A Do it yourself Hunt?

[lpcjon2]

I am from New Jersey and I am looking for a CHEAP!!!!! do it yourself hunt for deer I have tents and all the gear and I love camping.Jersey is just not cutten it.I have three kids and a wife in school, finances are kinda tight.Any ideas are greatly appreciated I figure now is the time to start planning.

[IdahoCurt]

What state do you want to hunt in or how far are you wiling to travel?

[lpcjon2]

Would prefer to be able to drive. Can do from the Carolina's to Vermont and west as far as Missouri. it all depends on the type of deals available I do have some friends who would be interested in doing this as well.

[Gil Verwey]

Timothy we are from NJ and do DIY hunts in Ohio, Maine, Montana and Colorado. I see you are in Southern NJ. You may want to think about starting out right here in NJ. Now that we can bow hunt on Sundays in WMAs and private property you may want to consider starting out in Stokes State Forrest. There are great inexpensive camps right in Stokes State Forrest with 1,000s of acres to hunt. It is wooded hardwood mountains, not like the flat pinelands down south. We have a family tradition of going during gun season and I bow hunt winter bow there, stalking and still hunting. You can make long inexpensive weekend hunts. I would then recommend Ohio for a inexpensive DIY deer hunt.

Good luck
Gil  

There are big deer in NJ also. Look at the deer in velvet bottom right.
 

Here he is opening day of bow season.
 

Here are the two I was looking for this year.
 
 

[lpcjon2]

Gil,
I thought of hunting in Hunterdon county my friend hunted there and he has some nice racks.I will look into stokes that's a good place for me to start. Is there a lot of hunting pressure down my way we have Wharton sf and it is packed with people and hardly any deer anymore.

[Gil Verwey]

Timothy I am in Jackson NJ. I have a little farm there. All those bucks you see in those pictures live 90% of their lives on a heavily hunted WMA. I also have a house and lived in Whiting for 25 years nearer where you are. There is little to no pressure during bow, but during gun season all of these areas are hit with large deer drives by the gun clubs. The WMA where all those bucks live is driven hard during gun but there are big swamps. The older smart deer stay there and many survive the season.

Even during gun season there isn't that much pressure in Stokes (at least not like there used to be). I started bow and gun hunting in 1968 in NJ and there used to be much more pressure back then. If you do camp and hunt Stokes be aware that there are bear there and you have to camp accordingly. We rent wooden leantos. They have windows, a door and a wood burning stove. They can sleep 4 comfortably. They also have larger cabins and camp sites.

I hunted Hunterdon county for years and there used to be big bucks and a lot of deer. The deer in North Jersey have bigger bodies than the deer we get in the Pinelands. I used to hunt a private apple orchard. Now it was bought out by the state and is the Buckhorn WMA. One extended season there I counted 56 deer by 10:00. I stopped counting, it was getting annoying. That was 25 years ago. Now that Jersey has been so liberal with our seasons and taking does I am sure the herd density is much less these days.  

Keep your eyes on the Pow Wow and the NJ site here on Tradgang. Last year a bunch of Tradgang Jersey boys got together and still hunted Stokes together in winter bow. It would be a great way for you to get the lay of the land.  

Ooops accidentally broke the rules with this. I re read the rules and no non bow kill pictures. I deleted the picture.

[Friends call me Pac]

You said MO is as far west as you would care to go.  How about Arkansas?

Thousands of acres of public land with free camping.  5 day out of state license is $125 I believe.  That covers 4 deer, 1 bear, unlimited hogs and small game.

Don't let the public land worry you.  Most of it is bow only and believe it or not the best time to hunt public land here is during modern gun season.  The bow only public land will have very few hunters.

All I hunt is public land and so far this year i have not seen another hunter in the woods yet.  I've only had to share a entire campground only one time with other hunters this year.  They happened to be coon hunters.  We chatted over a cup of coffee.  They found out where I was hunting went out of their way to give me plenty of space.

If you decide to come this way I'll go along and help anyway I can.  I'm retired and have lots of time.

[vtmtnman]

Hands down Ohio.The slammers and amount of deer I saw there are bringing me back for bow season next year to hunt some UNpressured.I just returned from there sunday on a shotgun trip in Guernsey county.

I've hunted PA,NH,NY,VT,ME and none came close to deer #'s vs. buck size.PA was decent but the deer #'s aren't anywhere near OH's.

[lpcjon2]

Gil that's very very impressive I will definitely check Stokes out.vtmnman my brother in law is from Ohio and I had an invite from his clan they all shoot crossbows(but they are influenced by the booze)and they are a little to off the cuff for me.Pac I will talk to my friend that sounds like a good deal for $125.00 for five days.

[hvyhitter]

You might try a Sika deer hunt on the eastern shore of MD. Lots of public land and only a half day drive.

[lpcjon2]

hvyhitter I was in Chincoteague last year and was getting some info on that just waiting on my friend to commit to it.He has been hunting Delaware and takes the ferry over every other weekend.That's even cheaper than my own state.

[Gil Verwey]

Timothy we have been going to Ohio for the last 4 years. There are areas to camp, but the state park cottages are very reasonable. If you go with 4 guys, the cabin for a week will run about $225 per man. The cottages have everything in them, you only need to bring food and your hunting gear. Ohio welcomes hunters and they manage their deer herd very well. They allow one buck per year, no matter how you get it. Hunters are therefore more selective. That shows, because in the areas we hunt we see more bucks than does.

We hunt state land and have seen some monsters. The rut is the real deal out there, not like the trickle rut we get in NJ. Depending where you go will dictate how much hunting pressure the deer have and how many hunters you will see. Also we stay clear of areas where they have the special muzzle loader season.

You can shoot a big buck anywhere in Ohio. Ohio is a great whitetail hunt for a limited amount of money. The drive is reasonable from NJ also. In my first post about Stokes I mentioned Ohio as perhaps your next hunt.

Good luck
Gil

[lpcjon2]

I sent some emails to my buddy with a copy of your pics to get him moving on a commitment and a plan.I really appreciate all the info.

[Gil Verwey]

Timothy here is the last years winter bow thread and it looks like they started this years thread in the NJ Traditional Archers forum. You may want to think about contacting some of these guys.

Here is the 2008 thread.
  http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=35;t=000050;p=1  

Here is the 2009 thread.
  http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=35;t=000131

[Fishnhunt]

I was gonna post this on the 'Aoudad hunt outfitter thread'  but I'll just post here since its about as relevant...

Hey amigo.  Depends on how much of a self guided hunt you want and how much of a chance you want at seeing one.  If you want to rough it, camp in a parking lot, and hunt public land where its extremely rough and still have a chance to take aoudad or mouflon... then go to hunt area 5 in amistad NRA here in TX.  Forget all about that $4K guided hunt. If you want a $20 free range Aoudad hunt go to Amistad NRA.  

Amistad is run by the feds not the state.  Its on the west border of Tx where Tx and Mexico meet near del rio.  And the lake is BEAUTIFUL.  The bluest water in texas outside of the gulf of mexico IMO.

The terrain is fairly rough west texas esque….lots of cactus, mesquite, gaujillo, etc...everything will stick or spine you.  Very low treeline in most hunt spots esp. area 5.  You will be spot and stalk hunting or ambushing from brush blinds.  You can hunt turkey, feral hog, javies, deer, mouflon, aoudad, rabbit etc.   You are most likely to encounter the exotics in hunt area 5. Cost is $20 per person per season.  No drawing, you show up pay your $20 for the year and come back as much as youd like during the season roughly Oct - Feb . No 'check in' after the initial $20 permit purchase. No compartments, you roam wherever the hell you want.   No blaze orange req'd. Its WILD.  This is not Tx Parks and Wildlife, it’s a National Recreational Area.

Just drive to the entrance of the hunt area that you wanna hunt (4K total acres of huntable land - in 5 different lakeside blocks surrounding the lakeshore. Area 4 is accessible by boat only) and walk in on foot.  Bikes are allowed no motorized vehicles cept special needs.  For the big game its bow only no crossbows cept for special needs.  Crossbows used to be allowed in gen season at Amistad, that is no longer the case as of the current season.  No baiting whatsover.  If you are outta state there are some special restriction but very lenient IIRC.

Texans will poo-poo this place b/c its a hard hunt and lots of people (like myself) walk away empty handed.  And b/c there are some wild people that hunt there, people that will walk thru your spot, etc.  You gotta get back far into the areas where its isolated.   Its a very hard hunt and very rewarding just to get out there. I have loosed arrows there but never connected.  That’s what keeps me going back  

Texans will also $itch and moan about public land, yet we have 1 MILLION ACRES of public land to hunt here in the great state.  I have access to private but I occasionally hunt public, just not the type where you have drawings, set dates, compartments, check ins, all that jazz.  I like the low maintenance places, show up and hunt.  That pretty much leaves you w/ amistad and a few others.

Try it. You will love it. At the very best it will be an adventure.   PM me if you want addtl details.  I’m off to DC manana for a buddys OCS graduation @ Quantico but will be back soon.

here are some cleaned up pics J

[Fishnhunt]

 

 

 

[Fishnhunt]

[Trab]

http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv324/distantmeadows/Stevesdeer2007.jpg