A nudge in the right direction/Ringwood SP

[birdshotnj]

Hey guys, I'm going to be moving soon and will be fairly close to Ringwood SP. I've been reading as much as I can (haven't hunted a SP before) and a lot of what I would need to know, technically speaking, I have found online. I'd like to get a few opinions here on how the hunting is there in general. Not looking for anyone to show me around, or give me their spot, just looking for someone to say "hey, I hunt there, here's my opinion of it", or "don't waste your time" kinda thing. The few threads I have found were mostly on the other site, and they are ancient (circa 2005). A lot of talk about tough hunting, endless hoardes of screaming mountain bikers, and thieves. I was going to hunt Monmouth county parks this year as an alternate, but now with the new home purchase being so close to Ringwood, I basically want to pick one or the other. I'll say in advance, because I know I'm gonna get asked this, I want to pick one or the other because I don't wanna spread myself too thin.

[Live to Hunt]

Good luck 

[tommymo]

Dont wate your time, I dont hunt there, but do hike there alot with my family along with the other 100 families and bike riders. Of all the hours up there, I have kicked up 1 deer.

[hunterbob1]

MarkMartinFan 

Monster Buck

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If you are going to hunt the Ringwood State Park, stop in the park office on Sloatsburg Road (in Ringwood) and get an access permit for Brushwood Pond. This will get you permission to drive deeper into the park and get away from those damn bicycles. 

They also have free maps there for Ringwood Park, Narvin Green and the Ramapo section. Buy the New Jersey Trail guide that they sell. This map has all of the trails and the contours which will put you into the naturals funnels. 

Edited April 18, 2019 by hunterbob1

[YurytheRed]

1 hour ago, tommymo said:

Dont wate your time, I dont hunt there, but do hike there alot with my family along with the other 100 families and bike riders. Of all the hours up there, I have kicked up 1 deer.

True there are a fare amount of hikers and such but I'll disagree, deer wise that is. I bike those trails all year round and only wish I could hunt from my bike.....

[Pqreturn62]

There are some ridge runner bucks in there to be had. The biggest challenge is not getting frustrated when they beat you. I hunt zone 3, 5, 6, and 36. I almost see the other 3 zones as waiting rather than hunting. In zone 3 you will hunt hard for your deer. The salvation however is that I’ve killed 2 deer over 200lbs in zone 3 in the past 5 years. Biggest elsewhere is 171lbs from zone 6.

[Haskell_Hunter]

I live minutes from there.  Here's the skinny:  You're hunting deer Zone 3.  Check out the harvest numbers.

If you look at the Ringwood/Wanaque area on a map, it's literally surrounded by 15,000 acres of protected forest, most of which is huntable.  Norvin Greeen is to the west, south-west.  I have access to it from my back yard.  So there's a lot of accessible land.

Another bonus is the NJNY trail maps:  https://www.nynjtc.org/maps/north-jersey-trails-map

You want Map 115.  These trails are very well maintained and easily accessible.  The downside is that it brings a ton of people into the woods.  People are mostly respectful, but you should expect that someone will most likely mess with your stuff during the season.  I have a blind set up on private property next to Norvin Green, and no one messes with it.  However, I turned my game cam around 180° on a tree and I got hundreds of pics of quads, other hunters walking through, you name it.  So my 500' x 500' area was being respected, however, its boundaries were swarming with people in the woods.

Hunting is hard.  You have to put the time in, and there's a ton of pressure.  People harvest deer, I have, but you need to put in a lot more work than you would in other zones.

Turkey hunting is great.  Most everyone I know who goes up to RSP bags a gobbler.  Good hunting up there, birds are healthy and in numbers.

If you're into trapping, that's something that I known isn't being done.  There is a good population of predators up here that could use a few lines to keep them in check.

I hope you like hunting hills.  We got more than enough up here.  Make sure you're in shape for the season.  I tore my calf muscle hiking up a steep hill with a pack of gear on my back a few years ago.  Sucked.  Lesson learnt.

Good luck!

[birdshotnj]

Thank you so much to all of you for the helpful responses

[hunterbob1]

36 minutes ago, birdshotnj said:

Thank you so much to all of you for the helpful response

Nice! I Thank Matty the most for making it all possible!

[madeinuk]

I used to fish and hike up there - a ton of turkeys but I do not remember ever seeing deer.

[Pqreturn62]

2 hours ago, madeinuk said:

I used to fish and hike up there - a ton of turkeys but I do not remember ever seeing deer.

Turkey numbers are on the downswing by my eyes the past few years, but then again 5 years ago it wasn’t uncommon for me to hear 6 different gobblers on opening morning. Now it’s like 2-3. As for deer, they are here but not in the numbers of other areas of the state. You need to be prepared to sit 3,4,5 days without seeing anything, cause that happens time and time again. Then out of nowhere you’ll see 11 in 2 hours. That’s just the reality of this area.

[Nomad]

You live there now, find the honey holes. Big bucks running those ridges.  Hunt the rut.