Hunting in Northern NH

[Haskell_Hunter]

Just got back from my annual pilgrimage to the land of freedoms and few taxes.  Pittsburg, NH is the northern tip of NH.  As the states were initially forming in the 1700s, it was actually its own country and eventually became part of NH.  The town is 291 square miles in area with some pretty large lakes (First Connecticut Lake, Second Connecticut Lake, Third Connecticut Lake, and Lake Francis), and it's the headwaters of the Connecticut River.  It's mountain country covered with thick pine forests.  There are logging roads cascading the forests that are open to the public.  In NH, if the land isn't posted, you can hunt it.  That's the law.  So nearly all of Pittsburg is huntable.  You could spend two weeks up there hunting and never hunt in the same 20 square miles twice.  Needless to say, you'll see other hunter's trucks, but I've never seen another hunter's footprints in the woods because there's so much huntable land.  But it's also a place where you need to be in shape to hunt.  Unlike NJ, northern deer are stalked.  You can pound out about 6-10 miles a day to get a deer.  I spoke with a guy who dragged a 198# buck for 6 miles before he hit a logging road and was picked up by a logger.  But if you want to hunt northern deer, this is a great place to go.

 

This year was a very short hunt, but I go to hang out with old friends more so than to hunt.  I drove to Nashua, the southern part of the state (on the border of Mass.) where I grew up to meet with friends.  The next day, Friday, we started our ritual of going to Cumberland Farms for gas and D&D for caffeine fuel and headed up to Pittsburg.  We stop in Ashland at a diner to get our second breakfast and then go to Hannafords for supplies.  Right around when we hit Colebrook is when I lose cell signal.  I am overjoyed when this happens because no one can reach me, and I cannot get onto the Internet.  You'd think that the resident nerd would start twitching when that happens, but not me.  It is truly a vacation because I'm unplugged.

 

We stay at Ramblewood in the Tamarack Lodge on the water.  (https://ramblewoodcabins.com)  I have no idea how much it costs, we always fight over who is paying for what in a good way.  We eat dinner at the Buck Rub Pub, and I had to sneak over to the waitress (told everyone I had to hit the head) and give her my AMEX to pay for dinner without anyone looking.  That's the way we roll.  I also stuck $150 in my buddy's laptop to cover anything else.  He otherwise would not have taken the cash.

 

Friday afternoon was spent scouting one area we hunt.  Not a lot of sign on the fresh snow, but I stomped through the south end of the swamp in some really wet and thick crap, and wouldn't you know, tracks all over the place.  That was a good sign, so we made plans to hunt it while we were there.  Met up with another buddy who lives up there part time and came up with our game plan.  Ate like kings that night at the Buck Rub Pub (I paid) and crashed.  Got up at the next day before dawn and hit the woods.  My buddy's dad is 75, so I brought my doghouse blind and a Mr. Buddy for him.  Set him up about 30 feet from the road in his new, heated condo, and then I put my buddy's brother and his son in a section of blown down pines.  Once I got them settled I went about a half mile down and set up our line.  My buddy and the guy we met started a drive from about three miles south.  Their drive took about 6 hours, and they pushed a lot.  Our line was betrayed by the wind later in the day by blowing right toward the drivers.  So the deer went around us.

 

Since it's a 7 hour drive to get back to NJ, I split this morning instead of going out.  It was 40°F and raining, and that's something I wasn't interested in dealing with before driving home.  But it was a great weekend with friends, and we're trying to set up a whole week next year instead of these three-day grinds.

 

Here are some random photos from the weekend, and I made some other posts here over the past three days with some additional information.  The check-in station logged a 170#, 198#, 214#, and 217# deer, fully dressed.  Those hunters had to work hard to get those deer, and the smiles at the check station were worth it.  I do miss NH (grew up there), and hope some day to get back.  As an adult, I understand more now the freedoms I left behind when I came to NJ to work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nomad]

Wow, great photos. Sounds like a great time.  You had snow the whole time?  Did you drive the roads at all, any tracks?

[Thunderchicken]

Looks like awesome country!! Like Nomad said great photos!

[buckhound]

looks like a great time     and love the pics...

Edited November 20, 2017 by buckhound

[not on the rug]

Looks like an awesome time buddy!

[Haskell_Hunter]

Wow, great photos. Sounds like a great time.  You had snow the whole time?  Did you drive the roads at all, any tracks?

 

We had snow on the ground when we arrived and the temps dropped into the teens.  Some flurries, but no real accumulations.  Luck was with us because it snowed Thursday night and we arrived Friday.

 

We had some tracks along the road, mostly moose.  It's funny when you stumble on a moose track (as you know).  Your first thought is that it's a deer track that's seen a week's worth of melt and then you realize it's moose.  The tracks are the size of your open hand.

 

I drove one logging road, and that's where all of those photos were taken.  It was a loop, not sure exactly how far it was, but it took me a good 90 minutes to make that loop.  I was doing 20 MPH and nearly took out my suspension a couple of times.

[smoking gun]

Nice pics thanks for sharing I would def like a trip like that

[Nomad]

Those ridges look uncut.  Did you see evidence of a lot of logging in that area?

[3Blade]

Sounds like a great time and looks like beautiful country up there.   

[homework]

Great pics. Looks like an awesome place

[bwd172]

Love it up there. My grandparents used to have a cabin on Wallace Pond on the Candian side. I remember passing through Colebrook as a kid. Parents are in Newbury Vt. now, near Woodsville NH for reference. I don't get as far north as you anymore, but it's still beautiful country where they are.

[Gunsmoke]

Some awesome pics there especially the first two.

[stratocaster]

I love it but as you indicate, it is a double edged sword.    When you do kill one it's usually a real good buck and a very well earned buck due to the miles one has to cover to cut a track and kill a buck.  The Benoits hunt up there as well as Maine and are about as good as big woods hunters get.  I just love the solitude a place like that offers along with actually being able to hunt with snow on the ground.  Looks like you had a great time. 

[51smd]

Great post I miss NH went to college there it's only now almost 30 years later I realize how many freedoms we have lost that our children will never know they lost at least here in NJ. Thanks again for the post.

[Merkel]

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.