Quabbin Deer Hunt
 

Anyone out there get pulled for the Quabbin Deer Hunt?

RE: Quabbin Deer Hunt
 

a what?


i guess its implied that my answer is no

RE: Quabbin Deer Hunt
 

sure did forpresscott, going there on the 8-9,they only let that area open for scouting 2 days only which was 26-27, went there was alot of good sign that i seen , two huge scrapes 50 yards apart just fresh cause the snow we had ,hoppfully no onme will be there opening morning but we had to back-up areas with some good sign ;)

sorry tj its a control hunt that stated in i think 10years ago they have a lottery and they have diffrent zones , and you put in for it 2-6 people on a application if one of your person number pick all on the appliction get to go, they started out with 50-60 deer per. sq, mile know its like 7-15 but its only a 2 day hunt and theres some big deer in there;)

RE: Quabbin Deer Hunt
 

I got pulled for Hardwick which is open for Dec. 1st and 2nd. Went in both scouting days and saw lots of tracks but they were old, snow had partially filled them in. Right before the 1 pm deadline on Sunday I found a spot with rubs, scrapes, fresh droppings and fresh tracks like you wouldn't believe.

I never hunted Prescott but my dad did a couple times and he always hunted the southern most tip of the peninsula. The last time he was in there he shot a nice 8-point that he got mounted. The last time he was in Hardwick he shot a nice 8-point too.

TJ, the Quabbin Deer Hunt is a deer hunt put on by the Mass. Dept. Conservation and Recreation to manage the deer herd in the Quabbin Reservior. Other than the days it is open to deer hunting, it is shut down except for fishing and people take their nature walks there.

RE: Quabbin Deer Hunt
 

The numbers Jamie is talking about is the numbers on your Mass. hunting or sporting license.

The deer rarely ever see people.

It is fun going in there to scout because of the off-roading. Since there are just logging roads in there, they are one-lane roads so be sure you don't get stuck pulling off to the side to let somebody by.

That spot I was talking about, footprints of other guys that were in the area veered off in another direction before I hit the hot spot. And it was so close to the 1 pm checkout deadline that I doubt anyone got a chance to look in there after I left. My brother was in there looking around too and he said he found where the deer were bedding. So if their patterns don't change, there should be several deer in the back of the truck tomorrow.

RE: Quabbin Deer Hunt
 

djgj, good luck i hope you guys take out a biggin , let us know how you make out;)

RE: Quabbin Deer Hunt
 

I MISSED A MONSTER BUCK!!!!!

I still have yet to bag my first deer and to think my first deer could have been the dream buck of most deer hunters if not all deer hunters.

I thought the buck would have winded me with the direction the wind was blowing. He never did. He stopped briefly twice to look around. The first time he stopped I couldn't get a shot with branches and small trees in the way. The second time he stopped was about 60-70 yds. quartering away and I had a very small lane between two trees. I had my scope on the lowest power, 1.5, and centered the cross hairs as best I could, since this was off-hand, on the visible part of the chest and let one rip. After some looking around I found that the slug skinned a tree and no sign of the deer being hit.

I couldn't get a good look at exactly how many points he had because he had points all over the place, it looked like a wall of antler on this deer's head. From what I could tell, he looked like a main frame 10 or 12 point and I think I could see some kickers and his G2's looked to be about 10-12" long. This wasn't a thin rack either, his rack had lots of mass, not the widest of spreads but lots of mass.

That was the only deer I saw all day. This all happened around 12:30 today.

My dad said he saw a big doe. The only deer he saw. My mom and my brother left the woods at around 2 pm because if we shot a deer after that, we wouldn't be out in time for the 4 pm checkout. Maybe 5 minutes after they left, there were guys in there spots shooting the place up. When we were walking through there while they were shooting, we (me and my dad) could hear a deer walk near us but we couldn't see it because it was all pine tree saplings and couldn't see anything.

I don't know if I will go back tomorrow. If I do, I will let you know how it turned out.

Jamie, can't wait to hear your stories next week. Good luck and hopefully you will bag a biggun' like I saw today.

RE: Quabbin Deer Hunt
 

Went out for the second and last day today. Never saw a deer. There was plus or minus a total of 12 shots fired all day. I was the only one to fire a shot on my side of the swamp yesterday and today everybody and their family and friends was posted all around me today. I think they heard me say over the radio that it was a big buck and heard my dad tell my mom that I missed it so everyone tried to get a shot at him, idk. I thought I was going to get a second chance at that deer. Not a single shot was fired near me.

My dad seems to think that buck will die of old age since Hardwick will be closed next year. I just hope if I get pulled again next year, it better not be for New Salem. The state should shut down that block for 20 years. Two years ago they only shot 13 deer in there and I heard 18 last year.

Not a ton of deer were seen but what was seen was all said to be big deer. So although the Quabbin isn't filthy loaded with deer like it was 15 years ago, if you do get successful you will have a quality deer. That buck I shot at yesterday was a buck of a lifetime, I think my chance at another one of that magnitude will come from the Quabbin.

I would like to know the numbers for Petersham for this year to see if there are any deer left in there.

Good luck next week Jaimie. Prescott always seems to turn out pretty good numbers of deer taken which is a sign of good odds.

RE: Quabbin Deer Hunt
 

dj200...sorry to hear about that miss, you'll remember it for a long time...but that is what keeps hunters hunting!

I just got back from hunting the two days in Petersham. We ended up going 2 for 3 with a couple small deer. Overall, 330 hunters went in on Thursday and 200 went in on Friday. The kill will likely be between 30-35 deer. We were fortunate to get out two. They've done a good job knocking the deer herd down in there, but they are going to have a hard time attracting hunters in the future, I think, as populations are higher outside of the Reservoir. I went with two guys I met on a website with a bunch of New England hunters.... www.huntingchat.net . DL

RE: Quabbin Deer Hunt
 

Congrats DL. Some guys told me there were 205 guys in Hardwick Thursday, idk about how many guys yesterday.

There was little shooting Thursday and next to nothing yesterday, less than 15 shots all day and I bet half of them were at the same deer.

One guy that belongs to Nimrod in Holden tells me that the Quabbin Deer Hunt has wiped deer out as much as 10 miles from the borders of the Quabbin. He's an idiot anyway so who cares what he thinks.

I have no idea as to how many deer were taken out of Hardwick. The numbers are definitely down. This year was basically pathetic in my eyes. All these guys, all of these deer based on the sign and what the DCR is telling us and yet there was very little killed.

I might have seen you DL, I had to drive by the Petersham gate down 32A to get to the Hardwick gate.

I wont hold my breath for New Salem, they never kill a lot of deer to begin with. I just hope Prescott does alright. If there are as many deer as the DCR says, with these low kill rates there should be plenty of deer next year.