Dorsilfin

Had the day off and drove upto the cabin. Went out this afternoon for a few hours, Saw 1 buck but only had 2 spikes with no points coming off it. It was amazing how fast my hands started shaking just seeing a buck and then fumbling with my binocs to see how many points. I hate to say it, but I might very well be unable to make a good shot with the adrenaline pumping if a legal buck walks in front of me. Tomorrows thanks giving, Im going to hit the mountain bright and early and stay in till about noon. Got family things to attend to in the afternoon but sunrise to noon gives me a good stretch of time and at the very least a chance. I've not given up yet.. Just seeing a buck today is promising even tho it wasnt legal to take. My uncle saw a 6 pointer this morning chasing the does round his yard so he said dont give up. Sometimes you see nothing and other times a monster will simply walk by but its never regular or able to be predicted, just a matter of being in the right place and the right time. -Dors

Im guessing on top of being thin this year is even worse. I noticed no fresh acorn drops so the mountain didnt really give the deer much to feast on. My Uncle said its a weird year, Usually the does that visit his property attract in bucks from all over and they are around a week or 2 and then gone again. the only buck he had seen was a small 4 pointer that born this year from one of the does. Ill hopefully be able to put some more time into the mountain and maybe get a lucky roamer. Im hopeful but not expecting anything at this point with an empty opening weekend for everyone on the mountain. if all else fails ill go fill my Doe tags in 3M with my cousin who has a place to hunt in orange county. Im kinda even iffy on that, I like the idea of making my first deer a buck from the mountains that I hike and play on year round.

Saturday I was at my opening spot from 6am - 10. then a slow crawl along the mountain ridge line. sat at the top of the valley between the two mountains for maybe 2 hours. then moved to the other peak and sat there till sundown. Sunday I sat on the 2nd peak from 6 -9 and then crawled the valley between till 11ish and then walked out. Also side note, its all mountainous terrain (Steep rock) with a few outcrops here and there. Its all state land and the hunters in the area do not use/setup treestands on it as its a hassle just getting yourself in and out let alone carrying anything heavy. I think I made the best of the area and maybe its just not all that great of a spot for a beginner. but with everyone my uncle had checked in with reporting nothing i dont feel like it was a bad experience or waste of time.

Another chilly morning. Spent the morning sitting, moving and sitting. Saw a few does again but no bucks. Called it a day around noon to get home and get ready for the work week. All the hunters on the road reported not seeing a single buck, so maybe the mountain just doesnt have any this year, or none traveled in from other areas to mate with the does of the area. With 3A not issuing doe permits at the very least the ones that do get knocked up should hopefully build the group for next year. All in all, I had fun and would call it a successful weekend of exercise and enjoying the ourdoors. My neighbor offered to let me hunt his land back home (dutchess) 3F. if I find a shotgun I might take him up on that offer (shotgun only over here where 3a is rifle.) I stuck around for a while with him and helped him finish butchering his deer, wasnt skeved out about it so I think ill be just fine if I can manage to get my own dear dead and hung up in a tree =)

Nope, 3a does not issue any doe tags. suiting back up and getting ready to head back in for a few hour today. Figured "why not"

Dont think ill give up completely, just looking at the facts of the day. I heard a 4 shots all day and they all seems distant and from other mountains nearby, so I doubt anyone pulled a buck off this particular stretch of state land. Ill not be hiking in as far as I did and as early as I did, but ill probably take a look around for a few hours. Might just need to find another place to hunt state land that might yield a buck.

I was sitting on the mountain before dawn, I watched as the sunrise filled the forest with light. I quietly waited hoping something would walk by. After a few hours of nothing I heard rustling behind the stump I was sitting next too and thought this could be it, I slowly looked over my shoulder and saw another hunter coming through the old logging trail. A quick wave he was not expecting scared the crap out of him haha. He mentioned that no one has hunted where I was in a long time and was not expecting to find someone up there. His group the other direction from he had not much going on so he went for a walk to loop around a bit and see if anything got kicked up. Half hour or so after he left I decided that my spot wasn't going to yield anything. My hope was that if hunters came in from his side they would push something my way, but after he passed and mentioned the rest of his group was in tree stands back a ways I wasn't going to get the push I had hoped for since they hadn't seen but a pair of does. I spent a few hours slowly creeping along the mountain looking for any activity. I ran into another hunter well.. I heard a rack clacking as I was creeping around the mountain and slowly kept looking and wondering where the heck is that coming from. Long story short he spotted me first and threw a quick whistle out. He thought I was something coming down the mountain and I thought he was a buck lol.. I stopped up with him and had a quick chat. I saw a few does and plenty of deer signs but no Bucks the entire day. I enjoyed the adventure of wondering what every rustle I heard was, the mountain seemed different today. The hunter I ran into and his buddies who were on another side of the mountain stopped by my uncles place and declared the mountain was empty, no one in their group of 3 saw any does or bucks and they were in before daylight like me and didn't come out till after the official sunset time. I guess I should be happy I got to see a few does. My body is sore and I'm glad to be back at the cabin sitting in front of the fireplace relaxing. I would call today a good day a day that makes me cherish the cabin and this mountain that much more. Not sure, if ill head out tomorrow morning and try again considering no bucks were seen, and the antler restrictions that id need 3 on 1 side and no one even saw a spike. How did everyone else fare? -Dors

A model 94 Winchester 30 30, back from the 50's Looking forward to trying things out in the field. Will be the first hunter going out of the family cabin in 15 years. Far too long id say.

Going to be my first time hunting. Using my fathers model 94 30 30 from 1951. Nice family history with the gun and going at this task alone makes it even more exciting. Got friday off from work to heasing tl the cabin early and relaxing tomorrow so im fresh for sat morning. Good luck out there

It wouldnt really be much of changing the landscape, more so just clearing some old logging roads that go all over the mountain. Hiking around the blow down was quite difficult as its very steep terrain and following the old logging roads is the easiest way up and down the trails. My uncle said the earlier I get up there the better because any hunters coming in after me will push them into the area I was since there's so much blowdown as they like to hide there. If im in a good spot they will show up with everyone pushing, that is. if other hunters plan on hunting this area. There is no "easy" access to the land because its all land locked and im going in through my families property, so theres a good chance it will be just me up there opening day. He said that hasnt stopped hunters before, so I might get people coming in from the other side of the mountain pushing them over to my side. Its really quite exciting just thinking about what will happen

Well I did some scouting yesterday in the area I might hunt. There was a ton of blow down from the hurricane it seems, and getting in is difficult, but if i get lucky dragging a deer out will really suck. Might take a handsaw with me next weekend and try and spend a few hours cutting trees out of the way. but a little work now might make the hunt more enjoyable. Shame you cant ATV/chainsaw on state land. Oh well. Here are 2 pics, First Is a Deer rub, and 2nd I think is a bear scratch? I cant be certain but they were both near each other. Could be an active area.

So I am going to be hunting the state land behind some family property in the Catskills, it will be in the 3A zone and Ive hiked most of the land nearby and its quite steep with a couple clearings here and there. I don't plan on lugging a tree stand in on state land, so my strategy is going to be this. Sat the 17th, before the suns up hike up the mountain to a clearing about 1.5 miles and 1500 feet of elevation later up the mountain, find a large tree and sit in front of it facing the field and basically just wait there all day and hope something walks by. ill have a backpack with me, with a few items should I get lucky. 6x8 tarp to wrap the deer up after field dressing to help drag it down the mountain. 2 sharp knives, 1 for doing the butt area, then 1 for doing the rest as to avoid contamination of the meat 50ft paracord, to wrap up the tarp and make a pull rope some latex gloves ziplock bags, 1 for the heart 1 for the liver and my uncle said put them on a cool rock nearby to start cooling them down, 1 for my trash/gloves couple zipties and looking into some sort of deer pull to make things easy on the way out if I manage to score one. Thats my plan in a nutshell, This is my first time "hunting" and Im looking forward to it, I just figured id post my idea of what I want to try and see if any more experienced folks could chime in to say if im on the right track or maybe some advice on things to do Thanks! -Dors