Anyone from 3A out there?

[SteveNY]

What do you think about the new antler restriction in the unit?

[StripedBuck]

The new antler restriction in WMU 3A is only for the areas that are south and west of Rt. 28. not sure why but North of Rt.28 has no restrictions, yet! It can only leed to better hunting in years to come as long as everyone abids by these rules including the locals, as for the poachers that's another story. Sure it will be hard to see your typical Catskill basket buck, fork horn, spike and not want to take a shot.Lots of discipline on the hunters end by verifying through the use of binoculars if it's a shooter or not. I wouldn't mind taking a good quality buck that's more then 3 yrs. old with some good mass and body size. Let's hope for the best of luck!

[SteveNY]

Sure it will be hard to see your typical Catskill basket buck, fork horn, spike and not want to take a shot.

I thought it was only me seeing small bucks my whole life, haha

[A Sportsman]

Hey guys,

I hunt 3A for rifle season for the first week of the season each year. With respect to the new restriction rule, it applies to the portion of the WMU that I hunt (that is, south and west of Route 28). To be honest, I am disappointed in the new rule. I hunt some of the huge tracts of state land within 3A. IN my experience over the past 10 or 15 years, we are seeing many less hunters. Personally, i believe less guys like the mountainous state land because of the steepness/ruggedness of the terrain, the fact that there are less deer there in general, can't use a atv, no permenant treestand, etc. Anyway, with fewer guys in the woods, I don;t think the deer are all that pressured. As proof, only 2 of the last 14 deer we've shot from the area have had less than 3 points on 1 side. I should note that we are more or less meat hunter who don't let many pass when we hunt up there. Also, just so you know, while 14 deer in 8 seasons sounds pretty good, there are 6 of us hunting for 8 full days each season. so 14 is really not that great per man/day, but it reflects the difficulty of the hunting.

Not sure where in 3A you guys are, but if you are willing to do some walking into the more vast sections of that WMU, I'm certain you will see some better quality, albiet maybe a lot fewer deer per square mile.

one more point, if someone comes to hunt in my area, and works their tail off for a week, and all they see and shoot is a spike. They will consider it a trophy. cause it is.

[SteveNY]

one more point, if someone comes to hunt in my area, and works their tail off for a week, and all they see and shoot is a spike. They will consider it a trophy. cause it is.

I agree with that. I hunt the same areas you speak of. Mostly State lands, big huge chunks of it. I can agree that there are less and less hunters in the area, and the old timers I hunt with it say it even more. They say "there isnt enough hunters in the woods pushing these deer around any more". I'm not sure if this is true or not. In a way it makes sense.

There are 6-9+ guys hunting out of my camp every year and most hunt all day every day for the entire week. There have been a few nice deer ive seen that came out of the southern part of 3A, but a crab claw 4 pointer was the average deer.

Me personally in 14 years have taken 2 spikes, a button(thought it was a doe, back when they actually issued doe permits in the area), and a nice size 6 pointer. I missed a huge 8 or 10 pointer that was probably the buck of a life time. Passed on a couple spikes. That's about it...

I never see the caliber of bucks in the woods or my trail cams that I see on this site. I may never unless I hunted some where else. But I wouldn't give up hunting where I do for the world. We have real wild, mountain deer here. There's no farms for deer to get fat on around here.

Theres got to be big ones are out there some where tho...

[MountainHunter]

I live in 3a and hunt it a lot. I am for the ARs. 3c is right across the street from me so I hunt both units a lot. ARs are making a difference in the units that have implemented them.

[A Sportsman]

Steve,

What you've heard from the old timers is spot-on with what I;ve heard and seen. I've been hunting there since I'm 16 (I'm 35 now). Having other hunters around is funny thing for me. I am pretty confident that having more guys around will help in getting the deer to move and increase our chances, to a point. BUT, I also Love the solitude of the area and not having to deal with other hunters. Its great when you hear a shot and know that it is likely from someone in your group.

With respect to the caliber of deer, you;re right, they are there. I shot a beauty 10 ptr in 2005. My cousin shot a huge 6 ptr in 2007 and last year my other cousing took a big 9 ptr. the 10 and thte 9 dressed at 170, and the 6 ptr dressed at 210. In the 1990s, my uncle shot a 9 ptr that dressed at 240! With the rubs we see too, we know there are always some great deer there. It is true however that there are seasons where some of us don;t see a single buck in a week. And very few does. By time rifle starts, I think a good portion of the chasing has winded down. Also, I don;t know about you, but I don;t get to scout before the rifle season. So when I go, I try to scout as I hunt different areas the first few days of the season and then go from there.

LIke you, I wouldnt give up hunting there either. I know exactly what you mean about the type of woods it is and the wild mountain deer that live there. Most hunters nowadays I think are easily turned off by that type of hunting. Understandably, I guess. Not seeing deer gets boring. I remember as a teenager/early 20s being very turned off by it. Once I shot my first deer (2003), I started to embrace it.

[SteveNY]

Good luck this year Sportsman

[A Sportsman]

you too Steve. just about 3 weeks away!

[SteveNY]

you too Steve. just about 3 weeks away!

Wow, it is already... I need to get up there this weekend and do at least some scouting

[Suilleabhain]

Over the past few years my club in 3A took a 9 a 10 and a 5 along with spikes, 3's and such. This year they saw squat.

I don't think its a bad thing personally. We usually get what is now a restriction legal deer every other year.

[3Hrookie]

im scheduled to hunt next fri-sun (last week of rifle) up in the northern section of 3a. i hope i can prove you guys wrong. we are camping out there and are also going for black bear as well as yotes.. hope my bed is full on the way back. if i dont fill out any tags im going to give it up and go for early bow next year...

[A Sportsman]

Hey Guys,

My group and I did pretty well opening week. (Pretty well compared to what is normal for us). There were seven of us who hunted the first 5 days and then 4 who came back after T-giving to hunt Friday and saturday. My brother and cousin shot a 7 ptr and an 8 ptr and I got a bear. The two deer had inside spreads in the 15 inch range, maybe a tad wider. both weighed within a few lbs of 150 dressed. The bear was 145 dressed. Was my first bear, which was cool.

We would have had one other buck that had to be passed on because of the new AR rule. Basically, the shot was passed up because the hunter couldnt determine if there was brow tines. By time the deers head was turned, and he could see brow tines, he lost the shot. Was a real bummer because the antlers were wider than ears and pretty high. would have been a solid 6 ptr.

Once again, my group and I saw no need for the AR. ZERO spikes and 4s were seen. Even on the side of the road driving to and from our access points, we only saw a good 6 and an 8. We hunt on the giant tracts of state land in the mountains.

We like to still hunt and the conditions were generally lousy for it. Not much weather or wind and warm. So considering, i think it was a pretty good year for us. I'm a little bummed at how much my bear mount is costing. Had no idea the 3/4 mount would be so much. But what can you do, its a "do it once" type of thing.

[SteveNY]

im scheduled to hunt next fri-sun (last week of rifle) up in the northern section of 3a. i hope i can prove you guys wrong. we are camping out there and are also going for black bear as well as yotes.. hope my bed is full on the way back. if i dont fill out any tags im going to give it up and go for early bow next year...

Good luck. Ill be up there too. Where are you camping?

[SteveNY]

Hey Guys,

My group and I did pretty well opening week. (Pretty well compared to what is normal for us). There were seven of us who hunted the first 5 days and then 4 who came back after T-giving to hunt Friday and saturday. My brother and cousin shot a 7 ptr and an 8 ptr and I got a bear. The two deer had inside spreads in the 15 inch range, maybe a tad wider. both weighed within a few lbs of 150 dressed. The bear was 145 dressed. Was my first bear, which was cool.

We would have had one other buck that had to be passed on because of the new AR rule. Basically, the shot was passed up because the hunter couldnt determine if there was brow tines. By time the deers head was turned, and he could see brow tines, he lost the shot. Was a real bummer because the antlers were wider than ears and pretty high. would have been a solid 6 ptr.

Once again, my group and I saw no need for the AR. ZERO spikes and 4s were seen. Even on the side of the road driving to and from our access points, we only saw a good 6 and an 8. We hunt on the giant tracts of state land in the mountains.

We like to still hunt and the conditions were generally lousy for it. Not much weather or wind and warm. So considering, i think it was a pretty good year for us. I'm a little bummed at how much my bear mount is costing. Had no idea the 3/4 mount would be so much. But what can you do, its a "do it once" type of thing.

What does the mount run?

[A Sportsman]

the 3/4 mount was 1200. one of the guys I hunt with (in fact the guy who passed on the big 6 described above) shot a bear about 5 years ago and the same shop charged him 850 for the same mount. With the economy I expected an increase, but not a 50 percent increase. Since by the time I dropped it off, it had been just about a week since I shot it, I was in no position to really shop around. So I just went with it. Figure I'll pay it off little by little over the course of a year, wont hurt so bad.

[SteveNY]

the 3/4 mount was 1200. one of the guys I hunt with (in fact the guy who passed on the big 6 described above) shot a bear about 5 years ago and the same shop charged him 850 for the same mount. With the economy I expected an increase, but not a 50 percent increase. Since by the time I dropped it off, it had been just about a week since I shot it, I was in no position to really shop around. So I just went with it. Figure I'll pay it off little by little over the course of a year, wont hurt so bad.

From quotes i saw online, that price is not bad... But like u said, its a once in a life time kinda thing. Other bears you can maybe just do a skull mount and tan the hide!

[A Sportsman]

Yeah steve, thats exactly what I was thinking. Would love to get the rug done one day. and its a lot cheaper. I really just hope I enjoy the meat. Cause if its not that good, I'll probably never bother shooting one again.

Man I miss being upstate hunting. Stinks having to come back to the real world. Same as every year...

[SteveNY]

The meat is good, make sure its cooked properly and thoroughly. And, I hope you gutted it right away, that fur really insulates and it should be dressed ASAP.

I know what you mean, I get to the GWB and I start feeling sick, lol

[3Hrookie]

Good luck. Ill be up there too. Where are you camping?

ill be off rt23 2 mountains west from the resort

[SteveNY]

How did we do this weekend guys?

I saw absolutely nothing. Again, deer all over the place as soon as its dark...

[Suilleabhain]

Last I heard from my club in the AR section...nada. A couple of them will be muzzleloading so there is always hope.

[Suilleabhain]

Gun club in the AR ended up with bucks -0- and ML does 2

[Mike G]

I just moved this past June into the northern part of 3A. I live a sort walk from state land and I spent numerous hours scouting before the bow season and could not find a place where I felt I had a good chance to score (very little sign). This is all old growth forest with no fields or openings and the acorn crop was bad this year. Well after spending the bow, rifle and late bow seasons in the woods I saw the same 4 deer numerous times; one doe with a young one and two one and a half year old does. I say to myself with these young deer there must be a buck somewhere. This winter I plan to go out when there is snow on the ground and look for bedding areas. Due to the lack of deer and deer sign I would normally give up on this area but since it is so convenient to my home I going to give it another shot next season.

[A Sportsman]

Hey Mike,

In my experience, your lack of sign is common for the area. I usually spend the first few days of a weeklong hunt just covering ground, looking for good enough sign that is worth hunting. In some cases, with snow on the ground, I'll cover a mile of a mountainside without cutting a track. Usually, after a few days though I;ll find a few spots that "stand-out" as having the best sign and then I'll focus on them. A lot of times, the same spots seem to be hot from one year to the next. But sometimes they can be ice-cold. Prior to using this stragety, I used to still hunt really slowly over giant peices of land, without barely seeing any good sign. It was a waste of time.

Also, with this area in particular, there are many days where you can really hunt well and just see nothing. Its tough hunting. When I started out as a youngster hunting up there I was really down on it. It was frustrating not seeing many deer. But over the years, I fell in love with the area and started seeing more deer in the process.