jf5

Gerat deer there WMH....you saw my 2005 buck already on the other thread. The rest of my MA deer pics I do not have scanned, but they where taken years ago.

I like your pics especially, since you hunt west MA like me.

My buddy did take a small 6pt and a doe in Richmond, MA in 2002, and a BB in 2003. But sorry, no digi pics.

Western MA Hunter

Gotta love seeing any MA deer pics... esp. Western...

ntcbassman

question about western mass hunting... why is the deer population lower in western mass??? i would think it would be higher than "back east".

any thoughts?

jf5

My opinion, habitat is the biggest problem. Less and less farms and edge coverout west and the forests just get more and more mature. There is some logging going on in some areas so that will help. But most public lands, epsecially state parksare past prime deer habitat, so deerdesnities get lower.

Winters are also allot harsher than compared to eastern MA. Colder and longer, plus more snow usually. And if there is no browse near the yarding areas that cuts them down. Add crust to the deep snow and you geta coyote feed fest.

Its funny too..back in the day most deer hunters drove west to hunt the Berks or CT river valley. You had a hard time getting a hotel room the night before opening day of gun season! Not anymore...

there are still some great areas with good amounts of deer, especially in zone 3, but allot of it is private.

East, MAhas allot of edge cover and milder winters. Really helps with deer density. problem is getting a sizable area to gun hunt that isn't pounded.

ntcbassman

sounds logicial. thanks jay

Western MA Hunter

Great points JF5... I also think that Easten MA got left alone for awhile when everyone was hunting out here.
Remember when there were rows of cars parked up on October & Beartown Mtn?!? It was a sea of orange.
Southern Berkshire has a great dee population, but the "city folk" have moved out and bought up and posted most of the land. It takes and act of congress to get permission ... or the "caretaker" hunts it.

jf5

WMH is right. Eastern MA high densitydeer herd is relatively"new".


Ahh, the orange army days...remember them bigtime...we used to get up extra early to beat the other guys in. Forget scrapes and rubs. We would set up ambush points on escape routesheading into swamp or towards posted lands and get them. By 11am openign day...if you didn't have your deer down, your chancesdeclinedgreatly. I gotthree deer in my first four seasons that way.

But all that said, I loke it better now. So much less pressure...and I can hunt all season and have just as good a chnace as opening day. I can track and still hunt and see few other hunters...

jf5

yeah, thats a mature deer. Well done..not easy to hunt Savoy

gmil6184

Great deer pics everyone and i like the attitude that they are all trophys. I'm originally from Upstate NY (south of Utica) and i have moved to Springfield MA to attend law school. I would love to find a place fairly close to springfield to hunt. I usually go home on weekends once the season rolls around but going back and forth kills me on gas and as a student i'm perpetually broke haha. There was a hunting club near by that i was thinking about joining but it was like 100 bucks a year for membership which was a little pricey for me. Anyways i just wanted to say nice pics and any suggestions are welcome and appreciated

Horizontal Hunter

Gmil,

You could try the WMA's for a start. I live just outside of Springfield and I tend to hunt the WMA's and Connecticut. Here is the link:

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/dfwlnd.htm#ACQ

Bob