High Point State Park hunts

[Ron]

Well I am thinking about saving days off for next year for the High Point muzzleloader hunt. For the people that have hunted it or live near there, how is the hunting pressure?  Do a lot of people take part in this hunt?  

[hunterbob1]

I know a guy that knows. He has a Graybeard.

[jumpthestring]

Did it a few years back and no luck. it was good years ago , when they first opened the park. Hard hunting that mountain. If you put your time in scouting it before the season it will pay off. Some really big bucks on that mountain...good luck

[Greybeard]

All the big bucks are gone and so are the doe.   You have to find a doe first before getting a buck.  If there's a doe around that's where all the hunters will be.  If you find that spot, getting one out of there won't be easy.  They can't sell half the permits because nobody comes back when they can't even find a doe.  Another pita was all the wardens and rangers driving around checking everybody all the time, sometimes stopping me 3 times a day.  Didn't see them this year though.  Must have been another reason why they were losing permit sales, and stopped doing it.  If you have a good bow spot during the rut, it's not going to be worth hunting at HP during the best weeks of the rut, Mon-Thurs for 2 weeks.  Best to check it out during winter bow when you don't need a special permit.  It's bow only so you won't have to worry about getting shot in camo.  Go after a snow so you can look for tracks and follow your tracks back out if need be.  Problem during winter bow is the roads through the park are closed.  It can be a 3 mile walk in or you're limited to hunting the outskirts.  If there's snow and you have a registered and insured snowmobile you can ride the roads. Might also need a permit. Only south of 23 is open for winter bow

Edited December 10, 2021 by Greybeard

[smoking gun]

Not as good as it used to be they have a earn a buck program in place there.

[electric10162]

Hunted it for a few years. Too many idiots.

Now if the Beard was my guide..... @Greybeard

[hemlock]

I hunted it for years and just stopped a few years ago for mainly the reasons already mentioned.  I will definitely hunt it again. I'm just in no hurry the woods are all mature forest no different than the southern Adirondacks where i hunt each year you can see further and further and less deer. A good logging operation and some legal burns would really help big time to improve it. 

[Ron]

Was thinking it would be a nice rut hunt with the muzzleloader. Sounds like some winter hiking is in order this year. And I love winter hiking, especially snow shoe hiking. 
 

@hemlock  @Greybeardmaybe I will head to northern zone NY instead. Have not been up there in years due to young children. Kids are getting older. May be time to get back up north. I absolutely love big monster woods. The fields of hunterdon/Warren counties fill the freezer but they are definitely missing something. 

[fab]

First year (96) was amazing hunting minus the anti hassles for those that recall. I  Saw 87 deer from the tree the first 3 days. But Lota ppl issues as well. Lota deer n big big bucks taken   
 

think 300 guys took 335 deer 

 

hunted 97   Didn’t go back  quality was already Deteriorating

 

 

[smoking gun]

I seen some big bear and alot of grouse in them woods.1st day of muzzleloader one year I had 3 bucks under me at 7am go figure.

[Pqreturn62]

Spent 5 days there this year with a group of 4 hunters. Only 2 of us left with deer, and only 1 of us got a doe in the first week. There is very little wiggle room between hunters in some areas of the park and you’re applying a ton of sudden pressure on the deer that are there completely out of the blue - they feel that are vacate the area quickly. The other thing that annoys me is the road hunting up there. I understand there is nothing illegal about riding around looking for deer, getting out of your truck and stalking one, but it’s blindly messing up other ppl’s hunt - the deer end up getting bounced around and the idea of hunting turns into who can race to the thickets the fastest. As mentioned about the forest is pretty mature to say the least in many areas so thick spots are coming at a premium. It’s a cool hunt and I wouldn’t say it isn’t fun, it’s just different and you need to go there expecting to have fun more importantly than filling your freezer. If it happens it happens but you’ll get skunked on perfect days just as often as you’ll see slammers on terrible ones.

[Greybeard]

11 hours ago, smoking gun said:

I seen some big bear and alot of grouse in them woods.1st day of muzzleloader one year I had 3 bucks under me at 7am go figure.

Decade or two ago I had three 8's chasing doe by me on opening morning and had to shoot one of the doe.  Didn't see another buck that year.  

[trapoholic]

I hunted there for one season. Too many idiots! Saw a guy walking through the woods with his rifle conducting business on his head set like they use at McDonalds drive thru. Saw another guy shoot a deer right from the pavement on Rt 23. Done with that place. Tons of ticks when I was there.

[electric10162]

19 hours ago, hemlock said:

I hunted it for years and just stopped a few years ago for mainly the reasons already mentioned.  I will definitely hunt it again. I'm just in no hurry the woods are all mature forest no different than the southern Adirondacks where i hunt each year you can see further and further and less deer. A good logging operation and some legal burns would really help big time to improve it. 

I would hunt there again someday. I was serious when I said being guided by Greybeard would help. Lots of places in those woods that very few humans have seen. Remote and rugged.

[Ron]

How strict are they with the “No Parking before 6am” rule.  This is rule #1 on the rule sheet.