ORIGINAL: Champlain Islander
ORIGINAL: jf5
ORIGINAL: Champlain Islander
Road trip to hunt the big woods of Northern New England....I'll do it Doc. The only road trip will be yours thoughsince I already live here and hunt those big woods in all 3 states. It is real difficult hunting when you compare it to the TV shows all taped on canned hunting places in the mid west. We have some real slammer bucks but they are wild mountain deer that rarely make a mistake. No food plots with elevated stands here. Just miles upon miles of swamps, ridges and high peaks. Our only advantage comes with snow and the rut. The reason why there aren't any taped shows coming from these parts is that it would take a lifetime for them to get a decent kill on tape.
Well said, as a NE hunter I know.
The hunting on the Champ islandsseems a little better than most VT per the harvest reports. I hope you aer able to tap some of that.
The hunting is really something here in the Champlain Islands but I rarely hunt here even though I do live here year round. I prefer bigger woods and mountains like in the NE Kingdom or maine and Northern NH. The Islands area is comprised of flat farm land with small woods and ag type fields. Lots of posted land and not a place where a hunter who really likes tracking and still hunting can enjoy himself. The deer here are large and well fed due to the feed and milder winters than those areas in the rest of the state, but don't usually see their 3rd birthday due to the pressure.
I knowthe CI's are posted and pressured bad. I talked to a landowner in Alburg and he said the pressure was crazy and they always had people tresspassing, etc. I know its not the islands but damn close.
As for your desire to hunt the big woods, I completely understand. Here in MA I hunt western hills. Deer density can be very,very low, but I love the fact that I can still hunt for miles and not cut other hunters tracks, and while you work damn hard just to see any deer,we do have mature deer around to hunt.