Pickerel

Last season was when I started hunting, and that didn't yield anything. Hunted all through December, January, and February almost every weekend and snow day. Only shot one squirrel and one pheasant the entire season, and didn't see any other squirrels or rabbits when I had small game loads, nor did I see any deer at all.

This season is starting out very unpromising now. I have a very limited window to hunt in due to college, of which I only have five days to hunt deer. Four of those days are doe hunting this week, I miss buck week due to winter quarter starting the same day, and I only have a single day to hunt antlered deer the day before I go back to school on Christmas break. The past four open days I have hunted the almost the entire time I could, but to no avail. I shot one pheasant on Saturday in Colliers Mills on the first push in the morning, and that is the only time I pulled the trigger yet. I have had crappy luck in deer hunting, having my alarm clock fail me one morning, a guy in my stand the next, and having a doctors office crammed full of people and delaying me from getting into the woods until last light. Today I decided to scout around the entire afternoon and go with small game loads. I saw a total of three squirrels... one in a tree far outside my comfortable shooting range, one which I heard and saw for a split second while some horse riders were right around the corner, and one that ran right in front of me across the grass after unloading just before reaching my truck.

Sorry, I just had to blow some steam. I love hunting, but it doesn't love me.

BEARBUSTER66

Give it time! The first deer is always the hardest, but once you break the ice the rest come a little quicker!

Shot and Strings

Deer hunting public/state land in New Jersey is a tough proposition, I hunt public land in Gloucester County.

Bionicrooster

Where you hunting pickerel??? I can put you on some serious small game hunting (mostly squirrel) hunting if you want.

Pickerel

I'm hunting the Assunpink mostly as I'm pretty sure that's the closest place to my house (about 15 miles). If my friend ever has off work to hunt or on Saturdays I go to Colliers Mills. I live right outside Trenton.

buckmaster_27

someonelse in here hunts colliers mill wma and i read during youth day his son missed 2 bucks and saw a few others plus alot of does.so it sounds like your in a good area just do your homework and scout it really good.you should get lucky.come on your in n.j=deer everywhere.

Pickerel

The problem is that the only thing I can really do as far as scouting is concerned is looking at aerial photography and asking other people due to my college being 350 miles away. I got home on a Wednesday with four-day doe season starting the following Monday. I only had a single day to scout in the Assunpink as well as what I remembered from last year. I ended up not seeing any deer beside a four-pointer that I almost hit with my truck, a spike that's been dead probably since early bow season, and two lower legs that were probably once part of a coyote victim. The places I hunt I can't rely on deer going any specific way just because there are so many people in the woods deer hunting, waterfoul hunting, pheasant hunting, small game hunting, horse riding, walking, driving, etc. Only time I saw a live deer in the field was a doe kicked out of a hedgerow by another hunter while I was pheasant hunting.

NJheadhunter71

Email me and I will give you directions to a spot in Assupink that always holds deer. Sometimes you have to look at where they are running when they get spooked to know where to hunt. Find the overgrown thickets anf hunt them.

Pickerel

NJheadhunter, I PMed you.