I too live in the Champlain Islands and have hunted Vermont, NY, NH and Maine. Not much in the way of shooting house over food plot type hunting in the northern states. Best results are by still hunting large tracts of land in the snow. My camp is in the northern region of Vt and hunter activity on state lands is minimal. Stay away from the population centers and you will have good luck getting permission to hunt private land. The turkey hunting is just incredible with probably some of the best hunting in the US here in Vermont. They are everywhere and many farmers do consider them pests so getting permission is usually easy for the birds. Good luck and Burlington is a great city right on Lake Champlain which has great fishing. Quality of life right here in the Green Mountain State.