2019-20 Hunting Season Overview

The 2019-2020 hunting season has come to an end. This season was one of huge ups and downs for the Jarvis Outdoors team. We started off the preseason as usual at the farm we have hunted for many years. Cameras, feeders, and mineral were put out early and monitored for activity. Just before the start of the season we had an opportunity to enter into our first ever hunting lease. We leased the new 165 acre farm in central Maryland and got full access to the property as the season was kicking off. We were behind the ball on this new farm and quickly decided that this season would be a year for us to educate ourselves about this new property. Meanwhile back at the old farm things were going great the cameras were showing us some of the best deer we had ever seen and our hopes were high for a very successful season.

Starting off with a home run on the first afternoon of bow season we were able to punch a tag on a beautiful early season full velvet buck. Our preseason scouting paid off, this deer was in his summer pattern and frequented one of our Spy Point cameras every afternoon for almost a month, we knew his pattern and just had to be there when he came by. We quickly followed up by punching another tag on a beautiful buck during the early muzzle-loader season. We were 2 for 5 and hadn’t hit the rut yet. The rut was slower than normal for us and pretty unproductive. I now know that this was due to the added hunting pressure caused by three hunters pushing their way on to the farm that we had worked so hard on. The new hunters put extra pressure on the deer and pushed them right off the farm or turned them nocturnal at the best time of the season. To say we were disappointed would be an understatement. Meanwhile there was a decent amount of activity at the lease and several nice up and coming bucks were spotted during the early season. Jumping forward to the gun season we were able to put two bucks on the ground. Both were management deer but we were more than happy to put meat in the freezer while doing some QDM. One was taken off the new lease and one off the old farm which brought us to 4 out of 5 for the season. That just left me with a tag in my pocket and as we headed through December I was able to get it done with the bow on a nice 8 pointer bringing us to 5 for 5. This year part of the team headed to Pennsylvania for the rifle season and part of the team headed to Western Kentucky for a muzzle-loader hunt. We had great hunts in both states but all came home with stories and tags in our pockets. We also squeezed in a PA flintlock hunt before the world went crazy and hunting took a back seat to life.

Overall it was an excellent season, we went 5 for 5 on bucks, entered into our first lease and filled the freezers with some doe management along the way. However as with everything, all good things must come to an end and we lost the farm we have hunted on for so long. It was tough and the way it was done was wrong but we are thankful for all the good years and all the great deer we were able to harvest during our time there. The 2020-2021 season will bring great things for the Jarvis Outdoors crew. We have renewed our lease which we hope will be more productive as we have gained some knowledge this season. There will be plenty of preseason work starting very soon in efforts to make this farm an excellent whitetail farm. We are also heading to the woods shortly for some shed hunting and will update you on our finds. Check back on the blog to keep up with us also subscribe to the Jarvis Outdoors YouTube channel to see what we are up to. Big plans for 2020!!!! As always get out there and stay safe!

Chris