Honna

All I can say is hunt often but don't over hunt any area becuase white tails are smart animals and if you come in and out about the same time everynight they will pattern you and stay clear of that area.

zippy81

I understand not to overhunt one area, but how big of an area are we talking? Say I'm gonna hunt multiple times over 2 weeks, how far should I move every couple of hunts to keep the deer from patterning me?

NJ/PAbwhunter

Hey Pickerel. Where about in NJ do you live? When I moved here from PA it was difficult to learn the crazy NJ system and all the crazy permits, paperwork and licensing changes. Now hunting here for my 5th season I have a good handle on it. Let me know where you are located, where you go to school and so on. Maybe I can help you with some of the questions. Do you have a bow yet? Or are you just planning to shot gun hunt? My son is going to graduate college this spring, then next year he will be hunting with me for the first time in a while.
DW

Pickerel

I would do scouting, but unfortunately I haven't really been able to as I started early December last season, and this season I'm just jumping right in as soon as I'm home on break. I don't know if deer is open for shotgun when I'm home (November 18th-December 2nd), so if it isn't then I'll be able to scout some while I'm small game hunting. And yeah, I haven't even seen a live deer yet while I'm hunting. I don't know if this is because they are scenting or seeing me before I see them, or if it's the large quantity of horse riders, quadders, and others that usually come through and scare away anything there before something shows up. Last season I just did still hunting and a little stand or tree hunting. I'm good at being quiet though. I wear full camo, and if I can I like to take whatever blaze orange I have such as a cap and hang it in a tree above me where it would be more easily visible to hunters. I'll probably get some of my own cover scent or lure scent this season, but beside that I keep my hunting clothes stored in a trash bag full of leaves and dirt. As fire shotgun competency, I did some clay shooting over the summer, but that's the extent of my practice as my family does not own guns, shoot, or hunt, and I can only do any of this when friends can. Last season the two times I actually got a good shot at a squirrel and pheasant, I dropped them each with my first shot. I might have also taken another two pheasants, but I won't know as they went down in the vicinity of other hunters, and they will and have taken me and my friends birds. I'd prefer to avoid an argument when everyone's holding a loaded shotgun.


NJ/PAbwhunter

I'm going to college in Rochester, NY, but I have four weeks of breaks during hunting season. I do have a bow, a thirty-year old Bear compound. I haven't taken the bowhunting course yet, though, as with work over the summer and now college I have had very little time to practice. I did get my bow updated with a new cable, sight, rest, and hopefully some more things once I have more time to shoot it. I live in central Jersey, right outside Trenton, and last season I hunted in the Assunpink, Colliers Mills, and a few little pieces of land around New Egypt. This season I will probably just be doing shotgun unless I can get in lots of practice and jump on the last bowhunting class the state offers in November.

Bigwapitijohnny

FAIR CHASE is the only way to hunt. Also, I would avoid all of those hunting videos and shows on the outdoor channel. They are fun to watch, but realize that this is a final product of editing, and unfortunately, sometimes in ranches that are not fair chase. I made the mistake of buying the 'monster buck' videos when I first started hunting and found myself disappointed in the field when deer either didn't come in within 10 minutes of me sitting, or when the deer were not hugebucks. Luckily, I realized early on that a succesful hunt is not about who got the big one, but rather, the time spent in the field with the Creator,friends, and family. Getting the big one and the story behind that harvest is what it is all about...

Regards,

GS

Pickerel

Woohoo! I just was checking up just about everything regarding this year's Jersey season and the two WMAs I hunted last year, and I found out the one one of them is in is open for does November 20, 21, 22, and 24. Maybe I'll be able to get in some deer hunting in a couple weeks instead of just small game!

person

I dont know if the deer are in rut up there yet or not. I live in Missouri.. All i know to tell ya is sit on a trail or where you see deer... Look for rubs and scrapes and hunt HARD... If you see a doe during rut there will probally be a buck come by.. dont over hunt any areas... Sit down by some White Oak trees deer love white oaks

Pickerel

Earlier today when I was testing out a squirrel call in the forest on campus, I found a few fresh buck rubs next to one of the trails. Not sure exactly how that relates to the rut, but at least now I know there are bucks here.

person

The buck is marking its territory i think.. They do that to show other bucks that its their territory and i think they urinate on their rub after making it. Im not 100% sure on that one tho.. I'd say your best bet is to go get some doe-in-rut buck lure-or doe estrus and hunt rubs scrapes trails and around white oak trees. Can you only use shotguns up there? If so i'd either buy a blind or a self climbin tree stand some good brands of self climbers are summit and tree cat i got a tree cat and i love it

Pickerel

My friend has a climber, and another friend who has land I'm allowed to hunt on has a permanent stand set up on the edge of a cornfield. In other situations I either find a good brushy spot to take cover in, or some trees I can climb easily.