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Is the 6-Day tradition a thing of the past?


Rusty

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You also have to factor in that to the "gun only" hunter, that might have grown up with 6-day being the one and only "deer season" except for the few that hunted with stick bows (pre wheels) during a much shorter archery season, back then the percentage of bucks per overall herd was a lot higher than it is now.    Compare the total bow harvest back in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and even 90s to the overall harvest,  versus what it is now, and it's clear that percentage wise, a lot more bucks have been removed from the herd prior to 6-day.

 

What are better odds to see and kill a buck?

1) Take first week November off and hunt with crossbow

2) Take week of 6-day off and hunt with gun

 

I would take option 1 any day of the week.

Nothing spooks deer more than my stank… 

16 3/4” Live Fluke Release Club

I shot a big 10pt once….

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As NJ public land got more and more crowded during 6 Day, my dad and I stopped hunting it entirely.  About 20 years passed without us setting foot on NJ land during a gun season.  We decided about 10 years ago to get back out and give it a whirl.  The WMAs were packed for Monday and Tuesday and then again on Saturday.  We were surprised to see the WMAs getting driven on opening day though.  Fast forward about 3-4 years.  The WMAs were empty. The Pennsylvania guys showed up bright and early on opening day, 5-6 pickup trucks full of guys, and they drove the shit out of every inch or land for all 6 days. We tried different Zone 5 and Zone 7 pieces each day and it was all the same.  The standers would come in and literally line up on either side of us.  Didn't give a shit that someone was already sitting there.   Then they would "brown and down" the hell out of each piece.  So we stopped hunting NJ during gun season again. 

 

If you want my honest opinion on what would make 6 day tolerable, ban deer drives that have greater than 4 people and ban non-resident firearm license sales. Unless you're hunting private land, NJ mostly sucks to hunt deer on anyway.  The PA crowd doesn't come here for a trophy buck experience, they come here to beat the shit out of the land and kill anything brown. Or, change all of the regulation sets to not allow any does to be shot during 6 day.   That will deter many of the drivers and out of state crowd anyway

Edited by not on the rug
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The "tradition" for me every 6-day was to get set up on by very rude and nasty people that have no care about how public land works, not drivers mind you, othe pot hunters, like yesterday, 2 idiots wanted to go by me further on the hill I was sitting right into where the deer where, they gave me crap for asking them to do the right thing and go back the way they came, it's been that way for me since I started gun hunting deer more than 25 years ago, and the reason I find. It distasteful these days, I can count on one hand the times I did NOT have some guy giving me crap for getting to a spot first.

Hunt with a Vizsla, cause life's to short to hunt with an ugly dog! :D RIP Tilly monster. (Attila) 2004-2017.

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While talking about the bear hunt yesterday on 101.5 they brought up they felt the deer were not being managed correctly.

They said since there are still 26000 deer struck by cars that not enough deer where being shot.

And that the legislature should change the bag limits to allow more harvest LOL

 

Guys called in and said maybe the town's showing high accident rates should open more area to hunting .

Captain Dan Bias

REELMUSIC SPORTFISHING

50# Striper live release club.

 

http://reelmusicsportfishing.blogspot.com/

 

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Gone. Where I used to gun hunt the road was loaded with hunters. Not one vehicle yesterday. I myself have not hunted shotgun for many years it would be more of a hassle then an enjoyment.

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I think what you have are high fixed expenses without the added value of private property.

 

Trying to sell tickets, fund raise, just to keep a club house bunk place while hunting mismanaged state land isn't as productive in producing deer as in the past.

 

I liked hunting 6 day in the wharton. It simply became a vacation to walk through the woods. I was spending more time arguing about the future of the club, private vs public land, leasing vs owning, prowomen vs men only, than actually harvesting a deer.

 

It would be nice to have the, all inclusive, club with private land or properly managed public land.

 

Now I focus on my 2 daughters, upland, archery, muzzle loader, and rifle. It is much better to save money and hunt in say Kansas or OHIO, versus spending all that money to hunt in NJ for 6 day firearm.

FPC  - "Without either the first or second amendment, we would have no liberty; the first allows us to find out what's happening, the second allows us to do something about it! The second will be taken away first, followed by the first and then the rest of our freedoms." - Andrew Ford
 

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When I was a kid, my dad used to keep me home from school the first day of six day. He nor any of his buddy’s bow hunted and six Day was deer season. We had lots of private land to hunt in Lawrenceville and we always got deer while sitting. We rarely drive deer. Just wasn’t necessary. Doe day was a lottery though most got tags. My dad always got a Doe tag for him and I and he threw them away. Said it kept someone else from killing them. Now I have little 10-12 acre plots to hunt which, I’m thankful for but, the old times are gone. Some of the places that we used to hunt now are near office buildings and with having to wear orange, those people look out their office windows and can see you in a tree from 5 stories up and call the police even though it’s perfectly legal. Just isn’t worth it

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I'm in Stokes. There were 10 trucks in here yesterday. Not one except mine now

Yeah i was there yesterday too. Still not a lot for the area i drove around past. Did see one group of guys about 12-14 doing drives in Stokes and High Point. They had a big van with a small box trailer

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A few friends hunted the Gap/Stokes area, most came out for lunch.They said they saw no other hunters while hunting, and saw very few trucks on the side of the roads when they came out for lunch. I stopped at the Hainsville General Store at 530pm for a coffee for the drive home, owner said very few hunters in for lunch. 

 

Did the heavy fog play role, or are guys busy with work/family obligations?  in today's world many people work 6 days per week, so maybe Saturday they are off, or maybe many rather hunt with the muzzleloader or the shotgun permit days

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