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Are NJ deer easier than big woods deer in NY and PA?


Gman

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1) - 2 weeks you pick 'em to hunt rifle, no baiting, no camera pics, no real intel other than you can pick a proven area to hunt anywhere in Maine, NY, PA, VT, or NH.   Big big woods. 

2) 2 weeks you pick 'em to hunt weapon of choice, inSaskatchewan.  Guided - driven in on machine deep wilderness to hunt bait sites.   Multiple pics and intel on giant chocolate racked bucks scoring 180" and bigger. 

3) 2 weeks you pick 'em  to bow hunt a prime, top farm in Iowa.   Standing corn. Cut corn. Beans, and food plots.   Timber galore with white oak ridges and draws.  Tons of pics of 170" bucks to bucks well over 200".  Semi-guided, you can hunt set stands or blinds, but also bring your own to create your own setup...
 

I know you asked Gman, but I’ll offer my thoughts as well. 
I pick number 3 as well. Choice 1 would be fun as well, but 3 takes it for me. 
Choice number two ain’t fun! Yes, those bucks are cool and massive, but if your idea of sitting in a blind in sub zero temps for days on end waiting for a buck to appear on the bait pile is your idea of fun, well go for it, but not my first choice. Not saying I would never do it, but not on my bucket list!😁
 

 

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lets forward this thread to a hunting forum in Maine(if there is one) they would get a good laugh. you cant compare big woods hunting like Maine to this over populated state/ armpit of the country. 
im hoping someday i can actually go on a real whitetail hunt and not hunt deer that have seen more cars and people then any other deer in the country. 

I know guys from Maine that come to NJ to deer hunt because of the success rate. I love Maine but hunting up their is difficult


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Its a matter of numbers.  Deer per square mile. If upstate had the same numbers of deer per square mile as Jersey you would not be asking the question. 

Break down the number of deer per mile and the number of days that you can legally hunt in each state. Also you are talking about the big woods upstate where Jersey has many fields which cuts down on the land where the deer can hide. 

Same animals just different terrain and numbers animals and number of days to hunt them. 

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Hunting in places like Maine is more about the hunter and not the hunted. I just returned from Maine last week-end. I did not tag out but I did have a chance at two different bucks. The first one was an average sized buck that I passed on. The second one I could not get a good look at and I thought it to be a moose calf due to its blackish gray coat. When it quickly turned in the heavy cover, I saw a large main beam and the white tail. The memories of this great experience will last a lifetime! For me, success in hunting is not about bringing home a dead deer. It is more about the true wilderness experience and just knowing that there are 250LB bucks running the same ridges that I am still hunting on.

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If you wanted to compare apples to apples I think they are the same. A mature buck in NY will act the same as a mature buck in NJ. However, we can’t compare apples to apples, because that’s not reality. In my opinion it is harder Upstate because you have WAY less deer. (I don’t know the numbers this is just an example). But statistically speaking if you have 1 mature buck per square mile in NY compared to 3 mature bucks per square mile in NJ then statistically for you to stumble upon a spot to successfully harvest one would be easier in NJ. Also considering that you have less spots to chose from in NJ (making it statistically easier) then Upstate NY. However, in NY you have way more places to put boots on the ground and get away from pressure in NY then you do in NJ.  Upstate NY you can also hunt with a rifle starting the end of October while in NJ during the rut you are only hunting with a bow. 
 

So while they both have their pros and cons I think the fair thing is to say they are equal. I have had equal success in both states on mature bucks. Neither of which are easy to kill. There will be variables to both. 

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11 hours ago, Farmshine said:


I know guys from Maine that come to NJ to deer hunt because of the success rate. I love Maine but hunting up their is difficult


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I know guys from Maine and New Hampshire,  Vermont, that come down here to hunt extended bow season thru 6 day. These are hard core , skilled woodsman.  One of them took a nice 130 -140 class buck some years ago in walapack. 

They often say that they see more deer here in 1 week in nj then they seen  in 5 years in the northwoods,   they think I'm crazy coming up there to hunt (maine) with so many deer at home.

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From my own experience Hunting in OXFORD NY every year for the past 20, I see no difference when it come to hunting big bucks in NY or NJ.  NY however has less deer in general than NJ in non farm areas and you do not see big groups in areas that are not Farm land. Big woods in themselves are harder to hunt and no one bringing out mountains of corn every couple days so you don't see all the immature bucks. Big bucks  are loners in NJ and NY and you got to hunt them smart. And every once in a while some newbie. gets lucky and scores on a big one but for the most part, you got to scan the area, look for travel routes and nature food and work to outsmart them in both NJ and NY.

 

I edited this after thinking why did I hunt NY. Three of us hunted a mountain side together, all three  served together in the Army,  One of the three grew up in Oxford and and had a house at the base of a mountain and he owned (and still does) all the land to the top on one side. There were plenty of years I did not take a buck but one of us always scored. It was not about the buck but was about getting together once a year for a week, and hunting together, drinking together, watching football at night. Now we are all at an age where walking that mountain is just harder than any of us could handle easily anymore. We still hunt but no longer get together in NY, This coming summer we will meet in Florida and spend a week playing golf, drinking and watching baseball and BS about all the bucks we got and the ones that got away. 

Edited by bushden

HONOR THE FALLEN
https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/
Over the years the US has sent many of its fine young men & women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return, is enough to bury those that did not return. COLIN POWELL

 

 

 

 

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On 11/26/2020 at 8:32 AM, JHbowhunter said:

you created some thought provoking debate here, so let me ask you if you had the choice - all expenses paid. 

1) - 2 weeks you pick 'em to hunt rifle, no baiting, no camera pics, no real intel other than you can pick a proven area to hunt anywhere in Maine, NY, PA, VT, or NH.   Big big woods. 

2) 2 weeks you pick 'em to hunt weapon of choice, in Saskatchewan.  Guided - driven in on machine deep wilderness to hunt bait sites.   Multiple pics and intel on giant chocolate racked bucks scoring 180" and bigger. 

3) 2 weeks you pick 'em  to bow hunt a prime, top farm in Iowa.   Standing corn. Cut corn. Beans, and food plots.   Timber galore with white oak ridges and draws.  Tons of pics of 170" bucks to bucks well over 200".  Semi-guided, you can hunt set stands or blinds, but also bring your own to create your own setup...

No contest, it's option 3 

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On 11/26/2020 at 9:15 AM, Pathman said:

1) - 2 weeks you pick 'em to hunt rifle, no baiting, no camera pics, no real intel other than you can pick a proven area to hunt anywhere in Maine, NY, PA, VT, or NH.   Big big woods. 

2) 2 weeks you pick 'em to hunt weapon of choice, inSaskatchewan.  Guided - driven in on machine deep wilderness to hunt bait sites.   Multiple pics and intel on giant chocolate racked bucks scoring 180" and bigger. 

3) 2 weeks you pick 'em  to bow hunt a prime, top farm in Iowa.   Standing corn. Cut corn. Beans, and food plots.   Timber galore with white oak ridges and draws.  Tons of pics of 170" bucks to bucks well over 200".  Semi-guided, you can hunt set stands or blinds, but also bring your own to create your own setup...
 

I know you asked Gman, but I’ll offer my thoughts as well. 
I pick number 3 as well. Choice 1 would be fun as well, but 3 takes it for me. 
Choice number two ain’t fun! Yes, those bucks are cool and massive, but if your idea of sitting in a blind in sub zero temps for days on end waiting for a buck to appear on the bait pile is your idea of fun, well go for it, but not my first choice. Not saying I would never do it, but not on my bucket list!😁
 

 

Definitely number one, of the three options you have. No way I'm gonna travel to a hunting destination and sit in the same spot for days on end.

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All depends on where you hunt..  Deer I hunt in the state parks of zone 1 and 3 are different animals then the deer in zone 2. The two parks that connect along with state and federal land are 60k acres. A deer you see today may never be seen again. Once you find a bucks core area and even in the rut it becomes a game of chess, however a mature animal in my opinion wherever you hunt is a challenge.

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