Some very good advice given...especially from VT Ridges and MA Jay. This area (in NH) is very typical of hunting New England, especially Maine, VT and NH. I also hunt Maine and find the same type of woods (but much wetter and thicker) and the game plan is the same. If you have the luxury of knowing the area, you have a trump card to play but if it's completely new to you, a lot of time spent in the woods in necessary.

I tip my hat to those who can consistently shoot deer here. We (3 sons and a friend)have been very successful in the past becausewe are very focused and dedicated. We hunt dark 'til dark and usually from treestands. A lot of time spent in the deer woodshelps indeed. Unfortunately with the light hunting pressure, we are, for the most part, the only guys hunting these woods and having other hunters move thedeer around is usually not to be found. Last year we got three bucks out of four hunters and could have all tagged if one son had not passed early on a doe during M/L season.

When we saw bucks they did not offer that good shot, when we saw does, it was bucks only season....MA Jay saw 57 deer within bow range, (I didn't know there were 57 deer in NH )...we saw an average ofabout 10-15 deer per hunter during the entirebow and firearm seasons. We usually tag about3-4 deer per year out of the 5 of us, (incl bow season) sometimes only2 sometimes all 5 tag. Those numbers could be higher if we didn't let deer walk early in the season. Those numbers don't sound bad, especially hunting in low deer area but the number of hunting hours is quite large. Luck surely plays a part in being successful,but time spent in the woods is crucial.

Since most of these woods have been untouched, past history has tought us where the deer like to go under different weather conditions and times of the season. That's what we have going for us, but the advice given on this thread will be taken to heart. It would nice to get into deer early and often and although we have put in the time, that has never been the case.

Any additional thoughts would be appreciated and again thanks for the time to respond........Jimmy