It's Big Woods Time 2018

[Salmon_Run]

Best of luck to my fellow "Big Woods" hunters who spend countless hours and miles in the big woods for an elusive buck.

The weather is changing, wood stoves will be burning and snow will be a fall'in....

Enjoy the experience and have a safe season for 2018.... 

[Buckmaster7600]

Can’t wait! Doing our annual rolling tire shoot today to warm up for the weekend.


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[Cedar+Canvas]

I’ve been up in 5H for muzzleloader this week and the weather has been good for movement. Snow over night a little bit stuck the AM. Cold and clear today. I reckon some bucks are gonna drop this weekend! Best of luck to everyone.


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[SilentStalker]

Making my first opener up north In a few years, like a kid in a candy store!

[sits in trees]

Something about the big woods

[Buckmaster7600]

The 65yr old 35rem is ready to go! 75yr rapid fire free hand group. Now we just need an old buck to make a mistake!


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[rachunter]

Heading up tomorrow for 14 days.Hopefully this will be the year,i haven't gotten a deer since my first year up there 5yrs. ago. Weather is looking a little wet.

Good luck everyone stay safe.

[wolc123]

I was up last week with my crossbow and ML.  It looked like the coyotes have driven the remaining deer on the outskirts of Ft Drum into the swamps.   I saw some deer sign in the low-lying areas, but none up high.   I had a run in up high with a coyote that looked to be the size of a wolf.  I was amazed at how fast he could move uphill.  I don't think that a deer would last too long up there.   I am skipping this weekend, but heading up again next weekend with my rifles.  I hope we get some snow up there by then.   That makes all the difference.    

Edited October 18, 2018 by wolc123

[Mountain Hunter]

10 hours ago, wolc123 said:

I was up last week with my crossbow and ML.  It looked like the coyotes have driven the remaining deer on the outskirts of Ft Drum into the swamps.   I saw some deer sign in the low-lying areas, but none up high.   I had a run in up high with a coyote that looked to be the size of a wolf.  I was amazed at how fast he could move uphill.  I don't think that a deer would last too long up there.   I am skipping this weekend, but heading up again next weekend with my rifles.  I hope we get some snow up there by then.   That makes all the difference.    

I saw the same when I was out in 5H last weekend. All the sign up high was old. Freshest sign was down low.

[Buckmaster7600]

I saw the same when I was out in 5H last weekend. All the sign up high was old. Freshest sign was down low.

This is usually the case unless you find a older bucks home. Very rarely do I find buck sign up high until the end of October.


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[Mountain Hunter]

2 hours ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

This is usually the case unless you find a older bucks home. Very rarely do I find buck sign up high until the end of October.


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So should the game plan for this weekend be to hunt low? I saw lots of old buck sign up high. Just nothing fresh.

[Buckmaster7600]

So should the game plan for this weekend be to hunt low? I saw lots of old buck sign up high. Just nothing fresh.

Depends on what you’re after. Until I see signs of rut activity “actual chasing not rubs and scrapes” I avoid hunting sign. Mature bucks want to be alone. I hunt up high hoping to catch him and I don’t want to bother the does that will help me get him later in the year.


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[wolc123]

It don't look like there will be snow this weekend but it does look like plenty of wind and rain.  Perfect conditions for hitting the swamps with my new Remlin 336BL open-sight lever-action.  I can't wait to get a crack or two at an Adirondack buck with that.  

[wolc123]

I finally had my first couple run-ins with deer up there this weekend.  Traffic on the 90 and 81 was light and I got up there in time to hunt the last hour on Friday.  It was a calm, pleasant evening but with no deer action.  Saturday morning brought a steady east wind.  There was no rain, so I grabbed my scoped Ruger 30/06, and headed for a prime spot for that wind.  As I was still-hunting my way to it, just after sunrise, I bumped a couple of antlereless deer.   There were two scrapes near "the spot", and one looked like it had been freshened very recently.  the leaves were dry and crunchy and the wind was light, so I set up near these scrapes, but nothing more showed up before it was time for one of my mother-inlaw's big late breakfasts.     

After filling up, I knocked the crap out of the smallmouth bass for about an hour at mid-day out on the lake, then helped them put away the boats and winterize the place.  Saturday afternoon brought steady rain and north east wind.  All the moisture quieted the crunchy leaves and the wind covered my noise and scent, making conditions right for still-hunting.   I was glad for a chance to try my Marlin 30/30, but I did not run across any deer in a couple of hours of moving thru the woods and swamp edges.  The rain increased and I holed up in an old lean-to until it let up a bit, then slowly made my way back to the in-laws house, still not seeing any deer.

It rained hard most of Saturday night, but at some point it turned to snow and I awoke this morning to a nice dusting, which made for good tracking conditions, probably the first of the year up there (Buckmaster3600 must be loving it).   The snow/rain was stopped at sunrise, so I grabbed the Ruger, a folding chair, and my tree-umbrella, just in case.   Heading up the trail, where I was nearly bush-wacked by a big coyote a couple weeks prior, I soon crossed a coyote track.  That one set of tracks was the only signs of coyote I saw this weekend.  A little farther up that trail, and average sized, fresh-looking deer track crossed.   

I followed after that track, with a light wind blowing at my back.  About 50 yards into it, a second set of slightly smaller deer tracks joined it.  I took a few steps, then scanned as far as i could see, then repeated the process.  The tracks meandered uphill, into some young hardwoods.  As I got close to the top of the hill, I heard the sound of deer running thru the trees on the opposite side.   Moving quickly towards the noise, I got to the crest just in time to see the two disappearing over the next ridge.  I could not tell if either had horns, but my guess would be that it was the same antlerless pair I had seen the day before, about a half a mile away, probably a doe and fawn.   

Unfortunately, the ridge they disappeared over marked the edge of the property I had permission to hunt, so I was unable to continue this track and find out for sure what they were.  I did make note of the area where I had found them feeding however, and someday when the wind is right, I will try and capitalize on that information and location.  Soon after that, the rain started coming down hard and I hunkered down under my tree umbrella, in a spot overlooking a trail, with no more action. 

They are safe from me until the Friday after Thanksgiving now.    So far, no shots fired by me after two trips hunting up there this season, but the peak fall colors last time and the first good snow this time, with no other hunters seen (besides the coyote), more than covers the cost of admission.   I would make the trip just for my mother-inlaw's cooking.  Thanksgiving can't get here fast enough.    

Edited October 29, 2018 by wolc123

[rachunter]

Got home today from 14 days in the northern zone. It was mostly rain,wind and light snow. Didn’t see anything in the park but learned a lot more about it. Seemed like the rut didn’t kick in yet. Found an area I’m going to scout out a little more this spring.I love it up there and can’t wait until it’s permanent.
Here’s a few pics:




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[wolc123]

13 minutes ago, rachunter said:

Got home today from 14 days in the northern zone. It was mostly rain,wind and light snow. Didn’t see anything in the park but learned a lot more about it. Seemed like the rut didn’t kick in yet. Found an area I’m going to scout out a little more this spring.I love it up there and can’t wait until it’s permanent.
Here’s a few pics:




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Is that a monkey up the tree in the second photo ?  "Meateater" Steve R. says they taste like wild turkey drumsticks.   If so, and its a young hen, they are good eating.  I am not sure if there is a primate season up in the Northern zone.   

[rachunter]

Is that a monkey up the tree in the second photo ?  "Meateater" Steve R. says they taste like wild turkey drumsticks.   If so, and its a young hen, they are good eating.  I am not sure if there is a primate season up in the Northern zone.   

It’s an owl I worked my way out onto a finger in a swamp he was the only one home.


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[covert]

On ‎11‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 6:39 PM, rachunter said:

Got home today from 14 days in the northern zone. It was mostly rain,wind and light snow. Didn’t see anything in the park but learned a lot more about it. Seemed like the rut didn’t kick in yet. Found an area I’m going to scout out a little more this spring.I love it up there and can’t wait until it’s permanent.
Here’s a few pics:



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Ahhhhhh.  Thanks, sitting here in the office I needed that!

[CapDistPatriot]

On 11/4/2018 at 6:57 PM, wolc123 said:

Is that a monkey up the tree in the second photo ?  "Meateater" Steve R. says they taste like wild turkey drumsticks.   If so, and its a young hen, they are good eating.  I am not sure if there is a primate season up in the Northern zone.   

It is an owl.

[rachunter]

Heading back north for the last four days of muzzle loader. Hoping to get in some predator hunting in as well.

[wolc123]

I am planning to head up Friday to ML hunt Saturday and Sunday.   Our Thanksgiving weekend trip did not pan out as I had hoped, since I chose to punch my buck tag on a big old swamp buck at home on opening day of the Southern zone.  I still went up, and got to spend some quality time with my daughter (she loved the snowmobiling) and her grandparents.  She was a little less enthused with the target shooting but I finally managed to get my father in law's scoped Marlin 336 sighted in.  I can't wait to use that for fair-weather deer hunting next season.  It will be nice to not to have to lug my big, heavy Ruger 30/06 thru that terrain.  We even did a little ice fishing off the end of the dock on Friday when we awoke to a lake covered by about an inch and a half of ice.  It took two hard throws to get a big rock to break thru.   She had fun just throwing rocks out onto the ice and watching them skip across (the fish were not biting).    

My hunting on that trip was just for bear, coyote, and grouse.  Naturally, I did not see any of those, but I did see more deer sign than ever in the wonderful snow (just a single lonely set of coyote tracks this time).   One deer even wandered slowly by, about 100 yards away, as I was blowing on my predator call, armed with my double barrel 16 gauge, loaded with two slugs.   I had no optics, to see if it had horns, but they must have been very small if it did. I can't wait to get up there in zone 6C this weekend, with an either/or and an antlerless ML tag.  Our freezers are stuffed pretty good now, with (4) deer from the southern zone archery and gun seasons, but my brother in law could use one or two more for making jerky.

23 minutes ago, rachunter said:

Heading back north for the last four days of muzzle loader. Hoping to get in some predator hunting in as well.

   

[Steve D]

37 minutes ago, rachunter said:

Heading back north for the last four days of muzzle loader. Hoping to get in some predator hunting in as well.

Hope you enjoy your trip and even if you don't score it is a wonderful environment and a place to enjoy for sure. Hopefully the snow isn't to deep.

[rachunter]

Hope you enjoy your trip and even if you don't score it is a wonderful environment and a place to enjoy for sure. Hopefully the snow isn't to deep.

Thanks staying on my property for the most part. It looks like 4-6” on the ground.



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[rachunter]

Got home today from the late muzzleloader.Had a buck come by around 3pm luckily the sun hit his head before my finger pulled the trigger.He dropped both antlers.Saw him a few times in the three days.Had a little butterball spike slow roll passed in a snow squall.Saw a group of does after shoot time.I was looking for a lone doe[dry] that's been on my property for a few years,but she never popped up.Not a bad hunting trip except for no water or cell service.

Love my new wood burner!!!

[rachunter]

Got home today from the late muzzleloader.Had a buck come by around 3pm luckily the sun hit his head before my finger pulled the trigger.He dropped both antlers.Saw him a few times in the three days.Had a little butterball spike slow roll passed in a snow squall.Saw a group of does after shoot time.I was looking for a lone doe[dry] that's been on my property for a few years,but she never popped up.Not a bad hunting trip except for no water or cell service.
Love my new wood burner!!!

Added photos that’s the antlerless buck.




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