BOWHUNTERCOP

HAS ANYONE BOWHUNTED ZONE 4 YET? THIS IS THE 1ST YEAR IN THE LAST 5 YEARS THAT I HAVE YET TO SEE A DEER, AND I HAVE YET TO SEE ANY SIGNS..NO RUBS,SCRAPES, ETC. PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR INPUT IF YOU HAVE BOWHUNTED HERE. LAST YEAR I SAW ON AVERAGE 3 DEER PER DAY, ALL THE OTHER YEARS I SAW ON AVERGE 23 DEER PER DAY. I FEEL THAT SINCE THAT AREA IS SO VAST, THE DEER HAVE MORE PLACES TO HIDE AND ARENT PUSHED OUT, BUT I WOULD RATHER BE IN THE WOODS ALONE THEN WITH A HUNTER BEHIND EVERY TREE. GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU.

BOWHUNTERCOP

I FORGOT TO ADD, THAT LAST YEAR NJ CHANGED THE SEASON IN THE SURROUNDING DEER ZONES, BUT ZONE 4 WAS VERY LIMITED, COMPARED TO THESE OTHER ZONES. SO LAST YEAR I SAW, AND HEARD FROM THE CO'S THAT ZONE 4 HAD LESS HUNTERS. I HUNT THE NOTHERN PART OF ZONE 4 IN MONTAGUE.

Red-Dawn

I've hunted that exact spot for the last 4 years. I bet we've run into each other. Zone 4 in Montague is a small area. I'm from Mass. Cape Cod to be exact. This is the first year i haven't gone in 4 years due to the decline of the herd. I've watched it go from incredible to crappy in the last 4 years. Back in 99 is used to see 15-20 deer a day. Last year i had enough and said i wouldn't return. Do you live down there?
Matt

Broadhead88

Sounds like Zone 2! We used to see a lot of deer everytime that we went out but with the unlimited doe days and the Jan slaughter, the numbers are way down again. Throw in the farmer permits and I swear that the deer population is less than half what it was in 1994 when I started hunting Zone 2. I am positive that NJ's slaughter regulations are negatively impacting most of NJ and hunters will tell the same throughout the state.

I havent been out yet but my Dad has gone twice and reports limited deer on our lease.

Looking at the world from 15 feet up.

Stealthy_Bowman

The kicker is that the state really doesn't care. In fact, this is exactly what they have set out to accomplish, the extreme reduction of our deer herd throughout most of the state. It boggles my mind, it really does. I wonder how things will change next year when McDowell finally retires.
I doubt things will improve, with McGreevy in office and his open hatred toward hunters all the rumors flying around about banning hunting in NJ may actually come to pass. The future for us really doen't look good. Bleh!

Broadhead88

Guys--I agree that the quality of the hunt has dropped in NJ due to 1) overdevelopment and 2) the idiotic unlimited and lenghty either-sex seasons. The future doesnt look much better and the only real place to nail a wallhanger is in the semi-suburban areas of the state. Bergen COunty has some real rackers but hunting is strictly off-limits for those that obey the law.

I'm going to ZOne 2 in Wantage this Mon for my first time out. We'll see.

Bob

Looking at the world from 15 feet up.

BOWHUNTERCOP

WELL WENT HUNTING TODAY ZONE # 4, SAW 6 TURKEYS THAT WAS IT. WALKING OUT, I SAW DEER DROPPINGS NEAR THE ROAD NO LESS, IT WAS SMALL MOST LIKEY A FAWN, ALSO SAW A NICE RUB NEAR THE ROAD ALSO, SO THESE 2 SIGNS TELLS ME DEER ARE THERE (LOL!!!!) I HUNT FAR FROM THE ROAD, SO DEER ARENT BEING PUSHED UP THE MOUNTAIN YET. STOPPED TO GET COFFEE, SAW 2 OTHER HUNTERS WHO HUNT A FEW MILES DOWN THE ROAD FROM ME, KNOW THEM FOR A FEW YEARS, THEY TOO SAID THEY HAVEN'T SEEN DEER WHILE HUNTING ZONE 4, AND NO SIGN. ONE GUY SAID ONLY DEER HE SAW WAS ONE LAST WEEK AT 5 AM DRIVING INTO HIS AREA. WELL HOPEFULLY I CANT GET OFF WORK THIS SATURDAY, MAYBE FEW MORE GUYS IN WOODS CAN MOVE DEER AROUND, PLUS IT WILL BE COLDER THEN NORMAL.

stucbuc

Bowhuntercop,
I used to hunt the river side of Zone #4 around the seven mile marker from the last exit on 80. Take the river road north and you will come to an old schoolhouse. This is a good area. There is agriculture to the left and the mountainside has a lot of old meadows and orchards. There are numerous saddles and benches throughout. Lots of oaks. I have been very deep in these woods and have seen several big bucks and their sign. It can be quite a hike back in there to the last bench before the bluffs.

I took my fair share of deer here. Its a matter of exploring! I only ever bowhunted here and many times was the only hunter in the woods. There is a parking spot on the right before the school that has a road that leads up to the old homesteads and beyond. Good Luck!

Your post brought back many memories.

BOWHUNTERCOP

WELL I NEVER WENT HUNTING TODAY, COULDN'T GET OFF WORK...3 FRIENDS WENT, 1 FRIEND GOT INTO HIS STAND AROUND 5 AM, AT 8:30 AM 10 DEER CAME FROM THE ACROSS THE ROAD AT A FULL RUN, BUT STILL OUT OF RANGE SO HE SAYS!!!!! HE THEN GOT DOWN, CAUSE OF RAIN/WIND, WHILE LOADING HIS CAR, 2 OTHER FRIENDS SHOWED UP, BUT NEVER WENT HUNTING. GAME WARDEN SHOWED UP, ASKED FOR LICENSES, THEN MY 1 FRIEND ASKED HIM A QUESTION ABOUT HOW A FEW OF US ARENT SEE THE DEER LIKE WE HAVE A FEW YEARS AGO, HIS REPLY WAS THE SAME AS WHAT I THOUGHT I WOULD HERE "ASK THE EXPERTS IN TRENTON" HE ALSO SAYED NUMEROUS OTHER HUNTERS HAVE BEEN ASKING THAT SAME QUESTION NOT ONLY THIS YEAR BUT LAST YEAR AS WELL. 1O MINS LATER A WOODCOCK HUNTER PULLED UP AND TOLD MY 3 FRIENDS THAT A DEER JUST RAN INTO THE CORN FEILD WITH AN ARROW IN HER, WELL THEY WAITED FOR 45 MINS OR SO, TO SEE IF THE HUNTER WAS TRACKING IT. THEY WENT LOOKING FOR IT, THEY FOUND IT, DRESSED WEIGHT 100 lb. DOE, THEY TAGGED IT, GUTTED IT, CHECKED IT IN, THAT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. WELL THIS TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY ARE MY DAYS OFF WEATHER WILL BE SUNNY HIGHS IN LOWER 50'S!!!! HOPEFULLY NO WIND.

wojtowicza

well i haven't seen much of any deer this season until today. i hunted zone 7 this morning. got in my stand at 5:30. at around 6:15 or so i heard 4 or 5 deer walking around me but it was still dark. i got my flashlight and put it on one right under my stand. it was a nice 8 pointer. it never even looked at me. he just walked off. that was it for the morning. i went with a friend to zone 8 in the afternoon. i setup at 3:30 and saw the first deer at 4:15. it was a 6 pointer. after that it was deer all afternoon till i got out of my stand at 6:30. i saw 11 deer in the afternoon. 7 bucks, 2 does and 2 that i didn't see the heads. of course i don't have a doe yet and i could've shot 2 of the bucks. a six and a huge spike. this was one of my best hunting days in a long time. my friend saw a total of 7 deer. but he doesn't have a doe yet either so he couldn't shoot the bucks. the does were out of range he said. it was a great day. [