Shotgun deer season

I'll be there, stay out of my way.

No seriously, there's a lot of traffic, and some of the folks that you see are dicks. ID your target AND backstop before letting loose.

I've seen precisely one runner in orange, and one biker in road construction green. Everyone else was in deer colors.
 
You would think if people were walking around with shotguns you would not want to be jogging. Is it hard to find a spot to sit down and wait for deer?
 
so many hunters! I stayed in the woods from about 6-8am and never saw one thing only hunters who i must have pissed off because i was walking and they were just standing. I think I need to find another place!
 
Back to the Newton bylaw. It seems to me, based on the posted snippet, that if you're on private property (and abiding by the State's restrictions WRT distance from dwellings and roadways) , you should be fine.

You'll stil be considered to be evil and bloodthirsty, but not unlawful.
 
mordeeb said:
so many hunters! I stayed in the woods from about 6-8am and never saw one thing only hunters who i must have pissed off because i was walking and they were just standing. I think I need to find another place!
Click to expand...

Gun season's on the any public land in the east is crazy on the weekends. There is plenty of land in central MA or western MA where you can hunt without seeing anyone. However the deer per square mile are less.

Do yourself a favor and learn to bowhunt. Or work to find some private land...... You won't fight crowds and will see more deer.

Learn to hunt from a stand, its much more effective....unless your still hunting (one step every 2-3 minutes) you won't be that effective walking around...well...you'll be pushing deer to others, or pissing others off.....unless conditions are perfect wind, soft damp earth, etc.....good luck crunching around. Deer here on public land are not stupid.

Basically the more you work and scout the better asking questions on internet forums will get you pretty much nowhere....I'd say if you want a quality hunt in the east private land is the way to go....of course it's not that easy to come by with all the idiot no discharge laws, and dumb animal lovers that live there.

Good luck.
 
Mark from MA said:
unless your still hunting (one step every 2-3 minutes) you won't be that effective walking around
Click to expand...

Seriously? is this a rule of thumb?

The reason i ask is because going by this math, it would have taken me 300 minutes to get to a spot 300 feet away in the woods. that's 5 hours of slow walking. i'd have to get to start walking at 1 am to be at my site in time for sunrise.
 
daddysuperfly said:
Seriously? is this a rule of thumb?

The reason i ask is because going by this math, it would have taken me 300 minutes to get to a spot 300 feet away in the woods. that's 5 hours of slow walking. i'd have to get to start walking at 1 am to be at my site in time for sunrise.
Click to expand...

He's referring to still hunting. That's different than traveling to your stand.
 
Mark from MA said:
Gun season's on the any public land in the east is crazy on the weekends. There is plenty of land in central MA or western MA where you can hunt without seeing anyone. However the deer per square mile are less.

Do yourself a favor and learn to bowhunt. Or work to find some private land...... You won't fight crowds and will see more deer.

Learn to hunt from a stand, its much more effective....unless your still hunting (one step every 2-3 minutes) you won't be that effective walking around...well...you'll be pushing deer to others, or pissing others off.....unless conditions are perfect wind, soft damp earth, etc.....good luck crunching around. Deer here on public land are not stupid.

Basically the more you work and scout the better asking questions on internet forums will get you pretty much nowhere....I'd say if you want a quality hunt in the east private land is the way to go....of course it's not that easy to come by with all the idiot no discharge laws, and dumb animal lovers that live there.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

That pretty much covers it. Just about every WMA is mobbed when you have a day like this on Saturday or the first couple days of the season. Get in real early and let the other hunters work for you. I was on my way into the woods 2 hours before sunrise.

Bob
 
Saw lots of deer today. My friend nailed a nice 8pointer 200lbs We weighed him. We hunted the same feild, that deer came out at 230.It was a great day
 
mordeeb, you hunted for 1.5 hours and call the place a bust?

I just got back (ate dinner), saw my first two humans at 2pm, and a 3rd at 2:15pm. Didn't see any others until walking out of there at 4:40pm. It's a decently sized WMA, just go deeper in.

Something I noticed though, asked 6 hunters, no one saw anything other than red squirrels and an otter. Someone should remind the deer that they're supposed to be there. [smile]
 
I hunted for more the 1.5 hours! I think I will just go earlier to a new place and sit and wait for something I don't want to piss people off by walking all over the place.
 
HorizontalHunter said:
That pretty much covers it. Just about every WMA is mobbed when you have a day like this on Saturday or the first couple days of the season. Get in real early and let the other hunters work for you. I was on my way into the woods 2 hours before sunrise.

Bob
Click to expand...

This....find a good spot for a stand....on heavily hunted public land this will be a nasiest wettest thicket or a place where others don't walk. You might need waders if there's an island or something.... It could also be the borders close to private land or houses that deer get pushed off of that you can hunt legally. Look for escape routes, bottlenecks, or places where others wouldn't go. Then go in with a light (for safety) and get there early well before shooting light. As others walk in or out they will push deer to you if there are any left around on the place after shotgun.

Deer get holed up in the unlikeliest places....don't overlook weird little spots. Heavy pressured deer will also let you walk right on by them......they are used to people walking to fast and going on by. Find a swamp and still hunt it....

If you want to see and kill deer, in the off season do some homework and get some private land.....it's way better than dealing with the trials and tribulations of public hunting. Public hunting you cannot plan out anything....because it usually goes FUBAR by some others. Which is why I say take up bowhunting....because people out there are more likely to let you bowhunt than gun hunt.
 
daddysuperfly said:
Seriously? is this a rule of thumb?

The reason i ask is because going by this math, it would have taken me 300 minutes to get to a spot 300 feet away in the woods. that's 5 hours of slow walking. i'd have to get to start walking at 1 am to be at my site in time for sunrise.
Click to expand...

Still hunting should be done as slow as possible....deer mainly see movement your math is correct.

If your going to a stand, travel to your stand should be done in the dark before or after light with a flashlight, and obviously your gun empty and open.....you can walk as fast as you want, if you spook something your not going to see it anyway. When most others walk in during dawn, which is the peak time for not only people movement but deer movement...you will have the advantage of them spooking deer to you....being that your setup at least an hour before sunrise.

Which is why I say find escape routes and places on the property deer will seek to be safe and away from others....if your sitting in there quietly in a treestand you should be in business if there are deer on the place left. In heavily hunted pressured land, these deer may be noctournal anyway and your going to bust them out of these places in the dark. Hence, hunting public land sucks.
 
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Mark, mind clarifying? You say hunt swamp. I did that all yesterday, still hunted the edge inside tree line. Am I wanting to focus on the borders, shore line. Or should I be looking through the swamp veg for crossers?

Was doing both but figured checking the middle of the swamp was a waste.
 
01bmf said:
I have a good chunk of swamp behind my house. I went wading through it the other day after an unsuccessful hunt. I was amazed at the amount of sign in there. Saw 4, no shooters. Will not go walking through any more, but got a good idea of where they may go.
Click to expand...

In a heavily hunted area, they go where people aren't.
 
davemata said:
Mark, mind clarifying? You say hunt swamp. I did that all yesterday, still hunted the edge inside tree line. Am I wanting to focus on the borders, shore line. Or should I be looking through the swamp veg for crossers?

Was doing both but figured checking the middle of the swamp was a waste.
Click to expand...

Look for places there may be islands in the swamp, then look for relatively easy ways in and out...deer are still somewhat lazy and will take the easiest path, just like we will. If you don't want to get in the middle of the swamp, set up at these places where deer may enter or decide to leave these islands.
 

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