Deer are hitting the brassicas hard

[hammer4reel]

Im not feeling it, Ive been patient all season long waiting. I can not believe not one buck all season that I would shoot. I think this will be the 1st year in 38 years of hunting Nj I dont kill a deer.

 

Didn't you lose a buck in NJ  ??

[Bowhunter2004]

Don't you live in Readington ?

​great bucks shot all around that area every season. and sure while many guys are killing every 2 year old they see the 4 year olds don't get seen as easily and are still around.

the difference is you need to work harder to find them, its just not easy to get a shot at those bigger deer.

 

Hunterdon County has some of the best available deer habitat around. just need to put in extra time to find the one that holds good bucks yearly

 

All the crying about how much easier it is to get a better buck out west is just that. Your shooting bucks out there that the local don't want shot  either,

you shooting 150"  deer out there when they wanna shoot 170" bucks is no different than guys here shooting a 115" buck.

They are probably just as pissed.

 

I watched guys out there at the Bushnell deer locker cringe that guys shot 150" bucks instead of waiting for a  "good " one.

I’d argue with you if you were wrong, but your pretty much spot on. I’ve become spoiled out West, but I bust my ass out there to make it happen. I spend 6 to 7 weeks a year there hunting or working on my hunting related chores. I really don’t put in the work around here like I use to I just don’t have big deer using my little home patch, and Im pretty much done traipsing all over gods creation looking for new spots, hanging stands, scouting like an obsessed lunatic looking for that needle in a hay stack. It took me a lifetime to figure it all out, now I just stick to hunting hard where they live... but your right, there’s got to be a few good ones around here, but there far and few between.

[hammer4reel]

BH 04 I know its spot on as im in the same boat. Used to run 40 cameras here in Readington and Annandale. ( now running 6)

was fortunate to shoot more than my share of good bucks, but im tired of all the extra work to shoot a deer 10" bigger than what I can without doing any work.

Found I spent more time chasing tresspassers than hunting. More time trying to give a good santuary than hunting etc.

Just as happy to watch 125" deer as I was to hunt.

 

Then when I went to ILL and Ohio  found it was easy to shoot 140" buck as they are more available.

But guys I hunted with had been there a few years sooner and knew those 140" bucks would be much bigger the following year.

at some point we just need to get back to enjoying the hunt.

 

.

[tcook8296]

Didn't you lose a buck in NJ ??

Yes I did. It was a nice one too. The property I had access to has property around it that normal hunters would not have access to. There are these little honey holes throughout the state that can shelter a deer for a few years. This is not the type of property most guys are hunting. We all know big tracts of no hunting ground produce big bucks. The reason why they are bigger is because they cant be hunted legally. They are living longer than the bucks roaming the majority of the Nj woods.

I had several guys hunting the same property over the last 2 years that I had permission, only difference is they were trespassing. The property has had a good deer on it since I been running cams on it for the last 2 seasons. There is a good deer not by someone passing them or the states management. Its because you cant legally get to them. Even my farm in Nj is close to a tract of land that does not allow hunting.

However, the outlaw hunting, illegal pushing, heavy hunting pressure, farmer permits, long seasons and bag limits is the problem. Anything with antlers is a more desirable target. The state wmas are getting hammered by people who are not fortunate to have private ground. Any buck , gets killed and does are shot because the quanity and quality of game is so low.

Nonresidents, we all know are here to fill their freezers and nothing else. Everything dies and then they go back to Pa to trophy hunt with their 1 buck tag.

On private land, more guys are hunting antlers over does. Most tracts of private ground here in Nj are small wood lots where most likely several guys are hunting it. It is not uncommon to see 2 or 3 guys on a 20 to 30 acre piece or 8 guys or more on a 100 to 200 acre lease. If everyone of those guys fills a buck tag or 2, and then again on the surrounding properties, there wont be many left.

Private ground has more does simply because guys arent shooting them. They dont have to.

We need to have more balanced deer management.

State land should be managed differently from private ground but its time to look at all the current zones, seasons and bag limits.

Edited January 7, 2018 by tcook8296

[hammer4reel]

Tom I agree with all of that, BUT you said  you wont shoot a deer here in NJ this year.

when you DID have an opportunity.

so even with all the crappy conditions this state has set, you still had a chance at a buck you wanted to shoot.

 

 

sure I agree NJ does nothing to improve hunting quality deer here. Just lowering buck tags would force guys to shoot more does.

which would benefit everything except seeing a ton of deer each sit.

I don't need to see 25 deer each sit , just the right one.

 

But seems the voice of  guys wanting to shoot better bucks is a small percentage of guys who hunt NJ.

 

while seems many here on the site would like a change , the registered users here aren't 1% of the guys hunting NJ .

so were seeing a small percentage of how guys actually feel statewide.

Only way its ever going to change is to get a bigger voice being heard at the federation meetings

Edited January 7, 2018 by hammer4reel

[Rusty]

IMHO,  the secret ingredient for producing big bucks in NJ is escape cover.  Protect them until they are 5-7 years old and they will get just as big as bucks in other parts of the country.  

[Lunatic]

Yes I did. It was a nice one too. The property I had access to has property around it that normal hunters would not have access to. There are these little honey holes throughout the state that can shelter a deer for a few years. This is not the type of property most guys are hunting. We all know big tracts of no hunting ground produce big bucks. The reason why they are bigger is because they cant be hunted legally. They are living longer than the bucks roaming the majority of the Nj woods.

I had several guys hunting the same property over the last 2 years that I had permission, only difference is they were trespassing. The property has had a good deer on it since I been running cams on it for the last 2 seasons. There is a good deer not by someone passing them or the states management. Its because you cant legally get to them. Even my farm in Nj is close to a tract of land that does not allow hunting.

However, the outlaw hunting, illegal pushing, heavy hunting pressure, farmer permits, long seasons and bag limits is the problem. Anything with antlers is a more desirable target. The state wmas are getting hammered by people who are not fortunate to have private ground. Any buck , gets killed and does are shot because the quanity and quality of game is so low.

Nonresidents, we all know are here to fill their freezers and nothing else. Everything dies and then they go back to Pa to trophy hunt with their 1 buck tag.

On private land, more guys are hunting antlers over does. Most tracts of private ground here in Nj are small wood lots where most likely several guys are hunting it. It is not uncommon to see 2 or 3 guys on a 20 to 30 acre piece or 8 guys or more on a 100 to 200 acre lease. If everyone of those guys fills a buck tag or 2, and then again on the surrounding properties, there wont be many left.

Private ground has more does simply because guys arent shooting them. They dont have to.

We need to have more balanced deer management.

State land should be managed differently from private ground but its time to look at all the current zones, seasons and bag limits.

 

 

I read all this and I can't help but to think you completely lost the joy of hunting by focusing your effort towards one singe goal and that is trophy hunting.

[tcook8296]

You are right. I had my chance.

I work year round on a private farm with no opportunity.

I hunt 1 little piece of ground where I do nothing but hang a stand. Go figure.

Location was the factor here but I wouldnt say all Nj hunting is the same across the state

[tcook8296]

I read all this and I can't help but to think you completely lost the joy of hunting by focusing your effort towards one singe goal and that is trophy hunting.

Actually, I enjoy every part, from shed hunting, food plots, habitat management

Running cameras etc.

I dont need to kill an animal to enjoy hunting.

Nj is what it is but its frustrating.

If I didnt enjoy it, I wouldnt have bought 2 farms to hunt on.

Call it what you want, we are all sport hunting. If you need to live on what you kill then most likey you have bigger issues

Edited January 7, 2018 by tcook8296

[Zipper]

The pressure put on our bucks with trespassers,night hunters, guys hunting with rifles during the bow season, damage kill permits, destruction of habitat and guys who must fill a tag because if I don't shoot that little buck, someone else will is epic in Nj.

Then when a decent buck finally beats the odds and survives all those pitfalls, he gets killed by a blue haired old lady smoking a cigarette heading to bingo driving a Chevy chevette. It's enough to make a grown man cry!

[Lunatic]

Actually, I enjoy every part, from shed hunting, food plots, habitat management

Running cameras etc.

I dont need to kill an animal to enjoy hunting.

Nj is what it is but its frustrating.

If I didnt enjoy it, I wouldnt have bought 2 farms to hunt on.

Call it what you want, we are all sport hunting. If you need to live on what you kill then most likey you have bigger issues

 

Well the frustration can't be much fun.

I hunt in Readington as well on a working farm. 90% open fields with some tiny patches of woods. I don't expect to get a buck there every year but we do well. Last two years, for example, we took three very mature bucks and both years we had sightings of a giant or two. That area is target rich, I see it on adjacent properties as well. The frustration comes from unrealistic expectations. To get a buck actually walk into your tiny kill zone is a statistical miracle. Get back to basics, enjoy hunting and it will happen eventually.

 

 

Not sure what you are getting at?  

Edited January 7, 2018 by Lunatic

[Bowhunter2004]

catching a flight home in a bit, didn’t realize

So many hunters on here from Readington.

Would love to see some of the bucks you guys shot from Here. I’ll check back in a few hours.

[Russ 11]

Tom , planted the same mix by us and it came up really nice . I'm just not happy with how our deer use it . I don't know why but our deer seem to not hit it as heavily as I would of thought .

[Lunatic]

catching a flight home in a bit, didn’t realize

So many hunters on here from Readington.

Would love to see some of the bucks you guys shot from Here. I’ll check back in a few hours.

One form October 2017, one from January 2017. One confirmed 4.5 YO and the other deer for sure mature but was not aged. We had one more in October of 2016 but I don't have a pic right now

[Thunderchicken]

The pressure put on our bucks with trespassers,night hunters, guys hunting with rifles during the bow season, damage kill permits, destruction of habitat and guys who must fill a tag because if I don't shoot that little buck, someone else will is epic in Nj.

Then when a decent buck finally beats the odds and survives all those pitfalls, he gets killed by a blue haired old lady smoking a cigarette heading to bingo driving a Chevy chevette. It's enough to make a grown man cry!

My man with the classic Chevette!!! True words rite there!!