This photo may seem like every hunter’s dream, yet with opening day still weeks away, the excitement of a huge buck in your yard may wane as the beast browses on plants and vegetables that you’ve worked hard to save. These two bucks were probably forced from their normal habitat by severe weather, yet the image you see above is fairly common in suburban neighborhoods.
Bucks Inside the Beltway
Some of the best deer hunting in America is in the back yard of suburban estates. Jeff Harrison of Frederick Maryland has taken more than a dozen P&Y bucks in suburban Maryland and Washington DC. As a professional painter, he visits numerous homes and estates in the region and is always on the lookout for deer damage. “Kill them all,” one landowner told him, while other neighborhoods are dominated by an anti-hunter who limits access. Hunting a back yard inside of the beltway is a very different experience, yet most deer die of car strikes which is bad for both parties.
Scout from Afar
Bad weather and early crop harvest may provide visibility of big bucks that are usually elusively hidden away. Although deer may change location due to crop harvest or alterations in habitat, they won’t go far. If you spot a big buck like these two, be in the area on opening day and you may get a shot.
When River Forest resident Ray McDonald peered into his backyard July 14, he noticed a pair of guests he didn’t expect.
Staring back at him were two large male deer, each with a majestic set of antlers. He estimated each animal to be between 300 and 400 pounds.
