Deer hunting in VT and eastern NY this fall

[HunterLawyer]

Hi folks:

My brother lives in Troy, NY and I live in Northfield, VT. We are both early 40s in age and have hunted whitetail with rifles all our lives here in VT, but now we have both been bitten with the trad bowhunting bug. I have contracted the longbow strain, incurable I am told. We have all necessary gear except treestands, but I am not sure if those are necessary. We never used them for rifle hunting.

We are both tuning bows to arrows right now, I like the idea of a 125 grain Magnus Snuffer glue on, on a 125 grain steel adaptor on the front of an aluminum or carbon arrow. Still working out the ideal arrow match up, but I am close. My bows are a 50@29 Howard Hill Wesley Special and a 68@29 Hill Halfbreed, I also have a great old Howard Hill recurve (54@29); my brother has a  Hatfield 52#.

We have all the clothing/boots/scouting skills; just need to adapt them to archery hunting. I'd prefer to use a ground blind, but am not against tree stands.

Anyone with thoughts/recommendations on hunting set up and hunting locations???

My brother has a few ins with farmers in Washington County, NY, and we have family with farms here in VT, too.

Regards to all,

Bill

[Izzy]

I grew up for a while in Troy.Your brother and you have some good state land on the VT border and a little furthe south.Try the Berlin State Forest or enen The Potter Hill Forest.Good luck to you both.

[StickBowManMI]

Their is a lot of good state land available for hunting and their are some really nice bucks. Orange County has about 8000 acres of state land at Stewart Airport and it has some of the best quantity and quality of deer in the state. May have a lot of competition during the weekends and opening week but its not too crowded during Monday to Friday. Check out Parking spot #46 park near the sign and proceed through the field to the tree line at the end of the field check out the funnel areas there. Great hunting area.

[Schafer]

I also live in vermont and tree stands work great. I have used them and have had sucess with them. The best brand i think of is loc-on. But they are hard to get.

[joe vt]

Schafer, shouldn't you be in school? lol  or are you out already?

[woodchucker]

Keep your eyes open.....The first weekend of October "adkmountainken" has his "Adirondack Attack"

All tradGangers are welcome,we all stay at Kenny's mom's house in Johnstown. It's "Big Woods" mountain hunting,but we all have a blast!!!!!

[VTer]

Bill, if you've had success hunting deer w/ rifles in your VT areas, I would try those first. Is it on your family farms? With a lifetime of rifle hunting experience you shouldn't have a hard time of adapting to bowhunting. Just spend more time scouting than hunting. That Schafer guy sounds very knowledgable, take his advice on treestands! Lastly, when all your efforts in VT don't produce, head to NY. The hunting's gotta be better!

[**DONOTDELETE**]

the only thing I would say is, wait till you can see the whites of their eyes....LOL... low angle on a great broadside or quartering away shots. You will want them close 20 yards or less... Also This fall & Winter we are having a Trad gang deer hunt in Jersey.... Fall bow is still being worked out & Winter Trad bow #2 is set for January 09 ( dates to come later )...You & Your bro are more then welcome to join Us.

[HunterLawyer]

Thanks folks. Those are good tips and offers. We will be hunting from the ground. Maybe not as effective, but then again, my whitetail shots (all 5 of them--not like I am as experienced as some here!)with a rifle have been from 20 to 75 yards, in the woods, from the ground.

Better time of year to be in the woods, anyway!

Bill

[speedbump]

5 deer in Vt I think that qualifies you as an expert! Your gonna love hunting with trad equipment. I rarely carry my rifle now. I think i used it 4 hours last year...just love bowhuntin

 "hunterlawyer"? didn't know we had a season on them. How much are the tags LOL

[speedbump]

I went to college in Northfield, still hunt in Roxbury each season...

[HunterLawyer]

Speed, that means you know stuff I don't. Just moved to Northfield 3 years ago. I have a small woodlot up on Scrag Mountain road in Northfield (moose there, not many deer), but have also been eyeballing the the public lands on Rice Mountain and the Cram Hill area of Roxbury. Any recommendations for scouting, so I don't step on your toes?

My family still farms over in Plainfield, so I'll head over there, too.

Bill

[vermonster13]

If you have farms to hunt, then hunt them. Better concentrations of deer and usually more open shooting lanes. I hunt the mountains when I feel the need for more room or we have good mast but have been very successful hunting the edges on farmland.

[speedbump]

Hey Bill, I like the Rice Mountain area. It is huge so don't worry about stepping on toes... besaides it's public land. Never hunted the Cram hill area. i also have a couple spots/permission on private land there. The one thing i have noticed about Roxbury is if there are no acorns it can be tough hunting, it is a "big woods" area and without the mast to concentrate them they can be hard to pin down. Plainfield has a lot of deer. I hunt near goddard College on occasion. My father lives there. This area sounds like your best bet as far as numbers of critters anyway. If you can land permission on private land along rt 12 toward montpelier this is real good too. used to hunt there but have lost contact with landowners or they have moved sold out. good luck have fun

[speedbump]

there are a bunch of trad guys going on a hunt in southwest Vt in Oct. They are on the stickbow site do a search for "vermont trad camp" sounds like a good time, check it out