Beaverkill

As others have said, make friends.. We have a guy who lives across the road. We pay him to mow grass and do some small improvement projects. He watches the property like a hawk.. Another friend of mine did the same thing with his neighbors in Delaware County. He became such good friends with everyone, that he has local status. My friend is a well to do attorney and has even helped local kids by buying them coats, reuniting gear and always gives advice. He started by hiring the neighbors son to mow the grass....

Thanks for the video.. I hunted Lows Lake a couple years.. We had Helms fly us in with float plane and spend a week.. The hunting was hard and deer few but it was total isolation. We never saw a soul either on water or land. Those were great trips. I remember having to wait an extra day because weather couldn't get the plane in... Then there was the night that the wind blew our flue off the stove, while we had a fire, and we had to put a red hot flue back on stove while the tent filled with smoke and flames.. Or the 20 year old outhouse filled with about 40 years of crap sticking a good 6 inches higher than seat... Fun Times....

The 30-30s were the hot guns in deer camp on opening day.. 3 single shots took 3 deer.. A nice 9 pt, a 6 pt and a fat doe... The Tree of Life was blooming.. While everyone in the surrounding camps were crying about the lack of deer, we had them crawling all over with 4 guys in camp seeing 28 deer...

After preparing my NJ home for the storm all weekend, I decided to forego watching the Giants game and hit the woods. I am losing my prime hunting property after this season, so I have been scouting some public land near my house... I took my bow for a hike and found an excellent rub line on top of a far ridge with oaks and maples about 3/4 mile in...Instead of going back to the truck for my stand, I made a simple ground blind out of fallen branches and logs... About an hour into my sit, I see a doe feeding about 75 yards out. She browses up the the ridge and beds down about 100 yds away... After about 30 minutes, she runs off... At first I think the gusty winds brought my scent to her but then I see a buck...Big enough to see a rack at 100 yds.. He chases her off only to return 15 minutes later...I tried grunting and the can but he walked back the way he came...Never getting close enough to see how big he was... I continued to sit and enjoy the woods, when just before dark a buck sneeked in from behind and was standing 8 yards away...I waited until his head was behind a tree, pulled back only to have my arrow catch a limb from my ground blind... I was able to clear and get full draw with the buck at 20 yards but couldnt see me pin with the falling light and dark background...I let down and watched the shooter 8 point walk out of my life.... What a hunt... I love hunting new woods... Then the storm hit... I havent had power since Monday evening... All my family live on the shore in Manasquan, Pt Pleasant, Spring Lake and Long Branch...We have been making the best of it...House Camping... A small generator to keep the fridge and freezer going...Fireplace for heat and bottled water... Spent a day and a half on the chainsaw clearing trees for myself and neighbors...My office now has power.. and we are like command central with friend/family and associates using our conference room and internet service for people who cant get into the city... The commute to work is hell... You think Jersey drivers suck when things are normal, you should see them without traffic lights and no showers for a week... Life goes On!!!

I have always left the MZ loaded during the season, unless I thought moisture got to the powder...But a friend of mine missed an opportunity at a trophy VT buck last season when his shot didnt go off...He thinks it was moisture related...So I am rethinking keeping it loaded... I have a White Rifle in-line, so I just remove the breech and can remove powder without discharging... I have also used balloons and tape over the muzzle with no affect to accuracy... As for condoms, save the ribbed for her pleasure

Just my opinion...I live in NJ...Baiting has been legal for over 15 years now...I have noticed that many hunters now rely on baiting to attract deer. They have lost or have never learned how to truly hunt...They walk in the woods, see some sign and drop a couple hundred pounds of bait and hang a stand...Does it work, yes they kill deer. Usually does and smaller bucks...I have seen bait sites in the middle of oak flats with acorns raining from the canopy...This past weekend I almost fell out of my treestand when a feeder went off about 60 yds away...Someone put a feeder in the middle of a bedding thicket...No wonder I didnt see any good bucks... My point is, after many years of allowing baiting...We are seeing more and more hunters who have become reliant on baiting to kill deer...They believe it is the only way to kill deer on a regular basis...The baiters arguments are in suburban areas it draws deer to areas that they can legally hunt... While others cry that they need to use bait because everyone else is using it and changing the travel/feeding patterns.. I do not bait deer...There have been a few exceptions, Wounded Warriors hunt where I was a host and a couple of managed deer cull hunts in suburban neighborhoods... Does baiting have its place, in some instances I believe it does...Do I think it is necessary to successfully deer hunt...NO...I hope NY never allows baiting...

Hello...I would like to introduce myself..I am an active outdoorsman from NJ who has enjoyed hunting and fishing all over the empire state. I grew up on a farm along the Jersey Shore... (yes...we had farms there, unfortunately they are almost all developed now).. I now live in Hunterdon County NJ where we are blessed with land, tons of game and good fishing... We have two hunting camps...One in the Catskills between the Beaverkill River and the Delaware.. and the other in Chenango County, west of Norwich...I have been fortunate to kill some nice bucks over the years on public lands in the ADK and Catskills as well as our private property... I consider myself a bowhunter first but I love rifle season and have been hunting with my MZ since 86... Even more than hunting, I enjoy fly fishing, especially in the Catskills and ADK... I am a fly fsihing instructor for NJ's oldest fly shop... I have owned a camp in the Catskills since the mid-80s...Started with a trailer on the East Branch near Downsville and graduated to a Catskill Mountain top farm... One of my best friends owns multiple parcels in Chenango County, where we hunt the opener in a traditional Deer Camp setting... Married with 2 boys and a girl , all under 6.... I took my 5 year old out with me last Sunday...He is already hooked.. Look forward to future conversations and posts... Dan