I have been seeing increased deer activity, and an increase in fresh rut sign (pre-rut) like scrapes and new rubs but the does have been walking around unbothered and without their tails half cocked. Leeser bucks have also been coming out around 8:30am-11am and coming out earlier in the afternoon (3:30pm). No chasing...no seeking...unresponsive to estrous bleats and tending grunts. (conservative use).
The peak of the rut in NJ is the 15th of November. The bad news is that warm weather is on the way and will last throughout the rut. This doesn't bode well for us in NJ. I hunt in Central NJ...mainly on Colliers Mills WMA. It's a great area and I have harvested 4 wallhangers from there. I mainly hunt the fringes of the cedar swamps. 3 of my kills have come from morning hunts all between 8:30am-11am. I had one afternoon kill.
But all of these kills came during 45 degree temps...nice sunny days to boot. All low humidity.
I don't know if our herd is becoming more balanced and if it is, I don't know if the timing of the rut's peak is now earlier. I recall back 10 years ago, bucks would be on the prowl on T-day....but in recent years it's seems that the rut is much more compressed.
Maybe in a week or so we'll get a big break in the weather that will coincide with the peak of the rut....who knows?
Hey! Someone else who hunts where I'll be hunting! I just started last season and didn't have any luck with deer, but I'm being hopeful for this year. I've only got effectively two weeks to hunt in deer season when I'm back on winter break from December 23 to January 7. Do you have any advice on hunting in Colliers Mills or maybe on hunting in the Assunpink? I'm gonna only be able to do shotgun until next season unfortunately, and with just those two weeks and four days for doe in November in the Assunpink I need all the help I can get to get a deer.
Well, for starters, it's good to know the area. I know it like the back of my hand due to all the summer walks I've taken in there and I have the chigger scars to prove it lol. I hate them damn things but in the end, I guess it's worth it hehe.
I use google earth to fine tune my strat. I have found that the deer love to bed in the swamps on Colliers Mills. Now what this means is that that is where the does are. when I sit on stand all day....they will be in and out of that swamp almost every 2 hours. So the key is to find a swamp...but one that has acorn trees right next to it. CMWMA is huge...25,000+ acres. So you have room to get away from the rest of the hunters. My advice is to go deep. Use a GPS so you don't get lost....that's what I do especially when tracking a downed deer.
to give you any kind of specific advice, I'd need to know when you plan to hunt. If it's during the rut...anywhere near a swamp where the does are bedding is perfect. If it's during gun season...l.then you need to hunt the power lines near the Jackson Township border side of Colliers Mills. The deer will be pressured to move out and you'll catch a hundred deer that opening morning looking to get out of the way and make it back to the swamps....but they have to cross the power lines to do so. After that, it's get deep in cover near a good food source like acorns. Use some estrous scent sparingly and use some calls wisely...less is more.
Winter bow is very productive there as well. Find a food source, again, acorns, and you are good to go. If it's close to a swamp bedding area...even better yet.
Damn, GPS is something I don't have money for. I've got maybe a couple hundred dollars in my bank account now and no more until the second week of fall break... then maybe I'll take a job at school and brave the extremely low pay so I don't have to work over winter break and just hunt. So I've gotta go to the power lines near Jackson Township, and then to go way back in there and hunt near acorns.
This is why I want to transfer to a community or at least a college near my house. I haven't been in Collier's Mills since last hunting season except for a trip to the shotgun range to shoot clays over the summer. I hope this applies to the Assunpink, cause I fully intend to be in the woods there in thirteen days and seven hours! Maybe I'll go do some small game in Colliers Mills over fall break and see if I can find any good spots for later in the winter.
And if you do any shotgun and would like someone to tag along and cover extra range, not only am I good at being quiet and patient, but I won't think twice about taking your deer out and helping you butcher it! I will work for food!
Damn, GPS is something I don't have money for. I've got maybe a couple hundred dollars in my bank account now and no more until the second week of fall break... then maybe I'll take a job at school and brave the extremely low pay so I don't have to work over winter break and just hunt. So I've gotta go to the power lines near Jackson Township, and then to go way back in there and hunt near acorns.
This is why I want to transfer to a community or at least a college near my house. I haven't been in Collier's Mills since last hunting season except for a trip to the shotgun range to shoot clays over the summer. I hope this applies to the Assunpink, cause I fully intend to be in the woods there in thirteen days and seven hours! Maybe I'll go do some small game in Colliers Mills over fall break and see if I can find any good spots for later in the winter.
And if you do any shotgun and would like someone to tag along and cover extra range, not only am I good at being quiet and patient, but I won't think twice about taking your deer out and helping you butcher it! I will work for food!
GPS replacement....use trail markers of toilet paper or the reflective thumbtacks.
Really though, you need to use Google Earth to understand how Colliers Mills is laid out. Do you have it loaded up on your comp? I can give you grid coordinates for good places on Colliers Mills. and no...you need to hunt right on the edge of the power lines so you can see the deer crossing....but you need to do it on the Jackson Twp side as that is the escape side.
I've got the topographic map of Colliers Mills from the Dept of Fish and Wildlife loaded up right now, as well as Google Local. I'm looking at the power lines right now, and am I right in thinking it would be a good place to set up where this stream crosses the power lines about two miles east of where the lines cross Hawkin Rd? I'm really banking on what I know about fishing, but it seems like intersecting structures would be a good place to look for anything. Whether it be bass, deer, or that twenty dollar bill I lost the other day! But I'm a novice at this, so pictures or coordinates would be appreciated.
just an FYI. you don't need to buy topos anymore...if you download and install NASA's World Wind program...all the same topos from the good ole USGS are on there as a layer.
But you are on the right path as far as the power lines go. Look for those places along the power lines where there are connectors....big hint....swamps!!!!!!
But what I also want you to concentrate on is the layout of Colliers Mills as a whole....look a the big pic and tell me what you see.
I need to go and do some fragging in Battlefield 2 but I'll be back tomorrow with more answers if you can't see the big picture on your own.
Nifty. I'm gonna get Battlefield 2 eventually, once a certain WWII realism mod comes out for it. Will continue studying these maps, and maybe finishing my calc homework! Okay, I lied about the calc homework, that ain't gonna get done for a while!
NJ Rut: Not here yet lol
