Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Maryland Eastern Shore Shotgun Season

Going to try it Fall 2020.I will be using a Ithaca Deerslayer III in 12 gauge.



Trying to narrow down some guides to use . I have an aquaintance that hunts on a few hundred acres there and swears by it.
Any input would be appreciated.

Fyi, 75% or so of the shore is rifle... no recommendation on guides tho, I live here.

No one has anything to add?

Worked and lived in Centreville, MD late 80's--plenty of deer in the area (Queen Anne's and Kent Co's.), was shotgun only at that time I believe. I was able to hunt a few private farms and Millington WMA the few years I was there.

QA and Kent are the only two shotgun counties on the shore.

The only guide for WT’s Im aware of is Schraders. Im sure there is more however, and by no means am I endorsing them, as I just dont know.

Queen Anne's, Kent &Talbot Counties are shotgun only. The Eastern counties are rifle. Any 12ga slug will work. I'd take it to the range and shoot some and see what shoots accurately out of your gun to 100 yards. I guess that's got a rifled barrel? I shoot a 3" Breneke Magnum Crush. It's designed for a rifled barrel and is very accurate out of my Encore, but it's an ass kicker. A guy that works for me loves the Lightfield's sabot. Whatever works in your gun will kill deer. Shoot a couple of each and then stick with whatever works the best for you. Do me a favor and shoot a Sika Deer for me. I've always wanted to shoot one of those little rat bastards.

http://www.eregulations.com/maryland/hunting/deer-seasons-bag-limits/

Here is the calendar for 2019, so 2020 will be a little different.

https://dnr.maryland.gov/huntersguide/Documents/Hunting_Seasons_Calendar.pdf

Take a climbing tree stand if you have one.

I certainly hope it shoots well, going to try lightfields and Remington Accutips I don't think I have seen Sika Deer on any of the websites . If they taste like Elk then I am in . Are they rutting into Shotgun season? Guy I know was going to go this weekend but a change of plans caused him to miss out. He is on private property with 3-4 other guys and have a few hunts together bow and muzzie every year..


Here is a link to the Ithaca and no I did not pay anywhere near that(gently used if that) but they are machines from what I have been told.

deerslayer III

A few I have seen have 21' ladder stands

Very nice. What kind of scope do have on it? Make sure it has a longer eye relief. I use a Nikon Slug Hunter 3-9x40 and it has a 5" eye relief on it I think. If I don't hold on tight, it'll still ding me a little if I'm not careful. Don't use a rifle scope, that Ithaca will eat it for lunch and you'll need stitches in your forehead.

Sika Deer are like little baby elk that are about 1/2 the size of a white tail. From what I've heard is that they hang out in the swamps of Dorchester County. I think a big buck might be a 6 point.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sika_deer

Yeah, the scope will have to be carefully picked. I went out to the Nikon website and they have prostaffs with that reticle. I have used Nikon scopes before on Muzzies and they work real well. Ithaca is pretty heavy, the barrel looks like a fluted truck axle. I have heard the same about Sika, it would be shot for meat and certainly not for horns.

Whitetails are generally in full rut Thanksgiving week. Gun season starts on Saturday after Thanksgiving. Sunday hunting is dependent on which county you're hunting in. So yes, in rut for gun season. Buy a bonus buck stamp, but not sure what it cost for an out of state licence. It's $10.00 for us. You're only allowed 1 buck with each weapon (bow, gun, or muzzle loader) with a total of 2. So if you're only hunting with a gun, you will need a bonus buck stamp in order to shoot a second buck with a shot gun. You have to shoot 2 does before you're allowed to take your second buck. You're allowed up to 15 does. So on day one and a doe shows up, take her down, reload, and stay in the stand. Not sure what the deer heard is like where you're going, but bring a big cooler, it could be live action.

I've had various different (cheap) rifle scopes on my Encore before I learned my lesson. The Encore broke several when a guy told me to get this Nikon. In 10 or 15 years, it's only broke one of these Nikon's. Nothing worse than losing a scope in the middle of the season. The Nikon has a BDC reticle which helps over 100 yards. Not sure what it's like there, but most of my shots are 10 to 100 yards. But I hunt in Western MD where the terrain and foliage are different. Eye relief is the key though, you don't want it to beat your brains out. I have a scar between my eyes now.

I live a minute away from the Bay Bridge, and have hunted a lot on a buddy's farm in Kent County. I always insisted on using a traditional muzzle loader, even during "gun" season. Just never cared for having my teeth rattled by shotgun slug ammo. Besides, a .45 patched round ball knocks them ass-over-tea kettle as well.

I never did understand the logic behind designating those Eastern Shore counties as "shotgun/ML only". We would roam the fields all summer with CF rifles shooting groundhogs, but come fall it was back to less efficient guns.

I don't deer hunt over there much anymore, preferring to migrate westerly for that.

I have fortunately survived slug gun recoil all these years but a bout with a 300 wby shooting prone in snow in WY made me a little more careful of cartridge and eye relief. I got a lot of looks in the Airport on the way home and some commentary. Talbot county is one of the places.

Yep some of these laws are assinine to say the least. Is it true that my gun case has to be locked and the ammo put in a locked container as well? or is that all BS

Let me clarify the whole buck bag limit thing because I think I might have made it confusing.

You're allowed two bucks with the regular licence. Each of these bucks have to be taken with a different weapon (bow, gun or muzzle loader).

You can buy a bonus buck stamp and take another buck with the weapon of your choice. So if you're only using a shot gun, in order to take 2 bucks with the shot gun, you would need a bonus buck stamp.

2 of the 3 bucks have to have at least 3 points on one side. The 3rd buck can be a dink.

Antlers that are shorter than 1" are considered "Antlerless" (Doe or Antlerless buck). So a button buck is not considered an "Antlered Buck".

You have to shoot 2 does before you're allowed to take your second buck.

Sika don't rut the same time a whitetail ruts....The best time to hunt sika rut would be mid October....I feel the best time is early muzzle loader season....October 17/18/19 was it this year....Private property for sika comes at a premium price....However there are several thousand acres in Dorchester County of public land to hunt....Blackwater National Refuge has permits that you can buy online to hunt their land....There is some good sika hunting on Blackwater but you need to do your scouting first....

I'm not sure what that's all about. No, the gun case doesn't need to be locked. Technically, if you're transporting your firearm, if the gun is in the trunk, the ammo needs to be in the cab, or vice versa. Not many people worry about that though. I just throw my schit in the truck and go.

Gary, the way I understand it is that you're not allowed to use a rifle on anything, I might be wrong though. I thought is was because the land is so flat, and or very populated with people like where I live. That's why in the western counties, Frederick and West, rifles are OK because of the terrain over this way. I think those counties on the Eastern part of the Eastern Shore aren't as populated and that's why you can use a rifle down there.

I spoke with Allen Ellis who heads the Marylands Sportsman Alliance or equivalent organization 3 years ago to lobby Marylands DNR to allow pistol caliber rifles or straight walled rifle cases similar to Ohio rifle season regulations in "Shotgun Only" counties. Allen had NO interest....I was shocked and never pursued the issue.

Doc