4P Hunters

[thphtm]

After 60 years of hunting  all over the Catskills I bought my own property here . Not quite as large as yours .Now being here almost 20 years, I  have cleared a good portion of my property  and planted a number of small food plots. After that amount of time I have a pretty good idea of where and when the deer travel on my property.So I have no reason to hunt the farms around me that are for the most part for dairy or meat cattle.And there is also plenty of DEP land to hunt also which the farmers plant corn or cut the fields for hay. 

[The Mule]

Got it. In time, I would like to have the same type of knowledge of my property. 

How has the deer activity been with the corn and hay fields in your experience? Our front 20 acres is hay field that is cut by a dairy farm down the road. Was thinking of setting up a stand on the edge of the field somewhere, but I haven't noticed all that much activity. 

[bigpaul]

Welcome Mule! I'm on the Andes & Bovina border and have hunted here my whole life. Sounds like your only a couple miles away. Actually I'm quite surprised how many close by members have chimed in. Not sure if I missed it Mule but where are you from?

[The Mule]

8 minutes ago, bigpaul said:

Welcome Mule! I'm on the Andes & Bovina border and have hunted here my whole life. Sounds like your only a couple miles away. Actually I'm quite surprised how many close by members have chimed in. Not sure if I missed it Mule but where are you from?

Thanks bigpaul. Same here. Nice to see. We should all get together some time this season. It really is an awesome area. My great grand parents on my mothers side lived in Bovina. Growing up, my uncle had a cabin in Bovina (Crescent Valley Road) that we would visit in the summers. He sold it when I was 16 an I was heart broken. Have always wanted to have a place up there. Now that I have 2 boys (4 and 2) I really want to give them the same experiences I had. Thankfully after a long and frustrating search we were able to find our place this past summer. 

I am originally from Newburgh. I now live full time in central NJ (boooooo).

[bigpaul]

I'm originally from NJ and have lived here about 20 years. My Dad built a camp here back in the 1960's and I have always loved it here.  Not as many farms as there once was and a lot of mature woodlands have taken over. I'm a little pickier what I shoot these days but there are usually some good bucks around. I do plant food plots and do some habitat management on about 62 acres. 

[The Mule]

Awesome. Would love to pick your brain on some stuff. Gonna just get to know the property this year and hopefully get into habitat management and food plots next season. 

[left field]

I see a quick beer sometime in our future.

Last week I picked up Ray Lafever's new Bovina history book. You current and ex Bovinians may want to check it out. 

His blog: http://bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com/

Edited September 6, 2019 by left field

[The Mule]

For sure!

[Rattler]

I grew up in Woodbridge Twnshp NJ. 

Bought my place up here 20 years ago.  I got a DMP for 4P this year.  Had a preference point.

Mule, where in NJ are you living?

[The Mule]

I am in Watchung. Tried hunting some public land in Hunterdon County the past few seasons, but it has not been too productive or enjoyable. 

I am glad I started this thread. Didn't expect to get many posts from 4P hunters. Definitely did not expect to see multiple connections to NJ. Good stuff. I apologize for my booing of NJ. We actually love the area that we settled down in. 

[Rattler]

I boo NJ too.  Couldn't wait to leave the stress and traffic.  Very good friend lives on Phillip lane in Watchung.  Know it pretty well.  Easy access to 78 and 287.  BTW, I never drive the Thruway anymore.  Visit the grand kids in NJ.  Off peak hours on 206 through Port Jervis then 42 up to 17 in Monticello to Livingston Manor and over the mountains through Lew Beach saves gas and miles and there are no tolls.  Plus, easy to get around an accident if there is one.  Truly a scenic route.

[The Mule]

Crazy. I am just down the hill on Tuttle Rd. I'm sure I've walked through his property at one time or another while looking for my dog. 

I try to stay away from the Thruway as much as I can. We take it to Harriman and then go up 17 to 206. Only do that because its the fastest route and I usually just want to get up there as quick as I can. I'd like to give that route a try though. 

[Rattler]

Used to go 17 too, but won't until they finish tearing it up.

[The Mule]

How is everyones season going? Have only been out a few times. Have seen deer every sit, but nothing in range yet. Still getting decent bucks on camera, but mostly at night. One of my camera locations has coyotes every night. Gonna have to start targeting them. Have a huge bobcat on camera as well. He has only made one visit. 

Do any of you guys use or know of any good deer processors in the area? I plan on processing my own, but have some friends coming up throughout the season that will probably want to take it somewhere. May be putting the cart in front of the horse, but better to know now then to scramble if one of them connects. Thanks. 

[Rattler]

The Chop Shop @ Rt 28 and Thompson Cross Rd, just prior to the town of Delhi is quite popular.  I think they take deer during bow season by appt.

[Rack Em Up]

My family and I have been hunting in 4P (Downsville/Colchester and Hamden) for many years. There have been some monster bucks taken off of our property in the 90's and early 2000's but in recent years the sightings of deer have definitely declined. My older relatives attribute it to a steady decline in farmers, hunters (instate and out of state) and a terrible buck to doe ratio. I can sit for days and see many does, but little to no bucks. They are definitely out there it is just a matter of seeing them during the day. Good luck and congrats on the new oasis! 

[Rattler]

So how did everyone make out this season?  I managed to take a decent 8 point during rifle season.  Let a couple of doe walk during bow and was not able to fill my DMP during rifle or ML season.  I saw very few deer this season, no turkey, no bobcat and no bear.  Lots of yotes though.  Grouse season was not good this year either.  Can't complain about the weather though.

[Rattler]

A couple of years ago they were plentiful by me.  This year, not so much.  They've always run in cycles though.

[thphtm]

Looking out the window Right Now there are 7 deer out back scrapeing the ground and trimming the pine trees , all of them are healthy looking.

[The Mule]

Shot a nice big doe right before Thanksgiving. Ended up taking her to the Chop Shop in Delhi since we were heading out of state for the holiday the next morning. Thanks for the recommendation. Good group of guys there. Also took one grouse off my property. Saw a bunch this year. Unfortunately, they always saw me way before I saw them. Other than that, kind of slow for me. Looking forward to doing some work on the land in the next few weeks and into the spring/summer. Building some new stands and clearing out some small sections of woods. Got 5 acres of corn going in this year as well. Hope to see the thread fire up again for spring turkey. Was anyone on here at the NWTF banquet in Sidney this past weekend?

[Rattler]

Nice day yesterday.  Flushed a grouse right in front of me walking uphill on my road yesterday.

 

[mike103]

I hunt 4P private and 4R city land right across RT 30 in Grand Gorge. 
 

Been there for 47 years. Hunted thru the glory days 70’s and Early 80’s when there were still farms in the area.
 

Late 80’s early 90’s brought yotes, farms closing, and too many doe permits. Late 90’s and early 2000’s were some lean years. 
 

Mid 2000’s they cut off doe permits for awhile and with the antler restrictions things have gotten much better. 
 

We always hunted the woods but deer would feed on farms at night and return to the woods in the AM. After the farms left everything changed. It was a learning curve. Now we hunt the deep woods where no one else will go. 
 

 Xbow has been a boom for us getting those good rut weeks. Only a few of us hunt with vertical bows. Black Powder also has been good to us. Most of us use blinds, stalking and even tracking in the snow. We even do drives at times.

 

[The Mule]

Hope everyone is doing well. Lots of craziness in the world today. Really looking forward to getting in the woods and thinking about nothing but hunting. Had a baby girl just over 2 months ago, so its been a struggle to get too much prep work done. Was able to get 3 stands up. Also brush hogged an old apple orchard that had become impenetrable due to the rose bushes. Had way more apple trees than I thought and the deer were in it almost immediately. Weather is looking pretty decent for the bow opener. Hopefully that holds true. Good luck to anyone going out.