First Time "Big Woods" Hunting

[Five Seasons]

Lastly, don't attempt a wilderness hunt until you are able to orient your map to your compass. While in the Southerntier, you may get turned around from time to time, but your almost never more than a mile from a road. Usually the worst that will happen is you'll come out on the wrong road. Up in the Primitive Wilderness areas, you can get truly lost, never to be seen again. Do yourself and loved ones a favor and become familiar with compass/map orientering.

Enjoy it. There really is no other thing like hunting big buck in Adirondack Primitive Wilderness areas.

Great advice. Spring for a gps if you can.

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[A Sportsman]

I agree that is great advice. I think a lot of people get turned off by lack of sightings and fact that the hunting is just so different than what they are used to. May as well be hunting for a different animal. It also took me a bunch of years for the frustration to wear off and enjoyment to begin. Nowadays, after a month and a half hunting from stands on long island, the trip to mountains is a much welcomed change.

[NFA-ADK]

I would use a water purifier instead of bringing water. 

 

Remote camps are nice and fun but I prefer a base camp as this type of trip requires not only a lot of gear but an excessive amount of energy and that requires vast amounts of food.  (Less early season.)

 

If you have a "hot spot" then a remote camp is great for an overnight trip.  Otherwise I find that the hike in with all the gear can be exhausting.  VS Base camp great food and hiking into said area with minimal gear and well rested.  Plus you can bring as much food, gear and drinks as you want to your base camp, not so with a remote camp.  

 

Good luck, be safe and let us know what you think about your trip when you get back. 

 

 

 

[crokit]

My remote base camp is over 5 miles from where I park my vehicle.  I try to get up there 2x during the season; usually the week after souther Tier, and the week after thanksgiving, which is my favorite trip.  Cold for sure, but all the preparation prior makes it fairly comfortable.

 

  Yup, it's alot of working getting in and out; usually 1 full day in and if there's game, sometimes two days out.  Is it worth it, absolutely.  I've never based the success of a trip on the need to score.  Being able to get out there in a true wilderness setting, pretty much on even terms with the quarry and truly hunting for it is an event that still, after all these years, thrills me to no  end,  hopefully for a few more years.  I was in my early 20's when I first started it, and I remember thinking then " if I can still do this when I'm forty, I'll be a happy camper ". Forty years after that thought, still a happy camper enjoying it.

 

  There has been time for sure that the trip was more like a survival trip, but that just adds to the stories for the Grandkids.

[Craig Stratton]

Any tips on hunting swamps

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Swamp bucks

[Craig Stratton]

Any tips on hunting a big swamp

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[nyantler]

Any tips on hunting a big swamp

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Find the high and dry spots in the swamp and you will find the deer

[NFA-ADK]

If it's really large you can try calling them out to the high ground with some doe in heat calls or possibly some grunting and rattle sequence.  Use the wind to your favor.  Otherwise listen to Joe, they like the cover but want to be dry.

[salty]

Not to hijack the thread,

  but im interested in a hunt like this, ive hunted the catskills for over 20 years, but im looking todo more of a "bush hunt".

 

 Im pretty unfamiliar with hunting areas in the Adirondacks and the regs that apply ( as far as camping and backpacking while hunting).

 

Obviously no one wants to give their spot up, but are there any recommendations on areas that would allow for a hunt like this?

Id like to buy maps and do the proper prep work before hand. Im from Long Island, so todo a drive up there to search for a spot would be pretty rough.

 

Thanks

[DeerJohn]

And do not, never, ever, drink the beaver water!  I could tell you about a trip to the Moose River Plains years ago, and we only just washed our pots in the beaver creek.

 

[Two Track]

Back in scouts as a youth, before the water filters were around, we treated water with iodine tablets for 30 minutes before drinking.  Suspect water was double-dosed. Lovely flavor that iodine.  Canteen still tasted like it 10 years later.  Haven't used it in a very long time.  Use a new insulated canteen these days.

 

Now days filter it and boil it if suspect water for viruses or bacterium.  Chemical polluted water, just move on to a different source or find a fresh spring.

 

I have carried a gallon of water while backpacking. it is heavy, but I knew i had good water to start with for drinking and a couple meals.

 

If buddying-up can use a collapsible water container (2.5 gallons or so) and put it on a rope.  Water in the middle and each person holds an end to disperse the weight.  That is how we hauled 5 gallons or so from a clean source 2 miles up and over a mountain to a dry campsite.

 

Speaking of washing pots and pans, get all the soap out. Know someone who had "blueberry" pancakes for breakfast that didn't quite taste right.  The blue was from the powdered soap that was not rinsed out of the pans.  There were no constipation issues by anyone who had the "blueberry" pancakes.

 

If cooking over a wood fire, coat outside of pots with soap before cooking.  The soot comes off easier.

 

Clean sand can be use to scour a burned pot or pan if don't have a brillo or scrub pad - done that one.  Never knew that aluminum griddle wasn't always black before that.  Apparently, it was just never thoroughly cleaned before then.  Just washed it afterwards and re-seasoned it.

[Deleted]

Don't forget a bow saw,and an axe or hatchet for firewood, and a good sleeping bag and pad. 

[Daveboone]

Get the topographical maps for the area, and spend plenty of time with them. make copies of the immediate area you will be working to carry with you. Go online and google earth the area, and you may well get some great aerial view info.

Explore the surrounding ridges, looking for beechnut/ any other mast they may feed on (but by November, most will be gone). I would try to spend a day early on circumnavigating the swamp to get a real good idea of corridors, funnels, etc., the maps will help with this a lot.

Don't worry about bugs that time of year. Make dang sure your boots fit well. If you have light weight portable stands, they could be invaluable, and any potential old homestead sites may have apples.

Have fun.

[sailinghudson25]

I like surveyors tape to mark trees.  The knot points to where you came from......

 

A good pad is worth the money.  However, spend the extra time to prep the ground, pick out rocks and sticks.  The pads are no where near a foot thick mattress, but still help.

 

Learn to ID plants and learn what deer like to eat.    check out www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7195.html

 

Remember, bucks are out for two things.  To get some tail, and to kick some ass.  Just like middle school, got the bullies and braves one reaking havoc on the shy ones.  Deer are hiding from each other as much as trying to find each other.  They pressure each other.

 

Also, invest in a frame pack.  You can gut the deer, sking and debone, and just bring leg quarters and straps out.  Moose hunters sprinkle pepper on the meat so the flys don't bother it.  Moisture damages meat, keep it dry.  A deer that takes it sweet time getting out of the woods may shed fur when taxidermied.  So, you may want to go with the skull only.

 

Also, edges of towns, edges of farmland or pasture, and sides of road are not bad areas.  Don't feel you need to go in deep.  Usually these spots have the best forage for deer and will likely be located where they can find food easily. 

 

You may be in a spot where everywhere you see has not be step on by deer in months or years.

[sailinghudson25]

A post season scout can be extremely valuable info.  Also, don't be quick to give up on an area.  Knowledge is key here.  You go somewhere else, it starts all over again.

 

Again, learn your plants.  what the bark looks like, what the leaves, buds, and flowers look like.  What color the leave turn in the fall.  You could think your in a spot where deer will nibble, but they really wouldn't touch that until everything else has been eaten up in febuary or march.  IF you can go back in the next weekend if it snowed a few inches, that's a really good thing.

 

Find a local place where the hunting is easy too.  I hunt the edge of burbs legally with a bow and arrow for easy meat, then use the rifle for more challenging hunts,  then go back to muzzleloading for easy meat again. 

 

Also, September is great deer hunting practice.  Sneaking up on squirrels, practicing being quiet, pracitcing focusing with all your senses, trying out new equipment, and getting psyched about being out hunting, even more so in good weather.

[ryan]

got invited to a hunt in the ADK's this deer season would be my first as well great advice guys im a bit nervous now reading some of these comments but the guys taking me are seasoned ADK hunters so hopefully everything goes as planned

[DirtTime]

Listen close to the people that know the area. If they put you in a spot don't wander off to far. They put you in that spot for a reason.

No matter what take a good compass! I know this was mentioned, but it can't be expressed enough that in big woods have a compass and a map.

 

[The_Field_Ager]

Heading out there myself again for the boys weekend in a couple of weeks. Fav weekend of the year! 

[Buckmaster7600]

got invited to a hunt in the ADK's this deer season would be my first as well great advice guys im a bit nervous now reading some of these comments but the guys taking me are seasoned ADK hunters so hopefully everything goes as planned

Having hunted "the big woods" all my life here are my suggestions

Wear good boots, carry a light rifle "if you have the option" never go with out a compas and the knowledge of how to use it. And one of the most important things is to get a box of shells and practice shooting free hand and quickly you won't have many opportunities so making the ones you get count is very important!

[Salmon_Run]

Well, the season is well over in the Adirondacks and how was your adventure and what did you learn and take away from the trip?

I hunted my area and the weekend before Thanksgiving I received over 30 inches of snow. It dampened my trip and just a few miles away they only received inches and had great tracking.

A few of the most important things for a successful hunt are, good boots, a compass and enduring attitude. You walk miles and log hours between sightings of deer.

The rewards are big bodied deer and solitude you don't get hunting elsewhere.