Blue Hills Archery Hunt

[Mark from MA]

I got picked. I usually don't bother with stuff like this but I wanted to try to open up some options in state this year for bowhunting.

Looking at the documents Im not too thrilled. 22 deer per square mile is their average count, and some Blue Hill zones are like 12-15 which is their goal.

Where I hunt in CT its like 30-40 deer per square mile. At least 20, and I can do what ever I want.

Not sure it's really worth the hassle....

Any one else going for this hunt??

 

[HorizontalHunter]

I got picked. I usually don't bother with stuff like this but I wanted to try to open up some options in state this year for bowhunting.

Looking at the documents Im not too thrilled. 22 deer per square mile is their average count, and some Blue Hill zones are like 12-15 which is their goal.

Where I hunt in CT its like 30-40 deer per square mile. At least 20, and I can do what ever I want.

Not sure it's really worth the hassle....

Any one else going for this hunt??

Good luck on the hunt. I stopped doing those hunts years ago as all the extra BS that goes with them isn’t worth it to me.

Bob

 

[Len-2A Training]

There is another long thread on this topic from back when they first allowed the hunts. Most felt it wasn't worth the bother.

Take a look at the list of "similar threads" at the bottom of this post. [Might only show up on a real computer, unsure.]

 

[Spartan65]

I was on that hunt last year. It’s tough to scout tough to access good areas and you can only hunt week days… meh.

 

[slap shot]

And you get to deal with the mass hole Karen antis

 

[bdb]

I hunted it the first 2 years. Even the first year wasn't that productive. I stopped applying as others have said, I dind't feel it was worth the effort, BS and only being able to hunt weekdays. Still if you live close by and have the time to scout a little and hunt it it's could be worth it for you. Good luck!

 

[Mark from MA]

I hunted it the first 2 years. Even the first year wasn't that productive. I stopped applying as others have said, I dind't feel it was worth the effort, BS and only being able to hunt weekdays. Still if you live close by and have the time to scout a little and hunt it it's could be worth it for you. Good luck!

Yeah...not that close to it. Like over an hour. Weekdays only do suck too...but I usually have a week off a that time.

Oh well, I might even not buy the required doe permits and get kicked out of the hunt.

 

[ThePreBanMan]

I got picked one year (the first year) and did not hunt it because of the BS. Long story short, you can only hunt in designated areas you are assigned which in my opinion were very small. You could only hunt on designated days, and only in the mornings or midday they closed it I believe at noon. The thing that really got me was that it was REQUIRED that you hunt on your designated days. When I saw the word required, my response was f*** you... I got a not so polite email telling me that I would be banned from future hunts there because I didn't show up on my required days. My response was, that's fine with me.

 

[whacko]

My overall opinion on that blue his hunt is they created that problem....let the dcr figure it out. f*** them.

 

[ThePreBanMan]

My overall opinion on that blue his hunt is they created that problem....let the dcr figure it out. f*** them.

DCR should be disbanded and abolished. Their properties folded into Div of Fish and Wildlife. Their mission is largely duplicating DFW and they're bad at it to boot.
It's a waste of money to have 2 agencies do what one could.

 

[MAGA99]

DCR should be disbanded and abolished. Their properties folded into Div of Fish and Wildlife. Their mission is largely duplicating DFW and they're bad at it to boot.
It's a waste of money to have 2 agencies do what one could.

You must be new to mass....

 

[Mark from MA]

My overall opinion on that blue his hunt is they created that problem....let the dcr figure it out. f*** them.

I always had that opinion as well. Which is why I travelled to states like CT that address the problems head on.

I'm likely not going to bother with this at all......what's going to end up happening is that I'll start seeing some nice deer on my cams around here during the rut, and I won't want to bother traveling. I'm seeing some good sign already.

 

[Mark from MA]

I got picked one year (the first year) and did not hunt it because of the BS. Long story short, you can only hunt in designated areas you are assigned which in my opinion were very small. You could only hunt on designated days, and only in the mornings or midday they closed it I believe at noon. The thing that really got me was that it was REQUIRED that you hunt on your designated days. When I saw the word required, my response was f*** you... I got a not so polite email telling me that I would be banned from future hunts there because I didn't show up on my required days. My response was, that's fine with me.

There are two hunt zones 1 and 2. Multiple properties for each, can only hunt the zone your put in, which is retarded.

There is no requirement to hunt at all..........you are required to buy 2 special Blue Hill doe tags before you hunt.

 

[ThePreBanMan]

There are two hunt zones 1 and 2. Multiple properties for each, can only hunt the zone your put in, which is retarded.

There is no requirement to hunt at all..........you are required to buy 2 special Blue Hill doe tags before you hunt.

Maybe that has changed since then, but when I was picked there were multiple communications that said I was REQUIRED to hunt each of the 4 days (Mon and Tue of 2 consecutive weeks) that they opened the land to hunting. Also, there were a lot more than 2 zones. They divided up the property into 12 or 14 zones, I don't remember the exact number, but it was a lot, I was assigned 1 and I could not leave it. I had to hunt and I had to hunt pretty much exactly where they told me...

All set with that noise.

 

[Mark from MA]

Maybe that has changed since then, but when I was picked there were multiple communications that said I was REQUIRED to hunt each of the 4 days (Mon and Tue of 2 consecutive weeks) that they opened the land to hunting. Also, there were a lot more than 2 zones. They divided up the property into 12 or 14 zones, I don't remember the exact number, but it was a lot, I was assigned 1 and I could not leave it. I had to hunt and I had to hunt pretty much exactly where they told me...

All set with that noise.

I got zone 2 which is like 2 large areas that are a total of 1500 acres or something, but it's lower deer density. Not thrilled.

I was actually hoping for zone 1, like 6 or 8 smaller areas, but I like to stick and move, and the deer density was higher in Zone 1.

Plus everyone knows its easier to hunt smaller properties that funnel deer for a shot. And since I didn't want to dedicate a lot of time or scouting to this, I'd rather the smaller spots.
That's why its easier to hunt the eastern zones.

Probably not even gonna buy the doe permits and get kicked out.

 

[Sparkey]

I got zone 2 which is like 2 large areas that are a total of 1500 acres or something, but it's lower deer density. Not thrilled.

I was actually hoping for zone 1, like 6 or 8 smaller areas, but I like to stick and move, and the deer density was higher in Zone 1.

Plus everyone knows its easier to hunt smaller properties that funnel deer for a shot. And since I didn't want to dedicate a lot of time or scouting to this, I'd rather the smaller spots.
That's why its easier to hunt the eastern zones.

Probably not even gonna buy the doe permits and get kicked out.

Did you ever hunt this ? I got picked this year not sure how much effort I am going to put into not sure which zone I got yet

 

[Mark from MA]

Did you ever hunt this ? I got picked this year not sure how much effort I am going to put into not sure which zone I got yet

Nope. Didn't bother. Too much BS for me.

This was 2021, I think I killed a spike locally with the bow because I hadn't killed a MA deer in years. That was the last year I hunted CT I think, I may have taken a doe there as well and probably let some small bucks walk by waiting for something decent.

 

[Sparkey]

Nope. Didn't bother. Too much BS for me.

This was 2021, I think I killed a spike locally with the bow because I hadn't killed a MA deer in years. That was the last year I hunted CT I think, I may have taken a doe there as well and probably let some small bucks walk by waiting for something decent.

Thanks after listening to the online orientation not a fan of a few rules no ground blinds seems stupid no scouting till November 6th which how would they know I was scouting as opposed to taking a hike.

 

[Bostonian23]

I got it this year as well. I am about 20 min from Blue hills so I’m going to do some scouting and give it a chance this year . Still haven’t sent out which zone I have so I’m just going to wait and see .

I don’t think they have the requirements to hunt on said days , just gives the dates on which the hunt will take place .

 

[Mark from MA]

Thanks after listening to the online orientation not a fan of a few rules no ground blinds seems stupid no scouting till November 6th which how would they know I was scouting as opposed to taking a hike.

Yeah, the rules were stupid.....but I'm a treestand guy that didn't bother me. I would have taken my climber or a light removable setup like a saddle. But some of the rules are annoying.

Not sure what the dates were either, but they were relatively stupid back then if i remember......like non consecutive days or something weird had to skip some days....didn't like that. That just means you see a nice deer one day and can't set up on it the next.

 

[HorizontalHunter]

Thanks after listening to the online orientation not a fan of a few rules no ground blinds seems stupid no scouting till November 6th which how would they know I was scouting as opposed to taking a hike.

I stopped doing those kind of hunts 5 years ago or so. like @Mark from MA said, way too much crap to deal with.