Letchworth

[DanielT]

Your right there...one year we were scouting in August in a wicked thicket...came out to find PP...he says..what's up guys...we said scouting ..he says ..Oh not checking on any plants
.we laughed and said no sir...he said..well that's too thick..we wouldn't go in there anyways

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[genesee_mohican]

On 11/10/2016 at 3:01 PM, ncountry said:

We've been here since Tuesday afternoon. Not a lot of deer seen by the 4 of us. We must be mostly in the wrong spots because most people we have talked to have been seeing quite a few.
Buddy shot a nice 10 though..

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You're buddy took a nice one there, congrats to him!  Hope the drag wasn't too long. Looks like I'm striking out with the bow again and in fact, this season, I have yet to even see anything decent.

[genesee_mohican]

18 hours ago, DaleP said:

Anyone else besides me surprised and disappointed to find they had lifted the antler restrictions rule in the park???  I know the guys in the cabin next to us were "stackin em up like cord wood" as i heard them say...  My feelings on this are not good and i believe the Park as we know it may not have as many mature bucks there in pretty short time..  it was always a rule i personally liked about Letchworth.  It at least made a guy think before he shot.  

I'm very disappointed and will be writing to the park to let them know.  i think the restrictions have been in place for about 10 years now and it's really helped.  There seem to be a lot of bucks that have a spike or 4pt rack the first year and they just need another year or 2 to blossom into a bruiser.

[DanielT]

They could at least say it's asked of hunters but not enforced

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[DanielT]

Awful quiet guys...let's here from the shotgunners....let's see some pics
Lots of deer this year

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[Core]

On 11/12/2016 at 7:51 PM, DanielT said:

They could at least say it's asked of hunters but not enforced

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IMO programs like that are doomed to fail due to the tragedy of the commons. Absent a strict, enforced guideline with penalties, you just won't change behavior, particularly on public land.

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Awful quiet guys...let's here from the shotgunners....let's see some pics
Lots of deer this year

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They are in lockdown mode here now. The big ones anyways. Have seen 3 smokers the last couple days with does locked down. Watched a beauty 9 with a doe down in the swale for a good hour and that boy was like a quarter horse. She would try to run and he would cut her off every time. Was pretty cool to sit above them and watch them do their thing. Shotgun should be interesting!


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[genesee_mohican]

Hardly anyone hunting over in my area this week, including me, due to work. But I did dive around to see who's out. I took the last day off to hunt and prepare for tomorrow. Quiet so far.


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[Four Season Whitetail's]

11 hours ago, genesee_mohican said:

Hardly anyone hunting over in my area this week, including me, due to work. But I did dive around to see who's out. I took the last day off to hunt and prepare for tomorrow. Quiet so far.


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Very few hunting. Bucks are going strong  Hunted the farm this morning and one of the guys killed a buck, went down the hill to get the pickup and 2 of our target bucks..11 and 8pt were going at it right in the Beefers pasture. The 11 had mouth wide open and go his tail beat by the 8. Then coming back in the Castile gate there was a pretty 9pt dogging a doe in the Everett Farm corn field and he was keeping her with him at all cost. 72 degrees at 2pm and he was still looking for some tail.

Shotgun should be interesting!

[DanielT]

Very few hunting. Bucks are going strong  Hunted the farm this morning and one of the guys killed a buck, went down the hill to get the pickup and 2 of our target bucks..11 and 8pt were going at it right in the Beefers pasture. The 11 had mouth wide open and go his tail beat by the 8. Then coming back in the Castile gate there was a pretty 9pt dogging a doe in the Everett Farm corn field and he was keeping her with him at all cost. 72 degrees at 2pm and he was still looking for some tail.
Shotgun should be interesting!

Awesome

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[DanielT]

Snow in the park?

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[Four Season Whitetail's]

13 hours ago, DanielT said:

Snow in the park?

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Closed!

[ncountry]

In truck headed home.Had a great time on the park again. It was the worst year we have had on the park as far as buck and doe sightings go though. we passed a handful of small bucks,. One 3.5 year or older 10 point, 1.5 year old 6, 2.5 year 6, and a wounded spike, and 3 doe were  shot.. we had intentions of sticking with antler restrictions but the spike was really struggling. All in all fairly sucessful, just not near as many stories of deer we wish were closer..

I'm really hoping the dropping  of antler restrictions isn't the beginning of the end of a great hunting area..

[genesee_mohican]

18 hours ago, ncountry said:

In truck headed home.Had a great time on the park again. It was the worst year we have had on the park as far as buck and doe sightings go though. we passed a handful of small bucks,. One 3.5 year or older 10 point, 1.5 year old 6, 2.5 year 6, and a wounded spike, and 3 doe were  shot.. we had intentions of sticking with antler restrictions but the spike was really struggling. All in all fairly sucessful, just not near as many stories of deer we wish were closer..

I'm really hoping the dropping  of antler restrictions isn't the beginning of the end of a great hunting area..

I put in a lot of time during archery and never saw a mature buck, and had just fewer deer sightings in general.....but I seem to wearing 'deer repellent' so far this season.  

I think they dropped the antler restrictions due to hunter's comments and low takes over the last few years. Now that I think about it...I would like to ask the park to share some info on the harvest reports.

[DIYhunter]

I've been watching this topic for a few years and I've scouted a few days this summer from the trails in the park but I haven't put anytime in a tree there yet. I've found plenty of deer trails so I know they were there during the summer, but things obviously change in the fall -- especially because some of these deer trails are right by the road where there is the most pressure.

All my hunting is on public land. My general rule of thumb is to get away from the road as far as I can. When I look at the park maps, it seems that you can't get more than 3/4 mile from the road. What are the general areas or terrain features you look for when picking a new spot? Are people just not willing to go down the ravine so it's okay to only be within a mile of the road as long as the terrain is challenging enough so you shouldn't see many other people? I'm trying to find a set up for early archery - when there are usually less hunters in the woods anyway.

Also - what kind of tree stands do you use? Any issues with theft? I usually carry a climber in and out so it would be nice to leave a hang-on in a tree.

[DanielT]

Read through...all info is here....the more ridges you can go down the better it seems....there are mature deer here but it's not easy work.....but every hunt is breathtakingly beautiful....love these woods

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[607 HUNTER]

This has been a very fun thread to read this year, I am sincerely looking forward to exploring the park this year and try to find a spot in the river bottom this year to do some archery hunting. I personally have never seen much more then 100" rack in the 16 years I've been deer hunting. From the sounds of it Letchworth may give me that opportunity to see some impressive racks next year. 

I plan on only hunting bow in the park next year, but was just curious if any one had any photos of harvested bucks during shotgun season in the park  ?  I know Four Seasons doesn't like to share photos- but its a new year, maybe you can show some !! lol  Or any harvested deer pics from the park this year would be an honor to see ! 

[Four Season Whitetail's]

On 1/10/2017 at 10:00 PM, 607 HUNTER said:

This has been a very fun thread to read this year, I am sincerely looking forward to exploring the park this year and try to find a spot in the river bottom this year to do some archery hunting. I personally have never seen much more then 100" rack in the 16 years I've been deer hunting. From the sounds of it Letchworth may give me that opportunity to see some impressive racks next year. 

I plan on only hunting bow in the park next year, but was just curious if any one had any photos of harvested bucks during shotgun season in the park  ?  I know Four Seasons doesn't like to share photos- but its a new year, maybe you can show some !! lol  Or any harvested deer pics from the park this year would be an honor to see ! 

The bucks on the park are a total different breed. They are part goat no doubt. After the first few days of gun the bucks shot seem smaller. The mature bucks know the nooks and crannies of their domain and use the wisely. You can spotlight at night and still see them but they just disappear in that bottom in the daylight. Smart Bucks!

[607 HUNTER]

That gets me extremely excited Four Seasons, I hope many mature bucks made it this season in the park. Hopefully by the park lifting the antler restriction this season does not mess it up to much next year. 

That is to bad, I was looking forward to seeing some of your guys gun season harvests on here. 

Thanks for the update Four Seasons, I can't wait to get out there this spring and see if I can manage my way down to the bottom. Just curious is there a safer side or recommended side to get down, East or West Side ? 

[Four Season Whitetail's]

2 hours ago, 607 HUNTER said:

That gets me extremely excited Four Seasons, I hope many mature bucks made it this season in the park. Hopefully by the park lifting the antler restriction this season does not mess it up to much next year. 

That is to bad, I was looking forward to seeing some of your guys gun season harvests on here. 

Thanks for the update Four Seasons, I can't wait to get out there this spring and see if I can manage my way down to the bottom. Just curious is there a safer side or recommended side to get down, East or West Side ? 

East side is much bigger and wilder than the West. The West is laid out pretty simple for anyone to get to the bottom if they so choose. East will get you away from the masses. Use the River Road as your starting point and you will have miles to play with with much of it pretty empty of hunters.

[genesee_mohican]

On 1/10/2017 at 10:00 PM, 607 HUNTER said:

This has been a very fun thread to read this year, I am sincerely looking forward to exploring the park this year and try to find a spot in the river bottom this year to do some archery hunting. I personally have never seen much more then 100" rack in the 16 years I've been deer hunting. From the sounds of it Letchworth may give me that opportunity to see some impressive racks next year. 

I plan on only hunting bow in the park next year, but was just curious if any one had any photos of harvested bucks during shotgun season in the park  ?  I know Four Seasons doesn't like to share photos- but its a new year, maybe you can show some !! lol  Or any harvested deer pics from the park this year would be an honor to see ! 

Your best bet is to study topo maps like mytopo.com and look at the satellite maps like google maps, and find an area where you want to start scouting. The topo maps will show areas where you can get to the bottom more easily as well as point out possible pinch points to hunt. Access is a bit limited on the east side and it takes some walking to get away from the area where everyone enters to hunt, but there's more land to roam in general on the east side. Like most of western NY, there are some nice mature deer in the park and surrounding areas so if you do your homework and put some time in scouting, you may get a crack at one...... but it's not easy. It's a neat place to hunt, but I would say it's more of a challenge due to the terrain, and just being public land where deer are pressured and tend to be more nocturnal once deer season opens.

[607 HUNTER]

Thank you very much for the intel Gentleman ! I look forward to hitting the woods in a couple of months 

[genesee_mohican]

Here is what the river bottom looks like now. My decision to leave a trail camera on the bottom during gun season would have been all good, but I injured my leg and wasn't able to get back there in time. It's up stream a few miles from this spot and 15 feet up a tree, but I believe the water was much higher at it's peak.

 

 

[Four Season Whitetail's]

7 hours ago, genesee_mohican said:

Here is what the river bottom looks like now. My decision to leave a trail camera on the bottom during gun season would have been all good, but I injured my leg and wasn't able to get back there in time. It's up stream a few miles from this spot and 15 feet up a tree, but I believe the water was much higher at it's peak.

 

 

The Hogsback was flooded big time. The few years that the bottom looked like this during hunting season were the best years ever. The Park flooded with water and the farm flooded with Whitetails.

[607 HUNTER]

WOW, I see what you guys are saying about the steep hill sides to get down to the river bottom. Are those tree tops down in the river bed normally an area that can be hunted when not flooded ? 

Hope that camera made it Genesee Mohican !