, were out of range.

Delaware Doe with a bow on opening day of shotgun season

Yesterday, November 12, 2010, was the opening day of Delaware’s shotgun deer season, where hunters can harvest does or bucks. I met a friend at 5:00 AM to deer hunt with our shotguns. We arrived at our hunting spot with high hopes, but neither of us saw a deer. I heard one shot nearby around 6:20 AM, but not many more until around 8:30 AM, when I heard a few more. I left the woods around 9:15 AM.

Not wanting to waste a day off, I drove home to switch guns, gear, and clothing, and to grab my dog Gus. My dog and I headed to New Jersey to try for some woodcocks around noon. Traditionally I haven’t had any difficult finding woodcocks in the afternoon. Yesterday was a different story. I went to my favorite woodcock spot, and Gus pointed or flushed no woodcocks. The leaves and ground were extremely dry, so I think after the moist dew evaporated in the late morning, the woodcocks moved to wetter ground. However, there were a lot of rabbits moving about in the afternoon sun. Gus pointed and flushed one rabbit, which I bagged.

Remembering that New Jersey stocks pheasants in some closeby locales, I opted to change tactics and pursue pheasants. I drove to a public hunting spot where pheasants are stocked, but we found none. (Interestingly, Gus did get a bird up on the edge of the pheasant field. I couldn’t tell if it was a woodcock or snipe. I managed to get one shot off, but we came up empty.)

The 62-degree heat was a little much for Gus and I, so drove home. I again changed guns, gear, and clothing and grabbed my bow. I went to a private bowhunting spot, hoping the public land gun hunters would push some deer to my spot. As I walked in to my stand around 3:30 PM, I saw two deer jump up and run. I blew my grunt call, and they stopped. Rather than running, they then just gently walked away.

I climbed into my stand and saw no other deer until around 5:00 PM. A single doe was feeding about 70 yards from me, slowly making her way toward my stand. After about 10 minutes of watching her, she came into range. As she put her head down, I drew my bowstring, picked a spot, and let the arrow fly. The arrow hit a good spot. She jumped up, ran a few yards, and fell.

My plan was to hunt this morning, but I needed some extra sleep! I will butcher the doe now, then head to the woods later.

I truly believe that I have one of the most hectic schedules on the planet, but I don’t complain. After all, if you’re not busy living, then you’re busy dying, so I welcome my constant activity.

Despite writing the second edition of Hunting The First State: A Guide to Delaware Hunting, attending soccer games, watching the Phillies, writing my column for The News Journal, building the Frightland.com web site, and working about 50 hours a week at my day job, I still find time to hunt! Granted, I can’t hunt as much as I wish, but any time spent in the woods is great.

For any of you who follow me on Twitter and Facebook, you know that I have been in the woods with the bow most Saturdays since September 1. I have seen a lot of deer, mainly does and fawns, but I didn’t harvest anything until last weekend. I hunted Delaware with my bow last Saturday morning and heard a bunch of deer before it was light enough to see. After it got light, I saw nothing. Since I allocated the entire day to hunting, I headed to Maryland around noon to hunt the last day of doe muzzleloader season.

I hunted hard for five and half hours before I finally saw a deer. The deer was alone, but it was over 200 yards away. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity for freezer meat, I put a stalk on the deer. After about 35 minutes of stalking, I got a shot at the deer from about 100 yards. The .50-caliber bullet hit true, and I now have some venison in the freezer.

I managed to get an hour’s worth of bow hunting in last night. I first saw three does, then six more showed up. With the rut starting to kick in in Delaware, I was hoping those does would bring in some bruiser bucks. I grunted, bleated, and rattled, but no bucks showed up.

New Jersey woodcock season opens this Saturday, November 6, and I cannot wait to hit woods with Gus, my Hungarian vizsla. For me, walking the woods with Gus is peaceful and relaxing, and allows me to take my mind off of work for a while. My kids are getting old enough to come along, so they may get their first shots at woodcock soon.

Check back for updates and watch for news about the upcoming release of Hunting The First State: A Guide to Delaware Hunting Second Edition.

Here is my Delaware hunting column from Thursday’s edition of The News Journal.

The allure of modern technology is sometimes too much to ignore when I’m sitting in a deer stand with little more to do than count falling leaves. I really tried to maintain focus during a recent deer hunt, but the familiar buzz of my iPhone provided me with a needed diversion.

The fully charged phone, set to vibrate mode, nearly shook me out of my tree. Hours of solitude and background noise provided by crickets, blackbirds and far-off geese lulled me into a heavy-eyed stupor that would normally have ended with the sound of a deer’s footsteps or a forceful forward head nod reminding me that sleeping in a tree is way too uncomfortable. This time, the vibrating phone in my right side pocket jolted me back to a heart-pumping reality.

Wearing a full-body harness over my multi-pocketed cargo pants and thick fleece camouflage shirt, I encountered some difficulty in getting to my buzzing phone. Since I loaded my pockets before I put the harness on, I didn’t realize that one of the harness’ leg straps was covering the pocket the phone was in, and making matters worse, the phone was at the bottom of the pocket (which also contained a grunt call, flashlight, and two bottles of deer scent).

As the phone buzzed, I awkwardly thrust my hand into the pocket with total disregard for the two uncapped spray bottles of deer urine that just happened to be situated in upright positions. It seemed like the double-pump of deer urine mainly saturated my glove, but unfortunately the hand inside that glove was now wrapped around my still-buzzing phone.

Grasping the phone with just my middle finger and thumb, I was mere inches away from answering the call. Pulling the phone out of the pocket, my bow trigger release briefly caught on the harness strap. The slight tug and break in my upward momentum was just enough to cause me to lose my grip on the phone, and I subsequently watched it tumble 20 feet to the leaf-littered ground below.

With about 45 minutes of prime hunting time left, my mind was torn between leaving the phone on the ground or climbing down to get it. Never one to back away from a challenge, I decided to climb down. After all, I could be down the tree steps and back up within a minute or two. What could happen?

Leaving my bow and backpack on their hangers at the top of the stand, I scampered down to retrieve my fallen phone. I picked up the face-down phone with my dry hand and flipped it over to see who called me at such an inopportune time. After several unsuccessful and frustrating attempts at unlocking the phone by sliding my gloved thumb over the touch screen, I knelt down, removed my glove, and swiped my index finger over the screen.

Then I heard a twig snap.

I quickly turned my head and saw a buck 15 yards from me. Instinctively, I reached to the ground for my bow. I reached again. Then reality kicked me in the gut and reminded me that my bow was still up in the tree. The buck saw me at the same time I saw him, and all we could do was stare at each other. Somehow knowing he was safe, he chewed a leaf, shook his head a bit, and silently walked away.

I did finally check the phone.

You would think telemarketers for a deer hunting magazine would know not to call during the late afternoon hours of deer hunting season.