BOWHUNTERCOP

ANYONE HERE HUNT OR HAS HUNTED ZONE#4 IN NEW JERSEY? IF SO, HOW WAS THE 2002 SEASON FOR YOU, OR SEASONS IN THE PAST? WHAT DID YOU SEE, SIZE OF BUCKS, NUMBER OF BUCKS, DOES, BEARS?

THE SEASON OF 2001, AND 2002, WAS A SLOW LONG SEASON FOR ME, AND MY FRIENDS WHO HUNTED WITH ME. 2002, I SAW ONE GOOD BUCK DURING ARCHERY SEASON , BUT NOT MANY DEER AT ALL, 5 BEARS, LOTS OF TURKIES, DURING OPENING DAY OF MUZZLELOADER SEASON MY FRIEND SAW A NICE 8 POINTER, A WEEK LATER DURING SHOTGUN SEASON MYSELF AND ANOTHER FRIEND SAW THE SAME 8 POINTER WITH A NICE 6 POINTER A 5 DOES, BUT NOT EVEN CLOSE TO SHOTGUN RANGE.

SEASON 2000 WAS MY BEST EVER, I SAW MORE BUCKS, AND SOME WERE BIG, BUT MOST WERE AVERGE 4 POINTERS, PLENTY OF DOES, TURKIES, AND BEARS.
FROM MY 1ST YEAR HUNTING ZONE#4 SEASON OF 1997 THRU 2000 IT WAS JUST GREAT, THEN, FROM 2001 TO THE PRESENT THIS AREA HAS DRIED UP, I MEAN IM LUCKY TO SEE A DEER. HOPE TO HEAR FROM OTHERS WHO EXPERIENCD ZONE#4, AND HEAR YOUR STORIES....GOOD LUCK TO EACH OF YOU

Broadhead88

I read all about your Zone 4 frustrations last year and am glad to see that you weathered the storm. As you may know, I hunt Zone 2 but on private land. 2002 was arguably the WORST season ever for the quality and numbers of deer seen. The average buck was a spindly 3 or 4pt and you were lucky to see a decent 6 pt. The surrounding clubs have been hammering away during the previous Jan hunts and have effectively ruined the chances of many decent bucks surviving. I actually did not shoot a buck as I was trying to be selective. I had numerous opptys at spikes/3pts/etc but opted to hold out. WIth my son being born on Dec 6th I was essentially done for the season.

2003 brings earn a buck to Zone 2 so who the heck knows. In addition, the Jan slaughter continues with additional days!!

Went up there on May 2nd and shot a beautiful gobbler. I found 2 dead yearlings and actually found a shed. However, the browse lines were evident and I believe that there was some winter kill in Zones 1, 2, 3, and 4. Development seems to have picked up a little in the area as some new homes are being thrown in across from our club. We used to hunt there but were thrown off last year ocne the new owner took over.

Well---hopefully things will start looking up in NJ but I almost feel that the walls are closing in. Maybe I' m just getting older but the situation seems to be getting much worse each year.

NJ_Bowhntr

Well, I don' t hunt zone 4, but I know how you guy' s feel. We have had several seasons where the deer have seemed to disappear now. Our deer densities are even lower in the southern part of the state than they are up north, so I know what your talking about. I don' t know what it will take for the state to cut it way back to where it was 10 years ago, but that is what we need. The deer kill has dropped off dramatically over the last few seasons, and they have been increasing the seasons and bag limits, so it' s not because of less opportunity. It is definately because of less deer, they just don' t want to admit it.

Stealthy_Bowman

The truth is that NJF&W just doesn' t care. Basically the insurance companies seem to be calling the shots and the slaughter is not going to stop until deer have become truly rare in NJ and deer/car collisions are reduced to less than 100 annually.
I don' t see a light at the end of the tunnel, I really don' t. Th days of superb deer hunting that we had in the late 80s early 90s are long gone and I don' t think they will ever be coming back to NJ.

Deleted User

[Deleted by Admins]

Stealthy_Bowman

You hit the nail on the head SJhunter. The state has absolutely NO idea what the deer numbers are.

BOWHUNTERCOP

WELL IN ZONE#4 THE DEER NUMBERS PER SQUARE MILE ARE ALWAYS LOWER THEN OTHER PARTS OF STATE, EVEN IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS OF THE 1980' S, AND EARLY 1990' S. ALSO " NJFG&W" ALWAYS HAD A LIMITED HARVEST FOR EACH SEASON, FOR EXAMPLE:

FALL BOW: 1 BUCK ONLY, REST OF THE STATE WAS 2 DEER EITHER SEX

PERMIT BOW: 2 DEER EITHER SEX, REST OF THE STATE 2 DEER EITHER SEX OR UNLIMITED ANTLERLESS DEER

MUZZLELOADER: 2 DEER EITHER SEX, WITH LIMITED DAYS, REST OF THE STATE 2 DEER EITHER SEX, WITH PLENTY OF DAYS TO HUNT

SHOTGUN SEASON: SAME AS THE REST OF THE STATE 2 BUCKS

PERMIT SHOTGUN: 1 DEER EITHER SEX, 1 DAY HUNT, REST OF THE STATE 2 DEER EITHER SEX, OR UNLIMITED ANTLERLESS DEER, WITH MORE THEN PLENTY OF DAYS TO HUNT, INCLUDING HUNTS TILL MID FEBUARY

WINTER BOW: 2 DEER EITHER SEX ENDED ON JANUARY 31, REST OF STATE THE SAME

ZONE#4 NEVER HAD MORE THEN 1 DAY PERMIT SHOTGUN, NEVER HAD DEER SEASON PAST JANUARY 31, WITH THIS LIMITED AMOUNT OF HUNTING COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE STATE, I SHOULD STILL BE SEEING THE NUMBER OF DEER I SEEN FROM 1997 THRU 2000 WHICH WOULD BE AN AVERGE OF 25 DEER PER DAY. FROM 2001 THRU THE PRESENT I AVERGE 3 DEER PER DAY, MAKES NO SENSE TO ME, JUST THINK " NJFG&W" HAVE NO REAL CLUE AS FAR AS THE NUMBER OF DEER WITHIN THE STATE OR WITHIN THE DEER ZONES, ITS TIME TO GO BACK TO THE OLD HARVEST/SEASON WE HAD, OR MAYBE MAP OUT NEW ZONES.

NJ_Bowhntr

Bowhunter cop, I have never seen 25 deer per day here in Salem, Gloucester or Cumberland counties. In fact, our deer population is about half that. We are at about 10 to 15 deer per square mile. So, what you guy' s consider just so-so hunting now was an outstanding day here. Count your blessings. I' d be happy to see just 4 or 5 deer per sit. But that is a stretch now-a-days.

CatskillHuntr

Here' s a novel idea!!!

Just because your state allows you to shoot up to 16 or so deer, dosn' t mean you have to!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe all you NJ hunters should put a limit on yourselves. I always see guys putting up posts like, " Hey I got 6 this year, or Hey I shot me 4 does and 3 bucks, and the club down the road got 12!"

Whats the point? I' m a hunter just like the rest of you. But the idea of harvesting so many is a waste. Be selective! Get your big buck, and a doe to help the herd strengthen. But to take 5-6 or more is crazy.

Let the state make these crazy rules....dosn' t mean you have to follow up on them.

Its a reasonable idea, but impossible to accomplish!

BOWHUNTERCOP

CATSKILL, I AGREE WITH 100%, I HUNT FOR BUCKS ONLY FOR THE FACT I DON' T SEE THE NUMBER OF DEER I ONCE DID, IF I HAVEN' T GOTTON A DEER BY THE TIME OUR MUZZLELOADER OR SHOTGUN EITHER SEX SEASON COMES, THEN I JUST MAY HARVEST A ANTLERLESS DEER. SINCE NJ STARTED THIS UNLIMITED ANTLERLESS CRAP, ALL I SEE IS NUMEROUS DEER ON TRUCKS. SEEING THAT AS A HUNTER MAKES ME FEEL SICK, JUST IMAGINE WHAT THE ANTI-HUNTERS THINK, AND USE FOR THERE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE SPORT OF HUNTING. THERE WAS A TIME, WHEN I WOULD TAKE A DOE WITHOUT EVEN THINKING TWICE, BUT AS I GET OLDER & WISER I WOULD RATHER WAIT AND HAVE A CHANCE A NICE SIZE BUCK, OR GO HOME WITH MY MEMORIES. SO LET THE STATE OF NJ PLAY THERE GAME OF UNLIMITED ANTLERLESS DEER, EARN A BUCK PROGRAM, ITS ALL ABOUT THE " $$$$$" IF YOU GET 1 DEER OF EITHER SEX THATS GREAT, YOU HAVE MEAT, IF YOU DON' T GET A DEER BIG DEAL, THERE IS ALWAYS NEXT YEAR, AND THAT SMALL BUCK JUST MAYBE BIGGER AND STILL IN YOUR AREA!!!!