Conn,.. Xbow ?
Massachusetts
The guys at my hunting shop get a license for Conn and xbow hunt down there and recommended it to me,.. Do any of you hunt that state? They say it is better,.. longer season, and you can take female and male deer max of 4 !!
I'm guessing you are talking about Ken from r&r. The season is longer yes. Starts Sept 15th most years and goes till December 31. You do get 4 tags. 2 antlerless and 2 either or. You can also use a crossbow, but who wants to do that? As for it being better than Mass. I don't really know about that. It use to amazing back around 2000-2010, but the tags, weather, and some kind of disease (found 6 dead deer scouting the summer of 2012 on piece of state land, and 2 on another that was pretty close). Did a number on the herd. Not to mention. I was black powder hunting that same piece in 2011 and a group of guys told me they had killed 14 deer on that Wma doing drives during shotgun and black powder. I went from seeing deer every sit to being lucky to see one. I did a bunch of scouting last summer down there, and it was a waste of time. I'm talking walking for miles and not seeing a single thing that would make you wanna go there to hunt. It's pretty sad, but less and less deer seems to be the trend around here.
Hmm, long season, multiple tags and Conn. deer herd is hurting. Yup let's do that in Mass and see how long it takes to not see many deer.
Murphy 31, you want a longer season in Mass. but tell us how Conn. isn't the same because of a long season, multiple tags, weather and some disease. Don't think for a minute that couldn't happen here.
Sorry for hijacking your post Bowman, now back to the regular scheduled program.
Muzzy, our tag situation is a tad different here. Anywhere in the state of Ct you get the 4 archery tags that I mentioned. Then you get an either or tag for shotgun, and either or tag for black powder. So I could kill 6 does in any given part of the state, or 4 bucks. Not to mention in some of the southern zones you get replacement tags. If you read some of the Ct forums. Some guys down there are killing double digit deer each year. Mass I get 3 tags. Never more sometimes less. They would have to figure out the tag situation. I'm all for getting rid of one the buck tags.
I don't think Murphy was suggesting we do what Conn does, he was just telling us his experience,..
Anyways thanks all,.. enlightening,.. Oh, and yes Ken it is,.. at R and R,.. very helpful guy.
Dont get me wrong. There are still some decent areas in Ct, but you have to travel a little further. Its not just over the boarder anymore. I did find a spot that was pretty good the last few seasons I hunted Ct, but it was a 2 hour ride. It was just getting to pricey for me with gas, food , and the licenses.
I also agree CT used to be better years ago over the line. I am tempted to take a drive and see what it looks like in an old spot. And yes Ken is a good dude.
If you going to hunt CT the shore towns have a ton of deer. My dad and mom have a seasonal camper in the Niantic area and there are plenty of deer down that way. Getting permission though is a whole other can of worms.
We hunt in Windham/Franklin area and see many deer. Not sure about public land around there. Check it out.
Ditto Murphy. I may hunt CT again this year, but when it was really booming was about 8-10+ years ago it seems. The last few years I hunted it the areas with "lots" of deer were definitely better than central MA, but it was not like the first few years where you saw deer most of the time.
My description to folks, is that if you have ever hunted the sturbridge area, well, that's about the same as northern CT state land (at least in the east of the state). It's good, but not "stay back deer, stay back" kind of good.
No idea on xbow laws. I thought they were the same as here - permit required via dr note, but honestly, that's just going on a hunch, not something I've been interested in doing.
That all said, from Belchertown you could be on public ground in Ct in 30-40' I'd think, and start Sept 15. Even if you just hunted the first month it would be worth the 140~ bucks for the license.
Note though, you have to have bowhunter safety in CT. regular hunter safety wont cut it. You need the actual bowhunter safety course cert to get a CT license.
Will, they made it anyone can use a crossbow back in like 2012 or 13. I remember going to cabelas in August of the first year, and everyone and their brother was getting geared up with xbows.
Wow Murphy - had no idea. That's wild.
Also if you have a previous out of state bow license they don't ask about a bow hunter safety certificate. I bought a hunting license in CT every year up until this year as I wont be making the trip down there anymore since I bought a home in NH and they never mentioned it. I've heard various stories of CT officials rejecting hunting license sales for lack of a CT bow hunter safety cert but I know for sure the Enfield town offices will not reject a sale if you have a MA hunting license.
