How has hunting or where you hunt changed for you over the years

[sailinghudson25]

Just curious about your adventures in this hobby/addiction/lifestyle......

 

I'll tell you about mine.

 

Where I hunt:  I moved across the Hudson river to the catskill foothills, but still bowhunt in Columbia county.  I am getting more on private land now.   The public land I hunt has been getting better.  It seems the DEC is more agreeable about logging out spots and I believe why and how they do it for habitat reasons.  I also bow hunt over food plots now, so the deer hunting shots are easier and I get a tag or two knocked down in no time.  I like to spend my October chasing the released pheasants.  I also have the pleasure of being in a hunting club in the Adirondacks.  My main archery place is not as it used to be, but is still good.  The swamp behind the property has lowered about a foot.  I used to get a massive bottleneck of deer because it was the only spot for about 2 miles where a deer could cross easily across the swamp.  I think they're toughing it out on other spots, but still use my spot.  Most years I get a PA hunting license.  I like the late flintlock season in January and I am about 90 minutes east of the Upper Delaware river valley area.  You got to really like hunting to put up with hunting in January.

 

What I hunt:   I have been taking a shot on out of state lotterys like NH Moose and CO Elk.  A bit pricey venture, but I think it would be worth it. 

 

How I hunt:   I've been going more primitive when it comes to gun hunting.  I'm getting into old flintlocks, My distance hasn't decreased because I small lot and woods hunt, but I need to practice more because I only have 1 quick shot and I am using open iron sights.  However, I have put 2 shots down on the same animal and harvested it once.  I've also had the chance to shot a 2nd deer after reloading, if I desired to do it or had the extra tag for it.

 

Added things:  As said before I added the hobby of building old flintlocks, but I'm also learning gardening skills, plant identification, as well as forestry techniques.  My other hobby of hot rodding has drifted into getting a 4wd old car going so I can go there and tow my tractor or ATV in there too.  I also added the interest in camping in the winter.  With a woodstove outfitters tent of course.  Now I can enjoy the outdoors year round. 

Edited August 30, 2015 by sailinghudson25

[Uncle Nicky]

SOOO many changes, not sure I can list them all, but here goes:

1) 40 years ago, deer were on the rebound. They were never seen in suburban areas, only on farms or in the big woods. Now, they seem to be overpopulated in high human population areas.

2). Everyone small game hunted. Archery, turkey hunting, and waterfowl, and muzzleloaders were thought of as novelties.

3). It was an odd day when you DIDN'T hear pheasants cackling in the background.

4). VERY few women hunted

5). Very few people hunted from a treestand, and if they did, it was a permanent wood stand built by hand (I DO remember a guy who rigged a car bucket seat to a tree).

6). Clothes were not very warm 40 years ago, boots were worse. Everyone wore Woolrich during deer season.

7). Competition was nowhere as fierce as it is today, not only for hunting land, but "antler envy" also.

[Firenailer]

35 years ago (or so), 2 friends and I had access to a parcel of land up in Cairo that was owned by a couple of other friends who bought land primarily for investment. It was honestly the time of our lives! We had nearly 60 acres of private posted land to ourselves to hunt and camp on.

We all took deer and turkey out of there every year and enjoyed the camaraderie of campfires, cooking over the coals, telling tales over a few adult beverages in the evenings and hunting out of our tents. When the snow came we'd motel it at the ultra luxurious Cairo Valley Lodge. ( a true dive if there ever was one, but at least there weren't any bedbugs!).

After a few years one guy sold his due to a divorce and the 8 left over acres was soon surrounded by houses. After that we pretty much hunted wood lots around our own homes in Putnam and bow hunted Westchester, but it was just day trips and wasn't the same.

Eventually time went on and both buddies moved out of State and that was pretty much the end of it. I hunted with another good friend for awhile who had a camper on 75 acres up in cochecton and that was great until he sold it off. I've tried hunting clubs and such but never found the same feeling I had back in those early days.

I go out once or twice a year now on state land in Putnam but it's more just to spend a day in the woods than hunt really. ( although if I see one I want it gets a hot load of 44 mag and I get to enjoy some venison!)

[Larry]

I started hunting in 1972 was my first year. There were still a lot of pheasant around in Hilton, Kendall and Greece I did a lot of hunting where the hospital is in Greece now. Cut my teeth on deer in Letchworth state park and Trimmer rd. in Parma. You got 1 tag only, could be used for a buck or doe in bow season, and just a buck during gun. If you killed a deer in bow you were done. Unless you were in a group that got a party permit. You needed anywhere from 3 to 5 guys on a permit and you could shot a buck or doe on it and could not be used in bow season. All tag had to be mailed in whether you got a deer or not. Drives were the game of the day during gun season.

Edited August 30, 2015 by Larry

[NFA-ADK]

I use to save my tags for the first four days of the ADK early bow season, now that is over as of this year.  No more incentive to hunt ADK early bow now.  I picked up the bow in 2001 and got back into it in 2011.  Started hunting LI a few years ago for more practice on hunting low population areas like the ADK.  Starting to switch towards harvesting doe in high population area's where I now hunt private property.  Heavy restrictions on buck anter size on the private area's, I am told it must be in the 130 class or better to shoot, started this about 2 years ago.   Bow has changed my hunting time from around 2-3 weeks to about 4 months but by January I am pretty burned out.

 

I do not hunt as many southern zone area's as I use to and spend most of my extra time chasing deer on LI as it is close easy and fun.  Not much has changed with my ADK hunting.  Still go to Moose River Plains and gave up on trying to convince the hunting party to try another area.  Still hunting, ambush and tracking are my preferred methods along with calling them in which is just too much fun and the most fulfilling way to hunt for me.  I also enjoy getting new hunters into deer and deer hunting and have found it to be just as rewarding as getting the deer myself.

[Pygmy]

I have been hunting over 50 years, so there are SOOOO many changes, I'll just touch on a few...

 

1.   Land use here in the southern tier has changed from agricultural to recreational.. Most of the farmers who owned most of the farms when I started hunting are dead or retired, and their relatively large land parcels have been broken up into smaller parcels owned  by people from out of the area.. It's hard to walk very far anymore without encountering a property line, and people understandably, want to reserve their land for their own use. 

 

2.  Not very much of the farmland was posted.  That land that was posted  was generally available for locals to hunt..Neighbors let neighbors hunt..The posters were for "city hunters" and "flatlanders" who were  generally considered to be unsafe and unethical, which of course was not true..Some of the worst offenders were, and still are, the locals..

 

3.  Hardly anybody had a scope on their shotguns..Ithaca Deerslayers with rifle type sights were considered cutting edge technology.  The majority of hunters just used the bead sight on their smoothbore shotgun for shooting slugs.

 

4.  Turkeys were just getting established and were huntable in only a few western counties.. Even then they were spread very thin.  Very few people knew how to hunt them.  In the fall they were generally driven like deer. Anyone who had even a minimum amount of turkey hunting and calling savvy was thought to possess mystical powers.

 

5.  Everybody drove deer, and nearly ALL the land got hunted...This . plus the fact that relatively few doe permits were issued resulted in seeing quite a few deer on some days. Today, due to the amount of property that is not hunted or perhaps only hunted a few days per season, deer have countless "refuges" where they can avoid hunting pressure.

 

2.

[Doc]

Hunting access:

When I started hunting, posted signs were an oddity. I could walk as far as my legs would carry me without ever seeing one. There was no such thing as obtaining permission to deer hunt because all of our neighbors were farmers and none of them had any love for deer. Also, hunters seemed to have the good sense to stay away from houses and farm buildings.

 

Today, posting is an act of self-defense. Every parcel is ringed with posted signs and for good reason. Some areas are even fenced, not to keep deer in, but to keep people out.

 

Bowhunting:

Other than the two other family members that hunted the hill, There was no other bowhunters around. I had been bowhunting for 4 years before I saw another bowhunter in the woods. It was nearly a semi-wilderness experience and this was state land that we bow-hunted.

 

Today, the woods are stuffed with bowhunters, small-game hunters, hikers, bikers, bird watchers, turkey hunters, etc., etc.  Same state property, but used by more people than I used to even imagine existed.

 

Gun hunting:

Same state property.It seemed there were hunters behind every tree. That is an exaggeration, but often you could track a herd of deer running across a hill simply from the gunshots. Even though fewer in number, the shooting was kind of like a war zone. Because there was no super clothing like today, hunters got cold, got on their feet a lot earlier on opening day and kept the deer moving. Deer drives were a lot more common, so those secret spots that deer head for today were constantly being invaded and the deer forced out to run the gauntlet over and over.

 

Today, the first few hours of the day sound like the old days, but then things get real quiet as the deer find their sanctuaries, and all the hunters stay hunkered down at the base of a tree or perched like birds in their portable treestands. Nobody moves .... not the hunters or the deer. Before long, the stink of humans is still in the woods, so the deer begin to operate in a nocturnal fashion, and the hunters, because they now have space-age clothing for warmth, continue to sit like lumps. Shots get to be rare and only happen when a deer takes sanctuary too close to where hunters might encounter them on their way out to breakfast or the beer joints.

 

Later in the week, state parking lots become vacant, and the shooting becomes so scarce that at times you wonder if there really is a hunting season in progress.

 

It really is no surprise why the hunter numbers are faltering. The activity of hunting has changed immensely .... and not necessarily for the better. It is definitely safer, but I often wonder if that is because hunters attend only the party of opening day, get bored and start doing other things.

 

Attitudes and expectations:

Years ago, hunters took their chances hunting the deer as they found them. It was not all that frequent that guys would actually get a deer, so the excitement and appreciation of the act of hunting had more to do with the experience and the possibility that you might see a deer and maybe even get a shot.

 

Today, TV has had its effects. The expectations that hunters go afield with is that they will duplicate what they see on TV. They imagine that they are entitled to a record book buck, and that if that doesn't happen, they are a miserable failure. There is now even a scoring system to keep track of whether you are a winner or a loser at hunting ... lol.

 

We have decided that if we can't hunt them as we find them, we can turn them into a form of livestock to accommodate our hunting. Whole industries have grown up around growing our own trophies. It has been interesting to watch as people throw thousand of dollars and man-hours into farming activities to have easier hunting and more widely recognized, high scoring, animals. It has become an attitude of "a trophy at any cost". Yes hunting is a very different activity with completely different attitudes and required expectations. If it is faltering, it is only because we have polluted it with commercialization and turning it into an activity of modern-day technology, working as diligently as possible to remove challenge and accomplishment from it. An evolution? ..... Maybe so, but toward what end?

 

 

 

 

[Huntscreek]

I Have hunted the same Farm since I could hunt. My Family and I always hunted together, and Opening Day & Thanksgiving was a Holiday. After Years gone by Family moved away & dad is to old to hunt like he use to. Its me and my Kids that have replaced them. It use to be all friends & neighbors no need for posted sign we all knew the area well. We were happy to hear each got a nice buck or a kids 1st. We shared more and respected each other. I hunted traditional Bow for years, it was rare to run into another hunter during bow season. The one Farm to the North was owned by a Non hunter, use to count 9-10 deer a morning coming off it, or summer site seeing before dusk the whole Family would drive around counting deer. A family of Brown your down own it now and its rare to see more than 1 come off it, and stopped seeing them in the fields. We use to kill only what we ate and managed the land ourselves not no more. During bow you could let small bucks pass but now your hunting to see the small if you lucky. Than the Amish moved in and Last season showed how hard the deer are being hit. A place that produced many families with enjoyment and Meat slowly disappeared. If we drive 15 mins away to hunt on state land were there are no Amish we see a lot of deer, but the good old days here on the hill are behind us. Many of us travel to hunt now, plus everyone posts heavy now except brown its down to the north. You can see more people than deer here during the season now. I know people say its winter kill or this or that, but the truth is we always have rough winters here but always had plenty of Deer. So I came to except if there not here its not because of Nature. I miss seeing 3yr olds and better and seeing 4 or more shooters a day. Land has not changed the way its hunted has.

Edited August 31, 2015 by Huntscreek

[airedale]

In the last fifty something years the biggest single change has been the demise of the family farms in my neck of the woods. As they folded they were split up into building lots and sold. The farmers did not post their land as they do today and welcomed responsible-safe hunters as most viewed wild game, especially Deer almost as vermin.

 

Today almost every farm I hunted small and big game on is gone and now the land is dotted with homes where there were once crops. What farms that do exist are now posted.

 

Small game is nowhere near as popular as it once was, Deer hunting now dominates. 

 

 

[45/70]

The cost of my license has gone up & UP and UP.

$ 93.00 last week .

Ammunition $ 5.00 a box now $ 40.00 a box.

[Pygmy]

I have my 1966 small game license right here...$3.25...

Attached is a duck stamp ..$3.00..Duck stamps went from $15 to $25 this year..

Turkey permits were free...

[45/70]

I remember when you got

A big game lic.and a small game lic. That was it.

[45/70]

I always had hunting dogs wile growing up till I went into the service. I had coon dogs and or beagles. It would scare me to death today to turn my dog loose

Ware I live anymore. , to much traffic on even on my back roads. You can't walk 50 yds. With out passing a dead critter that's ware my rabbit or dog would be.

[Core]

I have never hunted. Nobody in my family has ever hunted; I have never heard of an ancestor hunting (probably one did at some point). On my wife's side her grandfather used to hunt and she has an uncle who used to.

 

This will be my first year, so for me I never did it. I see some interesting posts here but some sense of loss as well, but I think that's common in hobbies that change over time.

 

I see people lament the past, but I also know that the percent of people who are hunting is about half what it was even 20 years ago, and at the same time deer numbers are the highest they've been in civilized history, with many states actively trying to suppress population. I also read that the general public's view on hunting has actually gotten quite a lot more positive during this time period. Although access to private land is difficult in some cases, I think 90% of NY hunters hunt on private land. With less hunters and more deer, shouldn't this be a time of celebration? Or am I missing something as only a newbie can?

[Big_Bean_Dog]

One October Sunday morning, 35+ years ago, I was walking home along the road at about 8am; a pair of rabbits in one hand and my unloaded 870 in the other. The local officer pulled up next to me an asked, "what did you get?" Without breaking stride, I showed him the rabbits and that the gun was unloaded; the action was open. Told him what field I took them from too. His reply was congratulatory and he lamented he might have to make time to hunt for him self. That happened in lower Rockland Co.

Imagine that encounter today and how it would differ.

Beandog

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[BUCKANDAQUARTER]

Courtesy in the woods seems to be going to the wayside more and more as the years go by.

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[nyantler]

The big change for me has been the clothing... finding a good pair of boots and gloves 40 years ago was tough... the introduction of fleece dropped a bunch of weigh from the wool I wore back then without sacrificing warmth... The only thing that really didn't change for me are my weapons, which remain very traditional. I also have consistently made more stringent criteria for how and what animals I take... the harder the hunt, the more I enjoy it.

[Doc]

I see people lament the past, but I also know that the percent of people who are hunting is about half what it was even 20 years ago, and at the same time deer numbers are the highest they've been in civilized history, with many states actively trying to suppress population. I also read that the general public's view on hunting has actually gotten quite a lot more positive during this time period. Although access to private land is difficult in some cases, I think 90% of NY hunters hunt on private land. With less hunters and more deer, shouldn't this be a time of celebration? Or am I missing something as only a newbie can?

The amount of people afield really is two different stories. There is the bowhunting story, and the gun hunting story. When I began bowhunting, it was an oddity. Nobody knew much about it, most didn't even know it existed. It felt that we had the woods all to ourselves, and deer patterns could actually be determined and used to our advantage without the interferences of crowds of hunters and non-hunters keeping the deer in a super-defensive mindset and an ever-changing set of patterns. The quality of the hunt was far superior too in that there was a level of aloneness that I have never since experienced on the land that I traditionally hunt. I'm not sure how important that feature is to anyone but me, but the whole atmosphere of the bowhunt was spectacularly low key and individual, and it all felt like a more natural, traditional event of being alone and part of nature all through the hunt.

 

The gun season is the reverse story. Yes the gun hunters have thinned out considerably. Probably no where near as much as half, but yes the shrinking of hunter numbers does seem to be significant. Now here is the strange thing. For me that is not a good thing. What you have now is enough hunters to keep deer nocturnal and on edge, but not enough to keep them moving. So after opening day, the deer are in their super-defensive mode, and only enough hunters afield to stink up the woods reminding the deer that it is not yet time to safely wander around in daylight hours.

 

The DEC is claiming a lot more deer, and I have no reason to doubt that. But in my first reply, I noted that the fewer deer of years ago seemed to be a whole lot more visible and available because the higher number of hunters kept them moving more. Guys were forced onto their feet more because of clothing deficiencies. There was a lot of walking going on in that orange army that poked into every sanctuary that the deer thought they had. So it is all a mixed blessing. More deer, but fewer hunters that all refuse to move all day to move them.

 

In terms of access, I haven't heard anybody claim that that is not a rapidly growing problem, including the DEC. That may wind up to be the demise of hunting.

 

Now, I will admit that all these things that I am describing depend on how much control the hunter has over his hunting grounds. Those that are in a position of booting people off their land, and defining how hunts will be conducted will have a much different view of what's good and bad about how the evolution of hunting has been going. My comments are from one who has hunted primarily public lands and some rather heavily pressured private lands.

 

[Core]

Thanks for the insight, Doc. I can tell you're not overly impressed with stand hunting, and the few hunters I know only do it this way. One guy, who bow hunts, and does quite well, dismissed still hunting as not worth the effort. I have to think it's more satisfying to get that close to a deer with a bow than letting it come to you as you're not moving. In at least two cases it's because the guys are hunting small plots of land so more or less are forced to sit there and hope something happens.

 

Maybe DEC should incentivize owners of huge plots of land to allow public hunting, similar to this concept: http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/32722.html

[grampy]

Tha biggest changes in 42 hunting seasons have been in myself. In the beginning any legal deer was fair game and a shooter. Meat for our family was the first priority. As I had six brothers, a sister and a single mom, the meat was put to good use! Now, although I still love eating venison, I'm much more selective in the deer I kill. Will kill a doe for the freezer, and let the younger bucks walk. And I'm willing to eat my buck tag if the right buck does not present itself for a quick, clean kill. I'm much more selective now than I was back then.

Another big change is it is much more difficult dragging out deer, going up and down these ridges and climbing trees than it was in the beginning.

When I started hunting I couldn't sit for very long. I had to go after the deer because I didn't have the patience to wait them out. Although I got good enough, still hunting to kill two of my best bucks in their beds. I now prefer to sneak into the thick spots and wait them out.

I have come a long way in my hunting journey. Even though I am now closer to the end of it. I still am awed by nature's splendor. And still learning how to be a better hunter.

[Doc]

Thanks for the insight, Doc. I can tell you're not overly impressed with stand hunting, and the few hunters I know only do it this way. One guy, who bow hunts, and does quite well, dismissed still hunting as not worth the effort. I have to think it's more satisfying to get that close to a deer with a bow than letting it come to you as you're not moving. In at least two cases it's because the guys are hunting small plots of land so more or less are forced to sit there and hope something happens.

 

Maybe DEC should incentivize owners of huge plots of land to allow public hunting, similar to this concept: http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/32722.html

Actually, stand hunting is all I do during bow season. Also, Every opener of the gun season I make an all day hunt from one of my ground blinds from bow season. The idea there is to catch those deer that are still trying to figure out what is happening as the hunters come filing into the woods. The rest of gun season, it is all still-hunting ..... primarily because everyone else is still sitting in their stands. What you have is the overwhelming majority of gun hunters sitting, and the deer laying where ever they feel safe, and nothing is moving in the woods. Have you ever noticed how the shooting sounds a bit like a battle zone up until about 9:30 or 10:00 and then everything begins to quiet down for the rest of the season. What has just happened is the deer got caught flat-footed with this sudden invasion and for a brief time run around from one hunter to the next. And very quickly, the figure it out that if they don't run in a panic through the woods, nobody shoots at them. They are not wizards, but the obvious usually does occur to them rather quickly. So now you have everybody sitting in the woods, and all the deer are also sitting still. And so goes the rest of the season.

 

The point I was making was that back in the old days, that 9:30 to 10:00 time slot is back where guys used to start getting frozen out of their stands and beginning to start thinking of doing some still hunting. Those boots and socks just didn't do the job very much past that time. The coats and layers under them also did not do the excellent job of protecting hunters past a few hours of sitting, and they were forced to start walking. The result? ..... more encounters with what deer there were and like a pin-ball machine, the fleeing deer kept running into more hunters. Today, if they make it past the 10:00 am time slot, they are good for the rest of the season. They just go where they found safety, and stay there. Meanwhile the hunters go directly to their stands and sit there all day. That gets pretty boring.

 

The good thing about bow season is that the intruders are not quite as high in volume and hopefully you can stand hunt and hope that no one upsets the patterns you have worked hard to learn. However, that advantage that is so important with a short-range weapon like a bow is getting less and less possible with all the hikers and bikers, and bird watchers, etc.

 

But regarding your thought on my opinions of stand hunting, all I can say is that it all depends on what season it is and what technique seems most likely to have me encounter a deer. That is the bottom line that determines what tactic I use.

[Core]

 

 

 

Today, if they make it past the 10:00 am time slot, they are good for the rest of the season. They just go where they found safety, and stay there. Meanwhile the hunters go directly to their stands and sit there all day. That gets pretty boring.

I suppose it would! I wonder how many deer have been scared off by the sound of people snoring in their stands.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Core

[Fletch]

Over 30 years since my first opening day up in the Adirondacks. My dad and I would drive up Friday afternoon to my grandparents camp in St. Regis Falls. There was a group of us, my gramps, uncle, cousin, usually a family friend or two. I wore wool pants and a red and black Woolrich coat. Never had a pair of boots back then that would keep my feet warm more than 30 minutes!! lol If someone shot a buck, any buck, it was a big deal. No doe permits up north back then. It was a couple years of openers before I saw my first northern buck!

 

Then I remember the southern opener. You needed 2,3 or 4 guys per one doe permit. 81 from the north country was stuffed full of northern boys headed south to hunt opening weekend. We would have 4-8 northern kin and friends come down. Then seeing all the deer on the cars headed back north later in the week.

 

We did a lot more drives, I still hunted a ton back then just to keep warm and not get bored. No one used scopes, I carried a lever action 35 up north and a 12 gauge with iron sights down south.

 

These days there are just too many "suburban" no hunt deer sanctuaries. The deer know where they are safe real quick. Lot more deer now but less daytime movement except on controlled properties.

 

My places to hunt now most of the time are small and if I still hunted them they would be ruined for the rest of the season. So I am a big sitter now, though not entirely satisfied with that.

 

I think hunting is a lot safer now, hunters more comfortable with all the high tech gear but there seams to be a lot more hunters that trespass, steal or just rude than in the old days.

 

I miss the groups and hunting camps of the old days. There were a lot less other options in the old days as well on free time activities. Just kids sports these days compared to then........

Edited September 1, 2015 by Fletch