NY state Rifle, a Few Observations

[Gman]

Hunted up near Hancock / Deposit NY with my wife for the opener on Saturday and again on Sunday.  I had read that a record number of NY hunting licenses were sold this year, apparently the hunter safety course is now 100% virtual with no field safety testing required. Apparently a lot of folks took advantage of this.

You cant prove it by me, we hunted 100% on public land and did not see another hunter, the land posted by clubs also looked empty, very few shots, didnt hear the first shot until 7:45AM on Saturday.  We saw deer in farm fields on opening day at 11 am when we were headed for breakfast and again at 1pm when we headed back out for an afternoon hunt.  These deer are just not pressured at all. 

 

We did see deer both days including a few small bucks but no shooters.  We set up in a hard to reach funnel on some state land, all we needed were hunters to push the deer, unfortunately there were zero hunters! Route 17 was pretty empty going up and deserted coming home, where have all the hunters gone?

 

Crazy and disappointing.  We are happy, we saw deer and got a bunch of fresh air and exercise.  

 

How did everyone else do?

 

 

 

[mazzgolf]

If you are disappointed that you did not see another hunter on public land, then hunt NJ public land during our 6-day shotgun season in a couple weeks. Your dreams will come true in a big way!  

Me? I would be ecstatic if I saw no hunters on public land during NJ's 6-day shotgun season.

[Bucksnbows]

I know some camps cut way back on their members attending this year due to Covid.  Not our camp, but agree we saw less hunters moving deer around and had a slower year than most of the ten my buddy has owned it.  I had a buddy invite me to do drives on his property this year because several of his old timers were staying home out of protection and they didn't have enough to put on a drive of their massive swamp.  

[vdep217]

10 minutes ago, mazzgolf said:

If you are disappointed that you did not see another hunter on public land, then hunt NJ public land during our 6-day shotgun season in a couple weeks. Your dreams will come true in a big way!  

Me? I would be ecstatic if I saw no hunters on public land during NJ's 6-day shotgun season.

Slim chance but I do know some of the clubs in the pines cancled,  mostly the smaller clubs.  Other clubs are not allowing visitors inside as they usually do.  Also herd some clubs are not allowing guest hunters this year

[Gman]

just saying that it is an advantage to have a few hunters in the woods, there are huge tracks of state land up there and if nobody moves the deer, you don't see any deer!

[trapoholic]

I think that alot of people wanted to start hunting this year, or get back into it after giving it up years ago did not really want to be bothered with all of the preparation and getting up at 4:00 AM. Next year you will see the sale of Licenses drop off drastically.

[Herd Buck]

You got lucky the property we hunt in Gilboa we have seen zero other hunters the last 20 years we’ve been going there, this year we saw 5 guys and had someone trespass through the property opening morning. Also had someone shoot off 2-300 rounds from an AR or some other auto for the last hour of legal shooting time yesterday. 

Still managed a nice big bodied mature 6 but what a pain in the ass, I hope it goes back to normal next year. 

[Bowhunter458]

Hunted 2-1/2 days Hard, all day sits except for today 1/2 day...   8 does, a spike and a puny 3 pointer was all I saw...

[trapoholic]

30 minutes ago, Herd Buck said:

You got lucky the property we hunt in Gilboa we have seen zero other hunters the last 20 years we’ve been going there, this year we saw 5 guys and had someone trespass through the property opening morning. Also had someone shoot off 2-300 rounds from an AR or some other auto for the last hour of legal shooting time yesterday. 

Still managed a nice big bodied mature 6 but what a pain in the ass, I hope it goes back to normal next year. 

200-300 rounds of ammo is not a cheap way to have fun!

[Stan Putz]

Different experience here...hunted public land in Allegany county. I was seeing glimpses of orange all day Saturday & Sunday, with a fair number of shots heard both days. Today was a lot less guys walking around & shots heard. 

Saw 4 does the first day, 2 on Sunday, and nothing seen today. I shot the only buck I saw, and no, I don't feel bad about killing him before he reached his full potential. I couldn't get on the does fast enough to get a shot off, and my buddy missed a buck & a doe (needs more range time, IMO). The buck I killed rolled 200+ yards down a mountain, major PIA getting it out, I am getting too old for this....

[hemlock]

Nice  Congrats!  

[jumpthestring]

I believe the more hunters you have in the woods. the more likely you will see more deer...

[MikeStaten]

I was in Greene county.  Based on the number of shots I heard, Saturday was a little slower than normal but not much.   Sunday was very quiet.   Saw 3 doe, a spike and a 6 pointer.   Passed on all.  
 

[Gman]

13 hours ago, Stan Putz said:

The buck I killed rolled 200+ yards down a mountain, major PIA getting it out, I am getting too old for this

LOL, Me too, I was in a stand in a funnel between two steep inclines, I said to myself if I shoot something down here it will be an all day effort to get the deer out... so I left, I try to hunt the tops of ridges that have an easy drag down to a road! 

[Gman]

2 hours ago, jumpthestring said:

I believe the more hunters you have in the woods. the more likely you will see more deer...

That is exactly my experience, up to a point of course.  I'm happy to see a hunter walk through every few hours, that's the guy/gal who may push deer your way, even after the hunter walks past I have seen deer.  I assume they jumped or pushed deer that then circle back around.