Moose River Plains

[WingNut]

Anyone familiar or hunted the Moose River Plains area?

[NFA-ADK]

Yes

[NYbuck50]

I hunt what i guess would be considered the northern side of it,  raquette lake/ sagamore area. Some nice bucks to be had but you gotta work for them.

[NFA-ADK]

Large tract of land with few deer.  Many hunters do not see any deer during a weeks hunt, myself included.  Many familiar with the area tell me their are NO deer here.  Makes getting one that much more rewarding.  This is remote rugged country be prepared as many who enter these woods find calamity when they are unprepared. 

 

Are you planning on hunting this area?  Bow/gun, solo?  Deer, bear or small game?  What part do you want to  hunt?

 

 

[ApexerER]

I snowmobile there all the time. ( I have never hunted) I have a picture somewhere of a 6 pt eating crackers out of my hand. They used to feed them at the big T a few years back. The trail groomer would drop feed and it wouldn't be uncommon to pull up on you sled and have 30 or 40 deer walking around. Now that they are no longer aloud to feed them it has been years since I have seen any deer up there.

[adkbuck]

Hi Wing,

 

NFA-ADK is correct.  It can be very difficult hunting and he is also right that you have be well prepared.  I don't think you will not regret a minute if you like hunting big country.   It is beautiful country!   I was there just last week canoeing on Cedar River Flow and southward up the Cedar River well into the West Canada Lake Wilderness.  

The Moose River Plains  area and the adjoining wilderness areas are big country.  To have your best chance of success be willing to put some time and locate the areas that hold does or if tracking snow is present get off on a good track and stay alert.  

Edited September 22, 2014 by adkbuck

[ADKeagle]

I have hunted there every year for a while now. As some have said, the deer are hard to find! I have trail cam videos of some really nice bucks from the MRP, including this year. I also have video of many does, fawns, and yearling bucks. So... I don't think there are as few deer as some people think, but they certainly take work to find. There are pockets of substantial deer sign here and there, you just have to cover enough ground to find it. The terrain can be pretty rough and the woods extremely thick in places. My favorite part of hunting there- I have actually seen more Moose than deer!

- Kevin

[nyantler]

Moose River plain is best to hunt with snow on... it is hunted to death because of the easy access... used to hunt out of a camp tent camp there off the Indian river... there are some good bucks there.. but you'll need snow to find them...

[Lawdwaz]

Back in '87 a bunch of guys and myself packed in on horseback about two miles IIRC. We even had a couple horses drag wagons loaded with all the comforts of home.  Wall tents, cook stoves, food and booze. 

 

7 guys for 7 days and we NEVER saw a deer! (thats 49 days of hunting and seeing zip)  I saw a bear but couldn't get a crack and another guy saw a coyote.  That was it.....................

 

Did I mention we had a blast?   

 

Oh yea, I just remembered.........on the way out one of the horses got spooked while tied to a road gate.  The thing ripped a huge gash into its breast that took 75-100 stitches to close at a nearby vet.  That sucked...

[MACHINIST]

Back in '87 a bunch of guys and myself packed in on horseback about two miles IIRC. We even had a couple horses drag wagons loaded with all the comforts of home.  Wall tents, cook stoves, food and booze. 

 

7 guys for 7 days and we NEVER saw a deer! (thats 49 days of hunting and seeing zip)  I saw a bear but couldn't get a crack and another guy saw a coyote.  That was it.....................

 

Did I mention we had a blast?   

 

Oh yea, I just remembered.........on the way out one of the horses got spooked while tied to a road gate.  The thing ripped a huge gash into its breast that took 75-100 stitches to close at a nearby vet.  That sucked...

 

 

 

That sounds like a awesome time!! One day soon I want to do a deep pack in hunt.I would like to do it out west though for mule deer and maybe Elk though

[WingNut]

I'm one of six total heading up for the weekend.  This is my first time in that area, West Side near Limekiln Lake.  Should be a good time regardless.

[NYbuck50]

Prettiest country i've ever hunted.  I love being the only hunter for miles in some cases. As some have said, it is big country up there, and working knowledge of a gps/compass is a must. There are more deer than people realize but you have to cover alot of ground to find them. Often times ill cover several miles up there, and only have 1 or 2 small areas that deer are active in. Goodluck, you'll have a great time regardless of deer sightings

[Trial153]

Ran hounds in the area for years...nice area but deer are pocketed up with a ton of woods between pockets....

[NFA-ADK]

How did you do, any luck or good sign?

[WingNut]

I was only up there from 9/25 - 9/26.  We did a lot of scouting Friday and hunted Saturday and Sunday.

I actually found more sign than I anticipated, both deer and bear. The weekend was warm with still a lot of foliage still on the trees.

 

We camped on 101, right on Otter Brook, which is southeast of Icehouse Pond. 

 

I hunted a nice area just north west of Helldriver Pond.  Lots of sign, great potential for a fall hunt (snow would be perfect). It was still just a little to dense that time of year.

 

There was rumor (though I hadn't seen it, of a Bull Moose with a 50+" spread when we sign out Sunday afternoon.  

 

We did see one small spike, a couple of does on the roads when we were looking for firewood.

 

There was also a lot of traffic up there, a few sites were getting set up for the hunting season, 

 

It was a lot of fun, can't wait for change to get up there again.

[NFA-ADK]

Very nice, glad you had a good time!  Can't wait to get back up.  The largest doe herd in the area always seemed to be by lost ponds to hell diver and back east to the top of the road where the river meets the road/camp site.  One reason I liked to camp in the area, usually at lost ponds always good sign.  Got my first buck in this area and missed 2 more.  Great spot but it does get used a lot.