Is Hunting in MA tough?
Massachusetts
Seriously, if you are having trouble arrowing a deer I will help you find public land with deer in Zone 9/10/11.
Come and help me find even 1 deer west of the ct. river.
extremely tough in some areas. none the less,i keep trying to see if, i am the one who is there at the spot where that 5 second encounter will happen. happened to me in november,early and i shot a bit high.... 2 days after, had him on my cam,25yds from my attempt. although zone 12. which in most areas is tough. and not prolific like 11. any area is tough i would say. even private would be a challenge if they peg you. add the always happens,... with pressure from unknown hunters, (whom,i occasionally meet) there really is nothing like bow season for deer in new england guys. 20+yrs. and im just as sure and hopeful, that sitting in a tree will satisfy me through the long winter coming. cant say enough for the fix we provide one another,great resource available to the brethren. bob. bowsite.
Drsler, I have spent a bit of time in the great woods west of the CT River. Surprising how often I saw deer in the legal ATV state forests.
Deer are edge creatures, find edges and you find deer. Sometimes the “big woods” is an advantage because there are fewer edges.
This is my first time ever using a camera (since January 1). I am surprised at the minimal deer movement, like zero, in spots I would have sworn were deer highways. I will be moving the cameras around a lot this year, trying to learn how and where they move.
The hunting part is easy . Like falling , its easy .
dslyr , Shoot a location close to your preferred area , to a few of us "East siders", ( we cant get there to bother you and have enough to keep us happy right here ... but don't trust the locals , them westies are crazy hillbillies and will bring a Deliverance moment on you or Children of the corn , your pick , you never know with them hill people) and see what people come up with . Did I say that out loud ?
Seriously , reach out if you want help. I know some dirt in the Sunderland area . State parks that get next to corn field and such.
Good question, is it easy?
Not for me :). I have to work. And I still, decades into this, feel like I make more mistakes than not.
That said, Ill admit that I have spots in Z9 where it's pretty dialed in, the deer density is high, and I'd say it's as easy as I've hunted in MA. It's not "easy" based on what folks who hunt New Jersey tell me is easy... But by my MA standards... It's easy. You see deer more than not.
My Z5-6 spots out near the Quabbin. Some, I have really dialed in, but its certainly not definite. Most new bowhunters I know out there, it takes 4-7 years to get their first deer unless they have a really good mentor. If they do, it's probably 3-5 years. I know a lot of skilled hunters who are food hunters and not after horn. Out there they get a deer every couple years with the bow, not yearly.
Is it easy? Not for me. But, that's why it's so fun. It's the adventure and challenge of trying to figure it out which is the most fun to me. Tagging deer is exciting, but almost anticlimactic. The process of the hunt, the struggle, the challenge... Thats where the fun is (for me at least).
I've never hunted Eastern MA... so I have no idea on what to even expect out there... Hunting deer in zones 1 & 2... ? Extremely difficult. 3 as well for the most part.
If it were easy I likely wouldn't spend so much time doing it! I guess over the bow season its common to have opportunities in Zone 10, but it not easy at all to find a kill a nice buck.
Deer are not smart, despite what you may hear they function by instinct and not logic and reason.
The first trick, is putting yourself in a position that you are likely to be in bow range of a deer that YOU want to kill.
If you want a 160” deer go to another state where the chance of seeing one is better.
The best way to becomes proficient “in the moment” is to practice. By that, I mean shoot deer. Shoot a doe if you have a tag.
Talkin’ bout practice.
I think the harvest numbers by zone pretty much tells you how lopsided the deer density is and how much more difficult it is by zone.
5,523 deer were harvested in two zones (10-11).
5,976 were harvested in zones (1-9).
You can practice all you want, be the best shot in the woods but if the deer population isn't there, what are you shooting?
Jumping deer on a atv is one thing, finding a small herd of deer living in a large section of woods and hunting them is way more harder than sneaking behind a housing development and shooting deer living behind houses.
I would like to know how many hunters tried their luck in zones 1-9 vs 10-11. I would think that those numbers are lopsided also, meaning more guys in zones 1-9 but being less successful.
GED, if you find deer hunting so easy maybe you should start a guide service in Massachusetts. If your success rate is high you would make a killing. Better yet, start a hunting school in the western part of the state and charge good money to teach all the incompetent hunters how to pick them off.
Guess I better start practicing.
GED - That point is super true. It's why I started to hunt SW Ct when my wife got into it. In her first few years in MA, hunting Z6, she saw probably 5 deer. We went to SW CT and while her first deer was in Z6 here, I'm convinced all the deer she saw and couldnt get a shot at in CT sped the learning curve. I think she went 3-4 years before getting deer 1. The experiences in CT though helped so much. She was able to see deer, have deer in range, learn what you can get away with, when to move - or not, what to look for etc. Learning to hunt where deer density is higher really helps folks learn to close the deal, and even to hunt. More sign, more sightings, more chances to learn.
Low density, big woods... You may be on good looking sign, but low density could mean you only see a deer in that spot every 5 days or something, so you may not learn if your scouting was good and your location sound. Hard to learn and adjust in that situation.
It does force you to try to learn and grow, so it's good...
But I'm with you - opportunities make a huge difference with learning to hunt.
Hunting spots like NW CT taught me a lot about deer hunting in general. In addition to tagging out in a week there and seeing deer just about every sit, it has made me a more successful hunter here in Western MA where you may only get a few chances a season. I see tons more deer in CT and even over the line in NY. Very few in MA... even in good spots for this area.
No question that backyard deer are easier to hunt. That is , If you can get access.
Boy ,did I have a wake-up season this year, just an hour east of the last place. There are much bigger woods as one gets closer to the Cape and the hunting is that much more of a challenge because of it. It may not be Western mass hard but it has given me a new appreciation and challenge.
Deer hunting anywhere isn’t necessarily hard as long as you have the time to do it. As you saw by my cam pics in one of my threads as long as I had a bunch of days off I would have gotten a shot provided the wind was right. I had very few days off therefore was only in the woods one day a week. I believe GED is correct that deer are not as crafty as some think and just go by instinct. It cracks me up when people talk about smart old bucks. Um maybe we kill so few of them because their are so few of them? It’s not that they are highly intelligent it’s simply that they are not where we are on that given day. GED go to zone 6 and show us how it’s done. I got the spot for you.
Great point spike. Time. I spent EVERY spare moment in the woods this and last season. Deer seem to be on a 3-5 day travel cycle. Unless I was right near bedding, this seems to hold true. If I didn't see a deer one day, I would hunt the same spot, or one close, the next few as well. 4-5 days of no activity I'd move on.
Spike - You just hit a theory of mine. I think deer are smart like sheep/goats/cows are smart... IE, there's something going on, and they can learn if conditioned, but they are sure as heck not a chimpanzee or what not.
I'm convinced, that a 4.5+ YO doe, is just as hard (or harder) to kill than a 4.5YO buck... but given herd dynamics, there are more old does than old bucks, thus we see them more.
They definitely get conditioned to us and our actions and adjust what they do or when they do it... They are also constantly scared our of their frigging minds... Put those together and they (all deer) do a good job winning :)
spot on, Will. the way I put it was, in a decade of hunting zn 9 in the 80s I maybe got 3 to 4 shots at deer...so every year you'd feel that pressure ....'don't mess up, this could be your only chance'. when I started hunting southern CT in the 2000s...it was like 4 shots a weekend (sometimes 4 shots a day)....so I could learn to take my time, not rush the shot, not be so pressured to not make a mistake....cause I knew I'd get another chance.
Deer are edge creatures, and the suburbs have far more edges. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the habitat out east is better than the mature forests out West.
Find edges out there and you will still find deer.
I don’t have the time of energy to sit in zone 6 waiting on a deer to walk by. Like I said. If anyone needs to find a public place with land in z9/10/11 where densities are high let me know. A lot of conservation commissions, towns, land managers want the deer gone.
A guy wearing socks and sandals caught a sailfish in the canal a few years ago, if you head to the canal in August with your sailfish gear you should be drug tested.
Muzzy, I am not “jumping deer” on an atv. I am stopping to have lunch by a pond/swamp/stream and deer are bedded (like they usually are during the day) near the edge.
Deer are not on the trail, but they do hear ATV’s often and have no fear, why would they? Most people on a ATV would never even notice them.
GED, what do you mean when you say edges?
Transitions between swamp and hardwood, fields and woods, even thick pines and oaks. Swamps are my favorite, but have I have had plenty of success inside woodlines on stream and field edges on small town properties. A few town spots in Hingham stand out. I probably averaged 2 hours on stand per kill. That number would be better but I passed on some deer.
Those edges are the key.
Like the way fish respond to structure, a deer will parallel an edge.
Like GED said above find an edge in those big woods and deer trails will be there. Places where conifers transition into hardwoods are great spots.
Will I agree the 4.5 YO doe is a smart cookie and tough to kill for sure. She is wise as heck but the difference between her and the 4.5 YO Buck is that he won't show himself in daylight anywhere near as often as she does.
Yes I agree about the edges however their is a huge difference between edges on a 10 acre plot out east and a 600 acre plot out west.
Edges are better in 1000 acre places.
A few other members here hunt PWS. Picture old growth 1,100 acres. 70 permitted hunters and 4 of us kill 90% of deer in our block every year, for the last 6 years.
Last year it was 12/14. This year maybe 9/10?
So 66 hunters killed 3/24. 4 killed 21/24 in classic big woods.
I'm still trying to get into Sherborne. If you could help with that it would be tits!
Framingham has bowhunting on SVT land, Natick has bowhunting on New England Forest Foundation, I think Medfield has bowhunting as well.
I don’t know Sherborne
I hunt all 3 towns. Just knock on everyone's door. You'll finally run into the pissed off flower loving home owner that wants all the deer dead. GED, what is the New England forest foundation in Natick? I live in Natick.. never heard of it, but very interested...
Deer go nocturnal real easy, or spend a lot of time in places that are too close to houses to hunt. Posted property. I'm happy just to see a deer during season. If I cared about meat more I'd hunt central-west NY.
Moons, they are a place out of Littleton. Most of their land is open to hunt and they will give you written permission.
The exception is land that was donated and specifically requested to limit hunting.
Interesting, thanks a lot!
Dana, if you are happy just to see a deer and are not interested in meat I would walk some of the Audubon land in Sharon, Moose Hill.
Some even have permission to bow hunt the adjacent land. Great deer there, enough to attract record holders to hunt there, but that is another story.
I think its tough. I hunt public land in the Berkshires and see deer less than half the times I go out. With that said there are some real giants running around so its worth not seeing deer in the hopes of seeing a mature buck
Buck Grunt, if you are seeing deer 50% of the time out there you are doing very well.
The “big woods” I hunt in RI is much lower, but like you I see (and kill) much bigger deer there.
I don’t find the deer numbers to be very high in this state ...there are concentrated herds here but hunting them is tough , usually hunting is prohibited ...I live in a very wooded area of zone 9 , they say we have a great number of deer hear I find that rather hard to believe ...Between all the scouting , cameras , many many hours in the woods , tracking in winter for deer yards you can’t convince me that this state can’t hold more deer then they say ....plenty of acorn and feed (no deer ) you can walk long distances without cutting a track with snow covered ground ....used to see deer frequently on my road , in fields well not anymore ....well zone 9 is a free for all zone just keep giving out all them doe tags so you can make that extra dollar and like fools we will continue watching squirrels from our stands ....Mass wildlife you need to change ! What brings young hunters into the sport is sightings of deer not squirrels! Bring the deer numbers up !
I don’t find the deer numbers to be very high in this state ...there are concentrated herds here but hunting them is tough , usually hunting is prohibited ...I live in a very wooded area of zone 9 , they say we have a great number of deer hear I find that rather hard to believe ...Between all the scouting , cameras , many many hours in the woods , tracking in winter for deer yards you can’t convince me that this state can’t hold more deer then they say ....plenty of acorn and feed (no deer ) you can walk long distances without cutting a track with snow covered ground ....used to see deer frequently on my road , in fields well not anymore ....well zone 9 is a free for all zone just keep giving out all them doe tags so you can make that extra dollar and like fools we will continue watching squirrels from our stands ....Mass wildlife you need to change ! What brings young hunters into the sport is sightings of deer not squirrels! Bring the deer numbers up !
I don’t find the deer numbers to be very high in this state ...there are concentrated herds here but hunting them is tough , usually hunting is prohibited ...I live in a very wooded area of zone 9 , they say we have a great number of deer hear I find that rather hard to believe ...Between all the scouting , cameras , many many hours in the woods , tracking in winter for deer yards you can’t convince me that this state can’t hold more deer then they say ....plenty of acorn and feed (no deer ) you can walk long distances without cutting a track with snow covered ground ....used to see deer frequently on my road , in fields well not anymore ....well zone 9 is a free for all zone just keep giving out all them doe tags so you can make that extra dollar and like fools we will continue watching squirrels from our stands ....Mass wildlife you need to change ! What brings young hunters into the sport is sightings of deer not squirrels! Bring the deer numbers up !
Deer are also “pocket” creatures. The old book by the Benoit family talks about getting through the barren woods and focusing on the “pockets” with more deer.
Some here may not ever respect the Benoit’s because they walk with guns, but they sure adopted a unique and efffective way to track and kill big bucks in areas with lower densities than we have in MA.
Anybody stupid enough to dis the Benoits should not carry a pocket knife, let alone a real weapon.
I think the toughest part I see is the towns that ban hunting such as Westboro. There are others too Walpole, Sharon, Canton are written owner only land. There are good areas in these towns with the proper setbacks and plenty of deer. Other towns have met the hunters half way such as Dover that allow bowhunters on their land to help reduce the local population. The problem in eastern Mass is not the amount of deer it's the access to huntable land. Let's Go
I think they did a few years ago. When I was working out there a few years back one of the local PD said no hunting in town. Let's Go
Odd as they have a WMA there.
I live in Westborough. Our town has expanded hunting, the recently retired Police Chief, Al Gordon wanted less accidents. He gave written permission for town land.
We hired a new Chief last week. I hope he keeps the program open. That said, plenty of hunting at other places around. Uptown State Forest, Westborough WMA, New England Forest Foundation, Grafton Land Trust, Town of Grafton, etc.
I personally would focus my efforts in other areas (Hingham) because there was more deer. Long ride (150miles round trip?) but worth it. That town also wants less deer.
I participated in a population reduction effort in Westborough two years ago. I can say without hesitation that no one in the Westborough PD knows jack or $hit about hunting. They set up three areas you could hunt in, all three were relatively small, they then flooded the areas with bow hunters with the ruling that you had to use climbers because you couldn't set up hangers and leave them for the season. The effort was a bust. You would literally have 10 hunters assigned to a 4 acre area. I don't know how familiar you all are with Westborough but for an entire season the soccer fields were flooded with deer...like 30-40 deer easy. The problem with several of these towns that have deer population issues is that most of the Selectmen don't bother to contact DFW for recommendations on how to approach hunting in their towns, or what to really expect. The other problem is that when they get advise from DFW it's likely along the lines of "The way to hunt deer is to flood the area with shotgun hunters immediately!" which turns off the Selectmen.
It's gotten to the point where every time a driver hits a deer and their car gets totaled, smile. Every time a dog goes missing or attacked by coyotes I also giggle.
I'm in Indiana this week. The corn and soy beans are gone. And there are herd's of deer everywhere. It's mind blowing. This morning a parade of 20 does and a few young boys took their sweet assed time crossing the road in front of me. There was another 10+ group still working their way across an open field to join this first group. This afternoon still another half dozen crossing that field coming to the road. I am tempted to use some of my rental car insurance, if I only had a knife and a cooler...
The 'problem' with urban deer is too many sanctuaries. Small woodlots too close to houses. I know gun hunters who drive these spots, drivers don't carry guns, they just kick the deer out of the backyards, toward standers posted safely. They whack some.
GED- Hingham recently changed their rules. You have to apply for a special town permit and they are limiting them. If you don't tag a deer with them you are basically not getting another permit.
mrw if you ask the guys on the Indiana page they will tell you their are no deer left lol. These guys have no idea what a small population is like.
Spike, tonight I thought I saw 6 or 7, but I was wrong. On the other side of a short hill there were more than 2 dozen more. This is at 5:30. There were also about 5 other "small" groups of only 7-10 deer. Yup, no deer here... I want these numbers back in Z11!
Had 4 down in yard yesterday afternoon. Looked like 2 does and 2 skips.. I generally tend to see more this time of year due to their winter yarding by my house.
I second the comment above about hunting pockets. I have hunted the big woods in Western MA and its tough hunting. There are public places even in Southeastern MA that are extremely difficult to hunt with big woods. In all those places, the most deer are in the small woods, hidden pockets of 20-40 acres with great bedding, mass crops and houses nearby. it doesn't matter where it is, cover food and water are going to draw in the deer. Big woods hunting is tough because its missing most of those key ingredients to hold deer. Old mature woods= no young growth, no browse, wide open woods, poor bedding, and spotty mass crops. I would much rather hunt a 40-60 acre small woodlot than 1000 acres anyday.
XMan, exactly. A thousand acres of p$-poor habitat is still poor habitat. 50 acres of food/cover/water is better hunting, IF you can hunt it safely and legally.
I wish Massachusetts had more common sense rules on hunting, especially on road rules. In PA, it is only illegal to shoot across roads or railroad tracks. There is no buffer zone. Makes finding pockets easier and opens up a lot of hunting land.
