buckmaster_27

does anybody hunt zone 21 in n.j???

Airborneguy

Yes, actually today I did. what are you looking to know?

buckmaster_27

coming down for the late bow season........its are first year going down.how is the deer herd?i hear it great.just looking for some input.thanks

liquidorange

unless you have to hunt zone 21 (the pine barrens) i would look elsewhere.i spent many days in that zone and finding tracks was tough. the deer are way down this year. the northern zones are better. if your traveling far look at zone 8 or 5.

Airborneguy

I have to disagree. I hunt Double Trouble State Park almost every week during bow season, and I saw tracks, including clear as day buck tracks, every time I went out. I only saw three does this year, yesterday, but last year I saw tons of deer. The secret to the Pine Barrens is going deep. It's all flat, so there's really no funnels or anything like that. You have to hunt food sources, water, or rubs/scrapes, or find areas where the vegetation changes and catch them moving from one source of cover to another.Theyseem to like tocruise the dirt roads a lot.You can also bait if you have time to prepare that.

When are you coming down? Maybe we can hook up. I know I'll be out there, hopefully with some snow. If you are hunting without someone who has scouted, you probably won't have any success. There are a lot of deer in Jersey, but that area has a TON of land, so they are spread out pretty good. Try Double Trouble if you can. I haven't taken a deer there yet, but they are plentiful and I am fairly new to bowhunting, so I'm not too down yet. Yesterday was shotgun, but buck only, so I couldn't take a shot.

buckmaster_27

we'll be down on thurs jan 11 thru sat the 13th.

Airborneguy

Hunting where? There is a lot of land in 21.

liquidorange

airborne i have to double disagree. i have hunted zone 21 for 30 years. never seen a year like this. i hunted fort dix this year muzzleloader (a whole week) which is just down the road and same thing. tracks were few and the kill was down. i wrote the book on going in deep. there are funnels and key feed areas in the pines if you look. i have hunted probably over 20 days including staying in all day during the rut. i predict the deer kill will be way down in 21. i dont know why but there are deer but not in good numbers this year. on the other hand i hunted stoke forests up north and saw over 20 deer in one day. as far as winter bow in zone 21 if you bait regularly they will come in a string of 6 or 7 like clockwork every evening. especially if its cold and gets them herded up. look at the numbers of deer killed in zone 8 and zone 5. if your traveling from another state i wouldnt bother with the pines but good luck with whatever you do

Airborneguy

I guess I am just lucky then. Tracks and deer all over Double Troubleeverytime I went there this year, although I had more actual deer sightings there last year. Took a spike and a doe on opening dayat Ft.Dix with the muzzleloader on Nov 7th. I saweasily 30 deer that day at Dix, had to stand up and use my binoculars to check body sizes to figure out which to shoot. Have not baited either spot. I hear Colliers Mills is dead this year, and something-mountain (can't remember the whole name), but there are DEFINATELY deer all over Double Trouble. I found 3 fresh scrapes on monday, THOUSANDS of tracks, and saw 3 doe, and for me, that was a slow day down there. I acutally left early because I was bored. Hell, I even saw my first squirrel down there monday. In 3 years, I never saw one there before!

liquidorange

airborne- fort dix is supposed to be 3 point rule. they didnt suspend your hunt privilage? according to the rules there i read i thought thats what they do. if your hunting the special containment area i can understand why youve seen a bunch of deer. you need special permission to hunt in there and i was told you cant even gut your deer in that area. i have hunted the early muzzleloader in fort dix since they started it about 11 years ago. i did see a spike a 4 point and a couple does all week. i sat the whole day every day except for wednesday. i am by no means a trophy hunter but i feel if your allowed to hunt the best week out of the year for the rut with a gun (muzzleloader) i let all does and small bucks pass .im not pushing my way of hunting on you but i can shoot a doe any other time. i walked the roads in dix looking for tracks and it was the same as zone 21. anyway i think its fun to talk up all the stuff that goes on during a season. i hope im wrong about the numbers but this season in those areas just werent like any other ive seen and im actually worried .i could have killed deer in those zones but it just isint like years before. see you in the woods!