Hunting NE CT
Connecticut
Contributors to this thread:
What’s it like up that way?
Lotta bears, or is that just NW?
Just trying to imagine what my life might be like if I were to spend more time doing tge things I really like to do....
Not many bears yet. You can see that they are making their way out there.
I've never seen a bear out this way, but have heard of occasional sightings by homeowners. No hunters have told me of any. It would be cool to see ONE.
I’m mostly curious about the prospects for deer hunting... seems like land values are a lot less astronomical up that way....
But can you bowhunt private up there?? (On Sundays?)
GF, I live in Union, border Yale forest and close to Bigelow Hollow. We have bears up here but not as many as the NW. Deer hunting is ok, I have not hunted here in over ten years. I have much better deer hunting in other parts of the state.
If you want to kill any deer then it’s not bad. If you’re looking for mature bucks it’s going to be frustrating.
Thanks, Pat!
I don’t have any wall space authorized for taxidermy anyway ;)
Just day-dreaming about being able to attempt a still-hunt without worrying about stumbling into a spot where I might interfere with somebody’s hunt... but I suppose it would be more trouble than it’s worth if I had to drive several hours to get to a spot that I could only hunt 1 day a week... I had permission on a place near Cornwall a few years ago, and that’s a long drive from here for a day-trip....
Still hunting up here in the NE is very doable. May not be as productive as stand hunts but after living here for almost 30 years I can confidently say that very few people hunt the 1000’s of acres of state forests here during archery and you could still hunt here for days and never bump into anyone.
Are you looking for public or private land?
Mostly browsing Zillow and wondering how big a lotto jackpot I’d need to win to get into a huntable-sized piece o’ dirt....
My Saturdays have been spoken for for about 8 years due to my boys playing hockey and my trying to coach that, so I’m thinking I might just get serious about getting out this year.
In 2020 we lost my MIL, my wife’s best friend of nearly 40 years and one of my best friends from college; crap like that makes you reassess what matters to you.
But what Pat said about low pressure up there is encouraging; just have to figure out how far I would be prepared to drive for a day-trip and/or what might be involved in making a multi-day trip of it. I don’t know what the camping options up there would look like...
GF, What Town do you live in? Are Bear's what you are trying to avoid?
We’re down SW - less than 2 minutes from longbeard’s skating rink. I could just about launch an arrow from the driveway and drop it into Port Chester....
Just hoping to find someplace where I can hunt mobile without screwing up someone else’s day or having to dodge a crossbow bolt.
I’m not scared of black bears as long as I have a bow and my quiver. Not in the daytime, anyway ;)
But if I’m going to hunt in an area with a lot of black bears, I would just as soon have a tag in my pocket.
I hear ya. I had a close call with death a few years back and you gain a much different perspective on life. If you want to stay in CT look in the 6/44 corridor out to ri. Seems like the 395 corridor is loaded too. May not be a bunch of big bucks but plenty of normal deer lol. Look for land that may border a land trust/preserve. I would also recommend looking into south county ri. Lots of deer and limited pressure. Plenty of campgrounds in the eastern part of the state. Charlie Brown has nice rentals and is in the heart of the natchaug state forest, 12000 acres. Not far away is yale state forest.
With zillow. Double check the property taxes. We were getting serious on a piece of land a few weeks ago in new York. Zillow said $678 a year. The owner and assessor said $4300.
Yeah, I think Zillow gives you the monthly.... so you bake it into the payment and forget how much of that you’ll never see again!
Probably cheaper to fly home & hunt a couple weeks on a NR tag.
And I guess I’d better get on that before it takes 10 points to get a tag for an OTC unit!
I'm scared of bears all the time.