MA Lands to hunt on

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Quick question...new to hunting and want to get out there this year. I have a seasoned guy taking me out at least once, but I'll probably want to go myself as well.

I've found using google maps a chunk of land that looks good on the northshore. Using the online plat map, it's owned by "The Trust for Public Land".

If this land is not posted, is it ok to go hunt it? I haven't tried yet but I'm kind of assuming it will either be hard to get ahold of the decision maker at this trust or it will just be a "no" even though that land may not be posted.

I know that you can hunt if land is not posted but it's strongly encouraged to ask.
 
IANAL: Check the local ordinances. A number (many?) communities have rules on the books which ban hunting on public land or private land without permission.

Mass.gov has a public lands viewer with info on WMAs and other public spaces open for hunting.

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IANAL: Check the local ordinances. A number (many?) communities have rules on the books which ban hunting on public land or private land without permission.

Mass.gov has a public lands viewer with info on WMAs and other public spaces open for hunting.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

yeah seeing this now.....how the F does anyone hunt in this state?
 
How far are you willing to travel and what are you looking to hunt? Members may point you to public land if your a little more specific. We have all been through this when we started out. Research, travel, scouting...Its time consuming but worth it when you fill your freezer. Its great that you have an experienced hunter to learn from.

Good luck!
 
yeah seeing this now.....how the F does anyone hunt in this state?
Ask permission from local farmers, hunt public land, join a club with woods that allows hunting. Everyone gets frustrated when they start. But is IS possible to get access. Just takes persistence.

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If there are no posted signs. I would then say it depends on how you are going to be accessing the land. If your going to be parking in a public area. There's a chance upon exiting. That someone could approach you and ask to see permission. Then you might want to consider it. If you are going to be parking in your friends yard. Then just walking behind their house into the woods. I wouldn't even bother. It really comes down to how "quietly" you think you can sneak in and out of the area.
 
If there are no posted signs. I would then say it depends on how you are going to be accessing the land. If your going to be parking in a public area. There's a chance upon exiting. That someone could approach you and ask to see permission. Then you might want to consider it. If you are going to be parking in your friends yard. Then just walking behind their house into the woods. I wouldn't even bother. It really comes down to how "quietly" you think you can sneak in and out of the area.

good point. The penalty too is only a $20 fine. Since it's just a town ordinance I can't imagine it could have hunting license implications, or could it?
 
It may be a pain digging through all the MA legislation and asking land owner permission but getting your license pulled would be far worse.....not to mention the legal cost to remedy.
 
I hunt pretty much exclusively on Cape Cod. I've spent a good amount of time researching and finding good spots to hunt, that are legal to do so. It's pretty built up here and there aren't too many huge areas of woods you can get lost in for hours (You're either going to hit the bay, Route 6, Route 6A, or the open ocean!) but you'd be surprised how many nice little huntable gems there are here, well far enough away from houses/ roads so you can do your thing.

I might have missed it, but you didn't mention exactly what you intend to hunt. I do a lot of duck hunting, and occasionally pheasant when I can get together with one of a few buddies who have dogs. For deer I only hunt during shotgun/ blackpowder. I never got into bow hunting. Never owned a tree stand either. I either still hunt/ stalk, or go with a group of friends and organize drives, usually 4 or 5 guys. We do pretty well in our collection of spots we hit every year, rotating out spots sometimes if they get too pressured. We took three deer last season, a nice buck and two doe, within the first two days of shotgun all in one town. We hooked up with a larger group of guys we know, in another town on the following Saturday. We moved a lot of deer around that day and one of my buddies took down a nice 180something pound buck with an amazingly long shot in an open area.

My advice to a first time hunter would be have patience. Don't expect to take down a trophy or anything on your first walk into the sticks. Although, on my first day ever deer hunting, I took down a 130something pound spike that stood up from behind a bush and just looked at me. I put two rounds of buckshot into his midsection from about 40 yards and he went down. It was absolutely silly how easy that first one was. My two buddies who took me out that day, were like "F you, you lucky bastard. That doesn't just happen on a dude's first day in the f*ckin' field!" They are right. There are lots of guys who've hunted for years and have never taken a deer. Then after that season I didn't have the chance to even fire a shot until 2 seasons later. So, yeah, patience. [wink]
 
I hunt pretty much exclusively on Cape Cod. I've spent a good amount of time researching and finding good spots to hunt, that are legal to do so. It's pretty built up here and there aren't too many huge areas of woods you can get lost in for hours (You're either going to hit the bay, Route 6, Route 6A, or the open ocean!) but you'd be surprised how many nice little huntable gems there are here, well far enough away from houses/ roads so you can do your thing.

I might have missed it, but you didn't mention exactly what you intend to hunt. I do a lot of duck hunting, and occasionally pheasant when I can get together with one of a few buddies who have dogs. For deer I only hunt during shotgun/ blackpowder. I never got into bow hunting. Never owned a tree stand either. I either still hunt/ stalk, or go with a group of friends and organize drives, usually 4 or 5 guys. We do pretty well in our collection of spots we hit every year, rotating out spots sometimes if they get too pressured. We took three deer last season, a nice buck and two doe, within the first two days of shotgun all in one town. We hooked up with a larger group of guys we know, in another town on the following Saturday. We moved a lot of deer around that day and one of my buddies took down a nice 180something pound buck with an amazingly long shot in an open area.

My advice to a first time hunter would be have patience. Don't expect to take down a trophy or anything on your first walk into the sticks. Although, on my first day ever deer hunting, I took down a 130something pound spike that stood up from behind a bush and just looked at me. I put two rounds of buckshot into his midsection from about 40 yards and he went down. It was absolutely silly how easy that first one was. My two buddies who took me out that day, were like "F you, you lucky bastard. That doesn't just happen on a dude's first day in the f*ckin' field!" They are right. There are lots of guys who've hunted for years and have never taken a deer. Then after that season I didn't have the chance to even fire a shot until 2 seasons later. So, yeah, patience. [wink]

Are you asking for written permission to hunt these gems?
 
Jhblaze1, what's is your seasoned hunting buddy telling you?

I haven't talked to him about this yet. He has a few spots up there where he has permission so on the days I hunt with him, I'll be fine.

I know he's frustrated with that area in general as it has a shit ton of deer but the landowners are liberal pussies. There's a nice little area of 15 or so acres he really wants to hunt where the woods runs up against a farm. Said he'll see a dozen deer out in the field every time he drives by but the owner is a dick with a rally poor attitude about hunting.
 
Quick question...new to hunting and want to get out there this year. I have a seasoned guy taking me out at least once, but I'll probably want to go myself as well.

I've found using google maps a chunk of land that looks good on the northshore. Using the online plat map, it's owned by "The Trust for Public Land".

If this land is not posted, is it ok to go hunt it? I haven't tried yet but I'm kind of assuming it will either be hard to get ahold of the decision maker at this trust or it will just be a "no" even though that land may not be posted.

I know that you can hunt if land is not posted but it's strongly encouraged to ask.

Take up archery and go ask the a$$wipes in Lincoln, Sudbury, Lexington and other elitists type towns where they built all their Mcmansions and drove all the deer population into smaller and smaller plots of land to starve in the winter.

They just might give you permission to kill off the deer that regularly feast on their $10,000+ landscape flora.

Personally, I wouldn't hunt in MA just for the fact of denying the state a license fee.

I'm a property owner in my state and I am not required to buy a hunting license to hunt my own property here. I contribute way more than my fair share to the upkeep and feeding of the deer herd and other small game year round on my 90, mostly wooded acres.... to the tune of more than a ton of feed and minerals combined annually. The woods are shrinking all around with people logging their properties for more tillable ground and the deer are seeking the cover and sanctity of my area. The turkey population is also growing, running around 50 birds at last count on recent game cam pictures.
 
There are town by town bylaws. Very few actually cover "hunting", most have restrictions against discharge of a firearm. MOst towns inside 495 IF they allow discharge also require written landowner permission. The farther west you go it opens up to less requirement for written landower permission.

Looks up state forests and other town or state owned places that allow hunting. Harold Parker in Andover allows hunting (in most of the park but not all). BUT the closer you are to the boston area the more useful body armor under your orange will be. I have bow hunted Harold Parker. It's OK. Drive by on the opening week of shotgun season if you want to see a shit show.

Other have mentioned refuges and other "permit" type places. Access to private land is really the best choice and the hardest to get of the choices.
 
If it's not a state WMA - the local ordinances come into play. You need to know them. Some have rules that prohibit hunting, others prevent the discharge of weapons - including bows - which by proxy also bans hunting. New Bedford comes to mind as one example. First contact the land owner. Once they sign off contact the town's town planner and ask if there are any prohibitions that restrict hunting.

WMAs this is not applicable because hunting is a protected activity on these lands under state law which supersedes local laws. But if you're not on a WMA you need to know what you're getting yourself into. Just because the land isn't posted does NOT mean all systems go.
 
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