Deer Hunting Connecticut

[ARCHER11]

I'll be heading back east for Thanksgiving with the in-laws and i'm thinking I might do some hunting while i'm out there. I have a new centaur longbow that should be finished up by the end of this month and i'd love to get it out for a solid hunting trip this year rather than waiting for next years hunts here in Colorado. My wife's family lives in Brookfield (southwest corner of the state) and I'd be interested in hearing how the hunting is out that way. Is there public land I can hunt or am I limited to gaining access to private? I'm open to driving a few hours if it means i'll have better opportunities. I've never hunted whitetail but would love to add them to the list. We make 2-3 trips out there each year and being able to bring my bow along on those trips to chase deer and turkey would be awesome! I'd love to hear your thoughts and any ideas you might have for me. I have briefly taken a look at the regs but I do still need to dig into them. Anything in particular I need to be aware of in that regard?

I have spent a lot of time hunting deer and elk in Utah and would be happy to provide information to anyone interested in hunting out west. I recently moved to Colorado and while I only have one season under my belt, i'd be happy to share what I know. Thanks guys!

Don,t know anything about Conn (except that it gets darned cold up there!), but good luck!!!

Bisch

[Mint]

I'm on Long Island NY but I'm sure there will be public hunting land by where you will be staying. Also, look around by Danbury Airport, I think there is some hunting land there.

Since you are close to the NY border you might want to hunt NY since our license is pretty reasonable. Check out Clarence Fahnstock park where there is thousands of acres open to hunting. all you need is a free permit that anyone can get.

[ARCHER11]

Thanks for the thoughts Mint! I'll check out the Danbury airport.  I'm definitely open to hunting NY so I'll look into the park you mentioned as well. Appreciate the help!

[2nocks]

you would need a NYS hunting license AND the free park permit for Fahnestock.

[Mint]

Here you go , I did a google search on Connecticut Public Deer hunting and one of the results is the states interactive map that shows you public hunting opportunities. Some bow only hunting areas are :
Great Flood Swamp Control Area 341 acres
Bennets Pond State Park  460 acres
George C Waldo State park 150 acres
Wooster Mountain State Park
and then there is Pootatuck State Forrest 1,103 acres which is bow and gun

[ARCHER11]

Thanks Mint! I saw that Map as well. Very helpful. Anyone hunted the Collis P. Huntington State Park? A quick google search turned up some articles on the place and it sounds like the residents of the area were making quite a fuss when they opened it up to hunting. Hows the hunting in there? How is hunting generally accepted in CT as a whole by non hunters? Is that something i'll need to worry about? How about the Paugussett State Forest? That's just down the street from the in-laws. Anyone have any experience in that area?

Thanks again for all the help! You guys are awesome!

[Scott E]

There's some public land in ridgefeild and Danbury. If you have a hard time finding a place to hunt shoot me a pm and you can hunt with me in Greenwich.

There's lots of deer in the area

[dirtguy]

State Forests are all fine for hunting, but you cant hunt in them on Sundays.  The whole state has a strong white tail population. That part of the state has white tails living in backyards and eating gardens and landscaping.  I wish I knew more about the different parcel of state land out there but I can tell you that they all hold deer.  

I'll ask around I have some friends over in Danbury.

[Mamba]

I live in the next town over(bethel) and there is plenty of places to hunt. You can borrow my climber if you want and if I am hunting you can come with us too.  Pm me if you want and I will help you.
Pete

[ARCHER11]

You guys are awesome! Thank you!

Scott, thanks a lot for the offer. From the looks of things I shouldn't have an issue finding an area to hunt close to the in-laws. I'll keep you in mind though. It would be fun to hook up with some fellow gangers out there.

Dirtguy, thanks for the info! I'd love to hear what your friends in Danbury have to say. Let me know if they get back to you.

Mamba, my sister in law lives in Bethel. I'll shoot you a PM.

Thank you all for the input! I'd love to hear from anyone else with experience in this part of the state.

Like I mentioned before, if any of you plan on making a trip out west don't hesitate to get in touch with me. I'll help the best I can.

[James Principi]

Archer two points to note.  If you do cross over into New York and hunt the venison must be deboned to bring it across the state line into CT.  Also you mentioned you'd be here around Thanksgiving.  If so you can only hunt on state land that is designated as bow only with a bow during that time period.  CT does not have a lesser weapon clause.

[glenbo]

Nice gesture Pete.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Pete, Great gesture.

Archer, Good luck. There seems to be quite a  few deer around. Hopefully you can find a place and get on them.

I think your best bet is to hook up with someone for the first year just to get an Idea about some of the unique rules.  Like the lesser weapons clause and bowhunting only areas. I believe you will be here during gun season so that is something to take note of.

I would hate for your first experience to end up a mess with fines.

[ARCHER11]

Noted on the special regulations. I'll be giving the regs a good read and contacting the DEEP office to make sure my plans are kosher. Thanks for the help!

[ghall80]

Maybe we should get a CT hunt together I have a bunch of private land we can hunt along with my fathers place in Andover CT.
I would happily have Scott E we have met and anyone else that would like to put something together.
Just a suggestion but I would love to help anyway I can
Gary Hall

[ARCHER11]

Great suggestion Gary, that would be a lot of fun! I wont have a lot of time this year but would definitely be interested in meeting up with a bunch of you for a day. If there's interest i'd be happy to help in any way I can.

A couple questions for you all...

I'll be hunting the week of the 23rd which puts me in the required orange time frame. If hunting in a bow-hunting only area is Orange still required if i'm hunting from the ground?

Are the harvest tags something I need to carry with me and complete in addition to notching a permit or are they one in the same?

I don't remember reading this in the regulations but I seem to recall seeing somewhere that the purchase of an Archery Deer/Small Game license essentially acts as an either sex deer permit. Is that correct? If I remember correctly I could have 4 tags total, 2 doe and 2 either sex. Anyone know what the non-resident price is for these additional permits? I couldn't seem to find it in the regulations.

[Scott E]

Gary I'm in to hunt anytime. I would love to get a bunch of CT Tradgangers together for a weekend hunt.

[James Principi]

Here is a link that describes what is required as far as tagging your deer.  http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2700&q=556904&deepNav_GID=1633
You can remove the orange if you're hunting from a tree stand 10 ft above the ground once you're in the stand.

[Mamba]

Your tag is generic and can be printed, actually you can write the info on a blank piece of paper and sign it.  You then have to call in or check in on the internet and write your confirmation number on your tag.  You are right about the tags.  You can physically check does in and get replacement tags.  They cost nothing more just about an hour in you case. I think during gun season everyone has to wear orange when on the ground and I think you can take it off once in a tree on state not sure.  You can on private though.  I would wear it on state land not much bird hunting here but if someone decided to squirrel hunt with a 22 that wouldn't be fun.