zoschag08

That depends on what you would consider a mountable buck. I have one mounted and might mount the one I shot this year. I will only mount a buck that scores 110 or above. As to the shooting small bucks I'd rather not shoot a buck than shoot an immature buck. It's more about the challenge of shooting a mature deer. I'll get my venison from a doe or two (if I get a DMP tag) and then hunt for a nice buck. I may be young but I still know what's worth shooting and what's not.

Thanks everyone!

You really don't like the antler restrictions? That's one of the best things that the game commission has done. Over the last six years (some before the restrictions) I've taken 5 bucks. The smallest being my first bow kill, a small 8 point last year. Other than that, they have all been mature 7, 8, or 9 points. The year that I didn't get a buck I lost one during archery, and missed twice during rifle. All three of the occurrences were on mature bucks and the last one was a buck pushing 140 class. I've never seen more mature bucks in the woods than I have over the past few years. Yeah, I'll give you that the deer population as a whole has gone down but it has improved the herds health. Better buck to doe ratios and larger bodied deer due to the proper number of deer compared to the available amount of food. Where do you hunt in PA?

I grew up in Cameron County PA and have hunted there my whole life. After I moved to NYC I've began to hunt NJ and NY, both because of friends I met at college. Does anyone else hunt other states? What's your opinion of deer populations, antler size, hunting pressure for your respective hunting lands compared to your home grounds?

I try to find escape routes, especially in areas of heavy pressure. Near clear cuts, heads of hollows, swails along hillsides, and always away from easy access points. If you bust your a** to get in there before most people you'll be in a good position. If there isn't much pressure I look for hemlocks or laurel near food sources.

Hunting out of my camp in Cameron County, PA we've been pretty successful since we started hunting bears, taking 12 in 11 years. Our largest was taken two years ago, live weight 470 lbs. Up until this year I had never seen a bear during the season. I'd run into them hunting archery or rifle for deer but never while actively pursuing them. I got into my camp early Friday afternoon and joined my cousins and uncles who were already there. After planning our hunt and enjoying the camp atmosphere, we setup our things for the opener the next morning. We drove all day, covered roughly 7 miles of ground but never saw/heard a bear. But arriving back at camp we realize one of our older members had shot a bear on the top bench of the property. Being energized by the success we planned our hunt for Monday. Climbing the hill Monday morning my cousin told me that since I was younger I got to be top watcher, aka got to climb the furthest. So I set up on a rock in the middle of thick cover. I couldn't see more than 30 yards clearly in any direction. The drive starts and I find my shooting lanes, now just to wait. After roughly 30 minutes I hear something coming, but since past experiences had provided deer not bear I wasn't all that nervous. Then I saw the black body coming through the laurel, no more than 20 yards from me and directly on my level. I shoulder my gun and fire, he runs down the hill and I put another into him and he drops. I radio to my group that we had a bear down and the reaction is incredible. We meet up and take pictures/enjoy the moment. The best thing about these bear hunts are that if someone gets one you feel successful, regardless of who it is. You feel like you had a part in it and it really is a special hunt. He weighed in at 177 lbs live weight and I'm currently waiting for him to get mounted. Getting a half body, couldn't be happier!

I do as Iong as I know it's not too far of a shot.

So I hunted all of archery season in southeastern NY but a good buck never presented himself. I had a couple run-ins with young bucks but held off. I headed home (Cameron County, PA) for the opening day of rifle season. After doing some scouting, bear hunting which provided a 177lb bruin, I determined that my normal options weren't going to produce the quality of buck I was looking for. I decided to join my brother in a relatively new area that he had been working in as a forester. We set out at 5am on opening morning and I was headed to the edge of a point behind two very thick clear cuts over looking two hallows. I got to my seat, turned out to be a couple downed trees, around 7 and sat down. My hope was that having beat people into the area someone might come in after I did and push something to me but to add a little reassurance I drug a scent line behind me on my way in. After around an hour of listening to a war going on to my north I began to question my positioning. I stood up on my log to get a better look onto the bench below me and stretch a little when I heard some leaves/snow rustling. I slowly turned back to where I had walked in from and saw this buck making its way off the top bench. I was slightly off balance on the log but twisting my body was able to get my gun up and on him. He stopped at a downed tree roughly 40 yards from me and began to act a little spooked. Afraid that I would not be presented another shot I took the off blanched free hand shot and preceded to do a split and landed on the log. Thinking there was no way I hit him I let another shot rip as he tore down the bench and out of sight. With all my adrenaline racing I went up to begin my search for blood and found none. I tracked him for around 150 yards with no sign, dejected I made my way back to my spot and texted my brother who was hunting on the next hillside over. He encouraged me by saying that the first shot sounded good and that I should press on. Well needless to say I'm extremely happy I did because no more than 50 yards after I stopped tracking I found blood. I followed it for around another 100-150 yards and there he lay at the edge of a spring. He was a 3 1/2 year old 9 point with a 17 and 1/4 inch spread. I don't know if I've ever experienced such a swing of emotions in such a short time. You have to love being able to share times like that with family. Such a great way to spend a chilly Monday morning!

Good read. Still gonna use my scent eliminator sprays and clothes though. Can't be too safe. Best of luck this season.

Hell of a buck! Best of luck to you!

Thanks, i'll look into these. Been checking them out on some topo maps but I think i'll head out and do some wandering aroundthis weekend. Again thanks for the suggestions!

Hi everyone, My name's Abe, moved to the city for the next few years. I've enjoyed deer hunting since I was 12 but recently took up archery and have become completely infatuated. I'm originally from small town PA, the land of the endless mountains - nothing compared to the Adirondacks though. I'm looking forward to see what everyone thinks on different tactics, methods, and favorite locations (if they're willing). Excited to get out there and try some where new this fall!

I recently moved to NYC and am in need of some advice on public land options to hunt. I am especially interested in bow hunting and haven't ruled out rural areas. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Abram