Hight Tor WMA

[Bleitten04]

Anyone ever hear of it?  Good or bad or any results would be appreciated.  I'm thinking of heading there Friday for a little hunt/scout session. 

[Contender]

I believe it is Hi tor you speak of. It is just outside of Naples and is big. Parts of it are steep.

Gets pounded heavy on opening day but there are lots of deer and turkeys there. pressure slacks off after opening day. Hunted for years on the next hill and always heard shooting coming from the state land at Hi tor.

Hunted it quite a bit 30 years ago and it was really good then. I assume it is still that way .

[Bleitten04]

Alright thank you and yea it is High Tor I think.

[Contender]

I believe it is about 6000 acres. It has varying habitat and terrain . Very nice place.

You will have to double check this but parts (if not all) of it are in Yates county which I believe went to allowing rifles a couple years ago. It is very close to the yates county line as I could see it from the other hill and we were in Ontario county. I believe the major road that goes thru Naples is the county line.

Good luck

[Doc]

The following link goes to a DEC page that talks about Hi-Tor, complete with maps:

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/24439.html

By the way, I am surprised to see it referred to as High Tor. I have lived in the area all my life and it has always been called Hi Tor. I have no idea when they changed the name.

Doc

[Bleitten04]

Thanks guys Ill post how I make out.  I'm gonna try to put my tracking skills together and see if I cant cut a track or two.  Never been succussfull with this but have never had a ton of property to try it on. 

[Bleitten04]

Doc,

I checked that out before and some other places also.  I can't find a real good map of the area.  Do you know where I might be able to find this or if there is a better map on the DEC site?

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Doc,

I checked that out before and some other places also.  I can't find a real good map of the area.  Do you know where I might be able to find this or if there is a better map on the DEC site?

You can probably get a little more info here since it is a topo

http://www.trails.com/topomap.aspx?trailid=XFP001-023

[Bleitten04]

Alright thanks

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I remember years ago when I got  the New York Sportsman Mag, they always had a center pull out that was a featured area in the state. I saved them and one was Hi Tor. Whis I could remember what I did with that nice binder of the maps. They also had write ups telling what and where in each area.

I just checked the for on line archives but found none. I don't know what you have for free time but I bet a library would have them in their files. They were good maps and good write ups

[WNYBuckHunter]

Go to the DEC interactive map on their site, you can get very detailed maps, aerial photos, topo, etc on there of anywhere in the state.

I used hunt Hi Tor, years ago. Almost got shot on opening day one year, never went back.

[Contender]

I hear ya WNY, I wouldnt go anywhere near there on opening day. I did very well in Bow season and late gun season years ago. There are so many people there on opening day all the deer get pushed off to the adjacent private lands and that's it. the pressure falls off and the deer come back before the end of the season.

The shooting I would hear over there on opening day is constant so they do keep the deer moving. If you into that sort of thing. I tend to stay a long ways from any crowds in gun season.

I went over there in spring turkey about 3 years ago and there were deer and turkey all over the place. It is very good in turkey season as you can walk for miles on the logging roads and call as you go. I have picked up a few spring gobblers doing just that. I believe the Finger lakes trail goes thru there too. Opening day of Spring turkey is also quite crowded.

[Bleitten04]

I hear ya WNY, I wouldnt go anywhere near there on opening day. I did very well in Bow season and late gun season years ago. There are so many people there on opening day all the deer get pushed off to the adjacent private lands and that's it. the pressure falls off and the deer come back before the end of the season.

The shooting I would hear over there on opening day is constant so they do keep the deer moving. If you into that sort of thing. I tend to stay a long ways from any crowds in gun season.

I went over there in spring turkey about 3 years ago and there were deer and turkey all over the place. It is very good in turkey season as you can walk for miles on the logging roads and call as you go. I have picked up a few spring gobblers doing just that. I believe the Finger lakes trail goes thru there too. Opening day of Spring turkey is also quite crowded.

Yea I don't like the crowds for deer season because you never know who is pushing what or where.  I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go check it out though hoping that there will not be to many people there now for ML. 

[Bleitten04]

Well I went down to High Tor today.  Its a really nice place.  When driving through right when I first got there about 20+ turkeys crossed the road.  Then I saw 5 more on the other side where they had came from.  Found a parking spot and went for a walk.  Came across what looked like a pretty fresh set of tracks and decided to follow them.  A few hundred yards and I came across a fresh pile of droppings.  I went probably about another hundred yards and was coming up on a set of pines.  I was thinking to myself that there might be a deer or two in there because the tracks were going straight into them.  Right on the edge of the pines it was pretty thick and I broke a couple of branches.  I hear a snort and look up and two deer are running away.  They were only about 50 yards away : .  I waited about 15 or 20 minutes to let them go where they were going and then started on there tracks again.  I followed them until I could tell that they were walking and not running any more.  At this point in time the tracks led to a spot where there were many tracks spread around and about 4 places where deer were bedded down.  I lost the tracks in this area but when I exited this spot I did see another set of tracks that seemed prettey fresh.  I followed them for a few hundred yards and they were going down a hill that was pretty steep and just kept going.  I thought about what the heck I was going to do if I got a deer down there so I decided to turn around and grab some lunch.  Saw another hunter up by the road and I talked to him for a while and he was telling me the area was very good and he has had pretty good luck this year.  He told me a spot to go for the evening where something will probably come by.  I sat there for about 3 1/2 hours until dark but didn't see anything.  O well its how things go.  Very nice place though and I will def. be making another trip there either next bow season or again for ML.  Maybe even for some spring gobblers. 

[Doc]

Actually, Hi Tor is huge and there are several parking lots. I do think that if you wanted to avoid the crowds, and had a lot of energy, you ought to be able to get away from most of the hunters. However, it is a place where you might want to keep track of how much uphill you might have to drag a deer if you are successful. It's pretty easy to get sucked in by the great views and the "deery-looking" country you will find there. If you're not careful, you might find yourself with a dead deer and a mile of so of steep uphill drag ahead of you.

Here's a thought: Check out the topo maps of the area. Mark some of the parking spots on the maps. Two guys with 2 cars. Park one at the bottom of the hill and drive the other to the top of the hill and still-hunt your way down zig-zagging along the side hill. That's a great way to get to know a section of it with a much easier drag if you do get something. You also have a good chance of finding area that might scare off other hunters because of the hill. 

Doc

[Contender]

I did just that about 30 years ago Doc. It was early archery and I walked way back in before daylight expecting that there would be alot of hunters near the road , it was lightly raining and I didnt think I would be staying too long so I didnt climb the stand I put in the week before. I was standing at the bottom of my stand tree and suddenly I feel something bump my left arm. It was wet and I couldnt hear anything. A nice doe came from behind and bumped my left arm. We startled each other and the deer trotted off about 15 yards and looked back. I slowly drew and put a good shot on it. The doe ran 30 yards and stopped again where it soon fell over. This all happened in about 30 seconds.

I dragged that deer up one hill, down that one, up another one and down that one. I had one more hill to go up but I just couldnt move the deer another inch. I was standing there wondering what I was going to do when I see a pickup coming down the trail. I stopped the guy and he was in there cutting some firewood. I asked if he could drive me and the deer up to my truck. He said he left the gate open and to just drive down and get the deer. What a relief!!!  I never deer hunted in that spot again!!!!

As you said Doc, if we had 2 trucks with us we would do just that. It worked out well as usually connect at various points and you can split up and turkey hunt all the way to the other truck. Took almost until noon to get there....

Bleitten, There are 3 pieces to this parcel, The big piece is probably where you were. North of there , there is a swamp section and the South hill section which is very steep. You can drive up there on a winding dirt road. It takes you all the way to the top. When you park at the top, you will only go down as you walk away from the truck. I wouldnt deer hunt there because of this but you can approach roosted turkeys from above and it is loaded with birds. Just park ,go thru the field to the edge of the woods and listen in the am.

When you leave South hill, go back the way you came . If you go the other way, it is straight down for a couple miles. I burned up my brakes on the way down and it was a muddy and rutted road!!!

Good luck and thanks for asking about Hi Tor....I had some very good hunts there and love the place. I am alot older now ,and I am sure those hills would be  alot steeper now :'(

[Doc]

Yeah, all my life I have been a hill hunter and have hunted most of the Naples and Bristol area. So I am always paying attention to how I would drag a deer back out. That's why I always hunt in places where a downhill drag is the only possibility. I'm way past being able to drag deer up any serious hills.....lol.

The 2-vehicle trick is something that I have use many times over the years and it allows me to hunt areas where a lot of people wouldn't think of going. The South Hill area is one that I never tried hunting. That one could be quite a challenge.

Doc

[Bleitten04]

I think South Hill is where I might have been because I did go up a real twisted road.  I would have to look at a map again to check but the parking lot was real small and could only fit 3 vehicles in it.  Across from the parking lot was all posted and there was a small field of goldenrod right in front of the parking area and the hiking trail that goes through there was just to the left of the parking area.  Anyways its a great place and really nice area to spend a day.  Thanks for the posts guys!!!

[Doc]

Parrish Hill Road is a super twisted, corkscrew road. That part of Hi Tor is directly across (east) from South Hill. Both hills are real steep, and the roads for both of them are no prize. In fact the road coming off the south end of South Hill is downright scary when it's covered with snow.

[gfdeputy2]

been coming here for 5 years or so great place during bow season not so much rifle used to go the second week of rifle but when you spend the week worried about getting shot at & I had a close call we decided to bow hunt it instead it is rough country

well the definition of tor is

1. a prominent rock or pile of rocks on a hill

2. a high rocky hill

that is an understatement for some of this area