Great MA Gun Opener
 

Me and two other guys were out for the MA gun opener yesterday and we all scored bucks. I took a 150 lb mature buck at 7:50am and one of the other guys took a 100lb button buck at 8:10am. Third guy got a mature buck later in the day in the 150lb. range. Deer were very active with a total of 14 deer sighted.

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

I should have also added that the buck I took was fighting with two others over three does just before I took him and the buck taken later in the day was tending two does as well with a larger buck so the rut is either late or it's already post-rut with the last does decoming ripe but either way look for the does and you'll find the bucks.

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

There was 6 of us in my group and we took 8 deer in the last two days. 5 does and 3 bucks. My friend Mike shot a nice 8 pointer. I put some pictures up on my website at the link below.
We got about 5 inches of snow last night down here in zone 11.
We had a blast tracking them in the snow today.
http://www.bassfishingcapecod.com/02gunseason.htm

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

tommac or reddawn, what type of land are you hunting? is it private or public hunting? Im from boston an im looking to do some muzzleload hunting this year, first time in mass, any spots or areas you guys know that i can hunt? im not asking for your hunting spot, but just a little help on where i should consider looking at to get started. ive been hunting northern n.h for the last 13yrs with very little success at all,and would like to try my luck in mass...any help would be greatly appr. congrats on taken your deer men, great job!! thanks again, buckless ===========

bill surette

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

Bill,
I hunt private land only with permission and it's tough to get permission in my area. I suggest you go out to western mass in the Berkshires or Pittsfield area where there's much more open land with public access however you can only harvest bucks without a doe tag for the zone you're hunting. Good luck

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

I also hunt only private land with written permission only. I even have to leave my signed permission slip on the windshield of my truck.
The WMA'a in the area have some great hunting though. I'd suggest looking into Haskell Swamp WMA in Rochester/Marion. It is a little known WMA with lots of deer. If you are 100% sure you're heading down this way for muzzleloader season email me and i'll point you in the right direction. I usually hunt alone anyway, maybe i'll even hunt with you.
Matt

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

Hunted Zone 3 in the Berkshires Mon-Wed. Me and 1 buddy saw a total of 11 does and 3 bucks. My buddy got a small doe, and a small 6 pt buck. I am still deerless. We are hunting public land, but accessing through private land.

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

glad to hear you guys did well this season. however, this may be the beginning of the end for hunting in your state if you aren't careful.

check out what the antis are now trying to doing on Cape Cod.
US Sportsmen's Alliance

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

sometimes i wonder why i even pay the $$ to buy these licenses in MA.
my buddy took 2 deer so far and i let 5 does and 2 small bucks go by me today.they sure look like dogs.

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
sometimes i wonder why i even pay the $$ to buy these licenses in MA.
my buddy took 2 deer so far and i let 5 does and 2 small bucks go by me today.they sure look like dogs.


<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote> Try hunting areas of MA with the lower deer density and you will see bigger bodied deer. If you only hunt SE MA, almost all the deer will be smaller body wise since there are so many deer on limited resources.

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

Hunted the western edge of zone 5, spent 6 days in the woods. There was deer sign everywhere in the area I hunt. Chased a very large 8 point for the whole 6 days. Only saw 1 other hunter the whole week( helped to drag his nice 4 point out of the woods). I am hunting public land and had a great experiance.

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
I am hunting public land and had a great experiance.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>

Yeah, the past couple of years I have seen a dramatic change on MA's public lands. We have less hunters now, and they are much more spread out due to the easterly expansion of the herd. Hell, I saw a doe yesterday at the intersection of the Mass Pike and RT95. This is a mere 7 or so miles from the Boston border! I hunted public land in 1999 for a week in zone 4S, and never saw another hunter. Things are only gonna get better here deer wise.

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

jf5...


the problem is not knowing where to hunt. it gets kinda depressing almost when i try to hunt and they are either posted or new developments are poppign up. my father and my grandfather used to hunt out in the berkshires from the 60's on. they say they land they used to hunt is all posted and finding new places are hard. especially whne i hunt the weekends only ( spend my vacations in maine rifle season ).
i think i will get into bow since alot more people would rather have you bow hunt than use a shotgu near there house.

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

Hey Quilly, I thought you hunted in Maine.

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

Hi Quilly,

Certainly more and more land is posted, thats a problem in every state. However, since eastern MA has gotten alot of deer and attention lately, you would be surprised at how some of the states existing public lands in the Berkshires are getting alot less attention. Also to mention is the fact that hunter numbers are way down in our state from just 10 years ago. I currently hunt public land (State Park) in zone3, although our access is through private land. I hunted Mon-Wed and never saw another vest of orange except my buddy. Sure, there are some guys hunting there, but not the hordes that you would have had in the past. We saw deer browsing and acting natural rather than running scared, which was refreshing.

I know that Zone 4S's public lands are getting very little pressure right now. This zone is NOT known for high density deer these days, and I feel thats the reason why. But, there is alot of land, and the deer average a bit heavier than the other parts of the state with higher densities.

Every year, MA F & W buys more land for WMA's and the DEM are also buying up lands. This is allowing new public lands to be opened up. Some of which may be worth investigating.

If your passing on small bucks in MA (wish I had your problem), you certainly must be a good hunter. Take a walk out in the snows post season out west and you can see what I mean.

Off course, almost any deer anywhere seems like dogs when compared to Maine's big bodied bucks.

PS Thanks for the links and good luck.

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

barnesX..

i do hunt in maine and spend 99% of my time scouting and hunting in maine. but the 1% i spend on the weekends down here in my state.

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

I gotcha'. I do almost all of my hunting upstate in the mountains but, maybe one day a year, I'll hunt public land in SE Penna. It's usually because I can't get away (work or family obligations). We've been trying for a Maine moose permit for years. Maybe some day I'll get up to Maine. My dad went bear hunting up there once many moons ago. Nice country, he said.

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

I can't agree with you on no place to hunt in the western ma. area, there has to be well over 1000 acres in the area that I hunt and the amount of posted land is less than 5 acres. If you go out and do some looking in the summer early fall time frame you can find plenty of places to hunt with no company. I do agree that the access in the eastern part of the state can be problematic( I grew up in Marlboro) but with all the attention being put out east the last few years the deer herd in this area has really started to rebound. Hoping for some more snow tonight gotta chase that 8 point some more.

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

sluggunner..


i work in the HVAC trade and that is or buissest part of the year. he ( my father ) has not ben out there since the 80's. i used to go out there with them during fly fishing for brookies and rainbows out near springfield.but that land is all posted now. could you give me acouple towns for example so i can have a rough idea where to look for land.
but like i said before. i spend 99% of my time in maine so i don't have that much time to hunt down here. i guess you can say with only hunting the weekends i will not really put the effore to drive over an hour to scout that i will hunt 4 times in the season.

barnesX 308.

i just read they are dropping the tags in maine for moose hunting. from 3,000 and some change to 2,585. but they will expand the areas to hunt moose. i see a ton every year in the southern and middle part of maine every year. i also got a buddy and his fatehr who have been living in maine for 30 years and no luck for them

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

Quilly

Try the Northfield/Erving area. There is a lot of non utilized land in the state forests. 98% of the land abuts private land that is not posted. Had 7 inches of snow yesterday, darn had to work. Heading out this afternoon all day tommorow.

sluggunner

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

I hunt zone 11 yesterday I had 3 does and a fawn come within 60 yards of my stand. A nice buck came out behind them. Two of the does, and the buck were big bodied. My stand should have been placed a little closer to the trail, I had a nice broadside shot at the buck, took the shot, and hit a sapling in front of him that I could not see at that distance. The funny thing is after the shot the deer moved about 50 yards or so into some thick stuff, and then hung around for about 15 more minutes. Later in the day I jumped 3 more deer around 4pm. Today got rained on bad, jumped one, could not get a shot. All of the deer I have seen in 11 with the exception of a couple of fawns have been large in body size.

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

Hunted Zone 3 again all day friday, and the afternoon on saturday. No sightings. No deer for me this year.

From all reports statewide, it looks like this is gonna be one of the top years for the shotgun kill. I have heard good things from most of the zones. The snow was such a big factor in patterning and seeing the deer. Hope the winter isn't too harsh, so we can have another good one next year.

Good luck to you muzzy folks. I would be out there but obligations are just that.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all.

RE: Great MA Gun Opener
 

Spent the afternoon Friday in the woods, kinda crunchy however if you walked a little and looked alot the deer where out there. Took a 123 lb doe out of the woods that night. Headed out saturday kinda rainy and wet however the snow had softened up from the rain and the woods were much quieter jumped that nice buck behind my house(again!!). Heard my neighbor take a shot about 20 min. later, you guessed it he got the buck I had been chasing all season. Nice deer 9pt. 187 lb pretty good inside spread. Good luck to all the muzzleloaders.


Sluggunner