Lows Lake solo canoe in deer hunt 2016

[Robin]

Today's my last day of getting my gear in order, as always I have to be careful not to try to bring too much crap. I'll be putting in tomorrow up at Lows Lake in the Adirondacks. I have a few things that I have changed to try and make it a more comfortable week or so. 

I'm camping at one of the western campsites to avoid the n/w wind, and I'll still be able to paddle over to my hunting area around Tomar Mt. when the wind kicks up Saturday. I'm also bringing in wood for the wood stove from a local supply to get me thru the first few days. Friday will be my wood processing day and I hope to have a good supply stashed for the week. 

I'm only paddling a 15' wood canvas Chestnut Chum, so space is limited. In the event I get a deer, it will have to be boned out right at the kill site. I have some decent packs coming along and I also have a good pulley system to hoist a deer if necessary.

So, one more day of getting my outfit ready and some "honey do's" done then I'm off for the big woods.

 

 

[moog5050]

Good luck.  Sounds like a fun adventure!

[chas0218]

My buddy has a set of boots like those, he swears they are the best boots he has ever owned.

[Fletch]

Good luck, stay dry and have a great time. Looking forward to reading about your trip!!

[grampy]

Robin, sounds like you got everything in good order. This is one of my favorite threads of the entire year! This is how hunting was done 100 years ago! I admire your woodsmanship skills, photography and written descriptions of your backwoods adventures! Wishing you the very best of luck, good weather! And keep safe out there! 

[Robin]

Well I stopped at my 85 yo father in laws place today to say goodbye and check up on him, and he said "your looking at snow opening day young fella, be careful" He was watching the weather channel and is as pumped as I am to get back to the big woods

Yes, looks like snow and lots of it. I will spend Friday getting my camp ready, and I will be prepared for an early start Saturday morning (opening day), not that often you can get some fresh snow on the ground opening day. 

I think the front will move thru pretty fast so if I get on a track I will be able to follow it with a safe trail back out. Thelegs aint what they once where, but just to get on an ADK  bucks track would be pretty neat.

I'm all set, going to bed before the debate (told my wife I'm not interested in two old people arguing) and I'll be at the put in at Lows Lake about 8 am, hope to beat the winds/rain and get my camp all set early, get some rest, then process fire wood for the coming week on Friday

I'll report in next week..

[DirtTime]

Good luck and enjoy the camping and hunting.

[grampy]

Wish I could be with you up there! Good luck! Look forward to you checking in.

[Robin]

I got back last night after 7 days in my wall tent at Lows Lake. The weather was an issue for me, on the way in I got caught in a cold rain which turned into a downpour so I made camp only 3 miles from my truck rather than the usual 12 miles in. I never took advantage of any breaks in the weather to move camp,, just too much effort to break a wet camp,  paddle and portage the extra distance and set up again. So I hunted a few times around Hitchens Pond but the wind and cold rain sucked the desire out of me, I even passed on going out the morning of fresh snow. I also felt my age this trip more than ever, just a fact of life. I did enjoy plenty of camp time and just being out there made it all worth it. The interior frame really held up well one night when the wind gusts had to be up in the 40-50 mph zone, trees where snapping all night long. That was a long night!

 

and my favorite past time...

[Core]

Wow that's a pretty cool trip. I want to do something like this at some point. Good luck!

[BizCT]

Always a great thread. How'd you make out? see anything?

[BKhunter]

Been dying to do a trip like this. Did you put anything on the ground?

[Robin]

12 minutes ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

Always a great thread. How'd you make out? see anything?

Nothing, my two big efforts where paddling back up 5 beaver dams looking for sigh or activity. I spent the better part of a day there and came out in a cold 35 degree rain...and then I spent some time sitting on the edge of a swamp on a well used trail but nothing.

[Robin]

Here's a video of the trip.

 

[wolc123]

I left for home about noon on opening day of rifle season, from my location in WMU 6C, about 40 mi NW of your location.  When I got up there, a week prior on opening day of ML, about 75% of the leaves were still on the trees and it was just past "peak" fall scenery time.   By the time I left, the monsoon rains and winds had taken down almost all the leaves, and I did not get to see any snow.   I got to see the lake at the lowest level I have ever seen, and the highest, all in one week.  The weather the first half of the week was like mid-summer, which had me spending more time fishing than hunting.  I tried a lot in deeper water for lake trout, without even a bite, but the smallmouth were very cooperative in the shallow water.   I shot a medium sized doe just outside camp with my ML on the warmest morning, and had to run her down to Lowville for processing.  I normally cut up my own, but the temperature was supposed to get up to 80 that day so I had to "sub it out" that time.   Those folks down at Nolt's did an excellent job at an excellent price (less than $50 skinned, cut, ground and wrapped).  We did enjoy the tenderloins with eggs for breakfast up at camp and they were good.

I hunted a fair amount over the week and had run-ins with (6) deer, all while still-hunting.   I did not see any antlers, except for little buttons on a young one that flushed out of the bushes just outside of camp.  Two of them just showed me their tails, but they were bedded about 300 yards apart, were big deer, and may have been bucks.   I was going to stay thru Sunday, but Nolt's was on my way home and I did not want to waste the extra time driving back and forth when they said the meat would me cut up by late morning Saturday (they are closed on Sunday's).

Thank's again for the great video.   I love the look of the snow on the mountain lake shores.   Hopefully, we will get to see some this year when we head up again on Thanksgiving weekend.    Unless I run across a real monster at home, I plan on saving my buck tag for that trip also.  If you can move next years trip a week earlier for ML season, your odds of some better weather would improve a bit.   Hopefully they will also make antlerless deer legal again at that time down there, which would multiply your odds of some venison by a factor of 10.  That is based on my own observations of the antlerless/antler ratio over the last 10 years.     

  

  

[Robin]

Thanks wolc123,

I enjoyed that post. Glad you got a nice doe and good idea of getting it processed right away. Good luck on your later hunt.

I'm not sure what next year will bring, I still plan on a canoe in wall tent camp, we'll see.

[diplomat019]

WOW.  Great read.  I would love to do this one day.  So are you very familiar with the land?  I'm assuming you have been going there long enough that you know the land/terrain pretty good.  your not winging it are you?  How do you pack the wood stove and all the other goods?  Food? Clothing? Utensils? Canoe? etc?   even though you pack light I'm sure there is a decent amount of essentials that need to come.  

[Steve D]

Robin

As  usual a great video...Beautiful country and a great experience. No Game.........who cares!!

[Robin]

On 10/28/2016 at 9:43 PM, diplomat019 said:

WOW.  Great read.  I would love to do this one day.  So are you very familiar with the land?  I'm assuming you have been going there long enough that you know the land/terrain pretty good.  your not winging it are you?  How do you pack the wood stove and all the other goods?  Food? Clothing? Utensils? Canoe? etc?   even though you pack light I'm sure there is a decent amount of essentials that need to come.  

"So are you very familiar with the land?  I'm assuming you have been going there long enough that you know the land/terrain pretty good.  your not winging it are you?"

I always state that I don't hunt that hard in my OP, so yes, I'm probably winging it by some folks standards. I respect the big woods and don't push myself when hunting it. I'm solo, 8 hours paddle from my truck and 2 out of the 4 years I never saw another party on the lake so help is a long way off. I'm 68, in good shape for my age but I play it safe. Unless I have an obvious landmark,  like keeping the lake visible or a stream bed to follow I don't penetrate deeply into the woods. I carry a SPOT, a compass and maps, along with a few safety items but still hunt cautiously. I really don't know much about the lay of the land like I know the woods I hunt here at home, I would be very wary of following a track for any distance from areas I'm familiar with.

 "How do you pack the wood stove and all the other goods?  Food? Clothing? Utensils? Canoe? etc?   even though you pack light I'm sure there is a decent amount of essentials that need to come." 

When I purchased that tent it was an 8'x10' by 6'6" high. The interior frame weighed a ton (conduit). The stove was 12"x12"x24". That was a good outfit for car camping but not for a solo canoe in deer hunt like I wanted. So I cut and sewed the tent to 7'x6' by 54", made an interior frame from closet pole using the conduit frame metal angle kit (6 pieces), cut the stove down to 12"x8' high by 16" deep and went from 5" pipe to 4" stove pipe. You really need an interior frame for super fast set up. Trying to find suitable poles in the woods is not an option in the ADK's unless you cut live trees which is not allowed. The stove pipe fits inside the stove for travel and the stove legs fold up for travel. I sleep without heat so I really don't need alot of firewood, just for mornings and evenings. I bring only two sets of clothes, wool set and cotton set, along with two sets of long johns, and 4 sets of socks, a heavy sweater a heavy rain jacket, 3 sets of gloves and some hats. Bean boots and a pair of hiking boots. My clothes are transported in Duluth Canoe Packs with plastic liners from DP. You can dry wet stuff by the wood stove. I bring a cot ($100 Byer from Maine cot) it's bulky but has held up well on uneven ground. Those lightweight low to ground cots don't hold up well from what I have heard.  A Thermorest pad on your cot is essential to keep the cold under your cot from sapping heat from your sleeping system. I have an old down sleeping bag with two fleece liners, one inside the bag, one for a pillow unless it gets really cold, then it goes inside also, all this goes in the Duluth Packs, waterproofed with those plastic liners for sure. I bring a wannigan box with all my "stuff" inside, bread, eggs, Knore pasta, utensils (fork spoon spatula) pancakes, bannock mix, 4 or 5 small canned vegs, peanut butter and bagels. 2 candles, extra head lamps. TP, toothpaste,  handiwipes, cold handle frying pan, coffee pot, small dish and bowls. I pack my frozen meat in a soft sided cooler bag enough for a week, steak, hot dogs brats sausage, smoked bacon, and I hang it in a tree when away from camp, not so much bears, more to protect from the mice. I bring an old fold down buck saw from Schmidt Pack Saw and an old Snow and Neally Hudson Bay ax. Last year I had an 18' Old Town Guide (wood canvas) canoe but I sold that and this year I got the whole outfit into a 15' Chestnut Chum (wood canvas) canoe. Next year I should be bringing a 18' Chestnut Cruiser (wood canvas) that I am restoring just for this use. My son has expressed interest in joining me (I think to keep the wife worry free..haha) , he's a good hunter and should fit right in.Sorry this was so long winded but hopefully it will help anyone interested in this type of hunting.                                                                                           

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2016 by Robin

[diplomat019]

Awesome.  I been loosely talking about something like this for a couple years.  It can be intimidating.  Thanks for answering my questions.  I think you gave good insight on how to go about this.  Good luck on your future quests!  

[sbuff]

love the LL bean boots , mine are going on 25 years of hunting seasons , been re-soled once. Great read ..

 

Edited October 31, 2016 by sbuff

[Otto]

X2 on the LLBeans.  I might spring for an insulated pair this year.

[Robin]

Thanks. LL Bean bot are great, sorry if my post was too log winded or preaching. Just wanted to share my own experience and hope it came over ok.

 

[DirtTime]

Thank you for bringing us along on your adventure Robin. It's not always about the kill, it can be about just being in the woods and enjoying nature.

[wolc123]

I can only dream of "roughing it" like that some day.  I am getting a bit spoiled when I go up there now, staying in my in-laws new lake-side retirement home with my mother in law doing the cooking and my father in law helping to haul out the deer.   I do help them out with some heavy lifting chores, but I definitely feel that I am getting more than I deserve in the deal.   Your videos make me miss the days when I was "off the grid" up there.  

Before they built their new retirement home, on small land-locked lake, they would rent a cabin, for a long weekend (either opening of ML or rifle) every year, at a very remote, off-grid location that had water access to the Indian river.   The first couple years, while I was dating my wife, I had to stay out in my truck camper (alone).  After we got married, they let me stay in the cabin.  The one thing I liked better about the camper was that I could just set the thermostat on the propane heater and be comfortable all night.   The wood fireplace in the cabin was ok during the early evening but extremely cold in the mornings. 

I used a rowboat and a small outboard, to get to different hunting locations along the river.   My rifle was unloaded or ML uncapped and cased, during the boat trips. Several times I noted deer down my the water (mostly does but two 1-1/2 year old bucks one time).   Hunting from the canoe would definitely have been effective up there.   The one doe I killed there with my ML was at a location where I had heard deer snorting the year prior, from out in the boat.  I think your chances of catching a deer out on the waters edge are pretty good.

There is definitely something special about not having any other hunters around.  I never saw any at the old spot on the Indian river.  The first few years at the new place, there were a couple other guys, one of whom showed me the hot spots, but both of them have passed away.  I had it all to myself last season, but this year a couple new guys moved in.   They are both great guys, but have caused me to locate some new hot-spots, as they have taken to my old ones.  There seems like plenty of deer to go around for all up there, for this season at least.                      

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