opinions wanted / WMU 8N public hunting lands

[132 eight pointer]

I am interested in advice on the public hunting lands in WMU 8N. After opening day of sz firearms season I am looking to take my 15 y.o. nephew hunting in 8n due to the fact that I have a couple DMP'S for that unit. I have contacted the DEC already and have maps for Stid hill,Honeoye inlet and Hi-tor. I am also looking for other areas on-line. We would be ground hunting only .SAFETY is my primary goal . If anyone is willing to share experiences / opinions I would be much obliged.If you were taking a kid hunting in 8N where might you go ?

[WNYBuckHunter]

Harriet Hollister is open for deer and bear only

[Lawdwaz]

Harriet Hollister is open for deer and bear only

Hmmm......Fond memories of friends shooting a doe and helping slide the thing to the bottom!! Steep ain't the word for it! Great country and plenty of deer. I haven't been there since the ice storm in 1991. I'm sure it is negotiable again. After the storm, it was impenetrable!!

Big bucks and plenty of bear live to a ripe old age on that side hill. Back in about 1984 my buddy Wally killed an 9.5 year old buck half way down.

Edited November 11, 2011 by Lawdwaz

[WNYBuckHunter]

HAHA, yep, there are some very steep spots in there.

[fasteddie]

I have not hunted Stid Hill but have driven past it during Bow season . There are always a bunch of vehicles in the parking lot . I can only imagine how many there must be during gun season .

[WNYBuckHunter]

Not too many after opening weekend Eddie. Ive driven by and hunted it during the first week in the past, and only seen one, maybe two guys other than myself. Have never had any luck there though.

[132 eight pointer]

Hmmm......Fond memories of friends shooting a doe and helping slide the thing to the bottom!! Steep ain't the word for it! Great country and plenty of deer. I haven't been there since the ice storm in 1991. I'm sure it is negotiable again. After the storm, it was impenetrable!!

Big bucks and plenty of bear live to a ripe old age on that side hill. Back in about 1984 my buddy Wally killed an 9.5 year old buck half way down.

I hunted turkey there with my cousin, I can still feel my heart pounding walking uphill.

[132 eight pointer]

Not too many after opening weekend Eddie. Ive driven by and hunted it during the first week in the past, and only seen one, maybe two guys other than myself. Have never had any luck there though.

You are the second person I've heard had no luck there.

[fasteddie]

You are the second person I've heard had no luck there.

I think Doc got all the deer there !

[132 eight pointer]

A couple guys I work with said HI-TOR was good hunting years ago, I also looked on-line at Bare Hill. The Dec "S.L.I.M " map is pretty cool to check state land out from the computer. I won't be going to 8N until after opening weekend so I may just have to wing it and learn from there.I like trying new places sometimes.

[132 eight pointer]

I think Doc got all the deer there !

I was waiting to see if Doc would let me in on a few hotspots !

[fasteddie]

I was waiting to see if Doc would let me in on a few hotspots !

I think he and Sits are hunting together . I would stay clear of the area if I were you !

[132 eight pointer]

I think he and Sits are hunting together . I would stay clear of the area if I were you !

HA! Happy Veterans Day Fasteddie.

[snor]

I hunted Hi-Tor 2 years ago on opening, there were guys every 300 feet, didn't make me feel good with that many people. I again hunted the last week and didn't see any other hunters at all.

[WNYBuckHunter]

I hunted turkey there with my cousin, I can still feel my heart pounding walking uphill.

Turkey hunting? Was that a long time ago, because they only allow deer and bear hunting there now. No small game or other species hunting is allowed in the park.

[132 eight pointer]

Turkey hunting? Was that a long time ago, because they only allow deer and bear hunting there now. No small game or other species hunting is allowed in the park.

It was probably 8-10 years ago. I thought turkey hunting was allowed there still but I don't know.I know people used to park right in there and hunt the hills.

[132 eight pointer]

I hunted Hi-Tor 2 years ago on opening, there were guys every 300 feet, didn't make me feel good with that many people. I again hunted the last week and didn't see any other hunters at all.

I won't be going until after opening weekend so that is good to know that the crowds thin out some. I wouldn't like every 100 yards that is scary.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Gottcha. Yeah all they allow now is deer and bear. Probably due to the number of hikers and mtn bikers in there. People have trails all over the place in there for bikes.

[Doc]

I am interested in advice on the public hunting lands in WMU 8N. After opening day of sz firearms season I am looking to take my 15 y.o. nephew hunting in 8n due to the fact that I have a couple DMP'S for that unit. I have contacted the DEC already and have maps for Stid hill,Honeoye inlet and Hi-tor. I am also looking for other areas on-line. We would be ground hunting only .SAFETY is my primary goal . If anyone is willing to share experiences / opinions I would be much obliged.If you were taking a kid hunting in 8N where might you go ?

Sorry to have been so late replying to this topic. I have been out in the woods almost every available minute since my "peep-sight" eye recovered. I decided to take this afternoon off since a near-hurricane has developed .... lol. So, I finally located this thread and will have a go at giving you an idea of what you have with the Stid Hill state land.

I can tell you all about the Stid Hill State Land. I have hunted it exclusively since before it was state land.

I understand that you have safety concerns. I never know how to answer that because anytime you are dealing with any public property, the hunter density is almost always guaranteed to be quite high, and with that comes that uneasy feeling. Everyone has a different tolerance level for high density hunting. I have become quite accustomed to hunting defensively, and feel fairly safe there. Certain days are worse than others. Obviously opening day is the busiest, however, even before lunch time shooting has died down, deer are locked up tight in whatever survival tactics they have found and most of the hunters are heading out of the woods for an extended lunch. That's a mixed blessing because once they have left, the only ones remaining are the dyed-in-the-wool sitters, and no one seems to want to stillhunt anymore. Consequently the deer are hunkered down in deep survival mode and no one is there to get them on their feet. The shooting drops off to near nothing. I frankly liked it the way it used to be with guys swarming all over every nook and cranny. It was like a huge drive with deer running everywhere. But then that was decades ago and is now ancient history. So now, amazingly enough, the place is extremely safe but no longer all that productive. Even the first sunday is quiet except for a bit of noise, here and there during the first hour of the day (and maybe a few shots well before .... lol). Weekdays, it gets to be hard to imagine there is a season open it's so quiet. And yet the deer do not go back to pre-season patterns. There's just enough activity to keep them in super-survival mode. Last year I thought the first snow would bring the hunters out. Nope! .... not that much.

So what good is all this land if deer are sitting tight every daylight hour and no one is moving them. That's where you have to change tactics a bit (or at least that's what I do). After opening day, it's time to get up and still-hunt. Nobody else is going to move the deer for you, so you have to go find them. The best way for this particular chunk of state land is to climb that cardiac hill and get high. Once at the ridge, you will find spots where you can look down on little plateaus. Walking north or south along the rim of the valley (very, very, very, slowly) looking down on these little "benches", its just a matter of time before you will spot an ear, a tail, a tine, or maybe the whole form of a bedded deer. When snow is on the ground this tactic is deadly! It's a lot of work, and I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to do it, but that is about the best way to hunt the area that I know of during gun season.

There is another situation that is developing down in the valley bottom, and that is the serious invasion of multi-flora rose. This stuff is taking over large areas and making them almost impossible to walk through. Basically their thorns are shaped with a reversed point to them that once you get snagged into it, the harder you pull back the deeper the thorns go. Amazingly, you will see all kinds of deer tracks going in and they don't seem to have any problem getting through. So in effect, you have these huge areas of deer sanctuary that few people have ever figured how to hunt. There are a few of these that over the years I have discovered ways into. Some of them actually open up a bit in the middle. These areas are harder than hell to hunt (Especially two people together) but these are the places where I have seen some bucks of pretty good size. It's tough going because cover is thick, it's full of old dead tag alders and thick red osier, occasional standing water of various depths, willows and other things that are quite noisy under foot.... (not exactly perfect still-hunting conditions). I don't believe some of the bigger deer ever come out of these places in daylight hours throughout the season.

A word about hunting in these deep, narrow valley areas ..... you can count on constant frustration regarding switch-back winds. the terrain is so screwed up that the thermals in every ravine or gulley plays tricks on wind direction and you will never have your wind direction under control for any length of time.

As far as my estimate of the deer population here, I can only say it is very spotty this year and it has gotten worse since the beginning stages of rut has kicked in. There does seem to be something unusual happening this year regarding bucks. I have had 3 cameras out since July. As of today, I only have 9 buck pictures out of 348 pictures. And the first of those didn't occur until October 23. Compared to last year that is horrible. Rubs and scrapes are very scarce. I honestly didn't get the impression that that many were taken last year, but these camera results are downright weird and I really don't have any explanations. Of course one thing to remember is that the Stid Hill land is quite large and I have no idea what is happening at the other end. It could be completely different.

Well there, I have completed my mini-book ..... lol. I hope something in this reply will be of some use to you.

[132 eight pointer]

Doc that was fantastic! I couldn't have hoped for better info. I agree with you about getting up and finding the deer. I spent too much time stand hunting the last several seasons. Late last year I got out of a stand and slowly walked toward where I had watched deer moving earlier in the a.m. and I spotted a big doe looking at me from about 40 yds or so.I used a small tree as cover and made the shot count.I think you nailed it about deer sitting still and not being pushed and there seems to be more thickets that are tough to enter without being detected. I also enjoy looking down hillsides and benches for deer. I will see how things go with my nephew opening day, I am planning on taking him to Letchworth State Park, after that I will see about Stid Hill or possibly one of the other public areas in 8n. Glad to see you are back after those whitetails and good luck to you.I may have to print your mini-book to keep as reference.

[132 eight pointer]

I am home today and thought I would update this thread.

I took my nephew opening day to Letchworth. Light snow on the ground and cold = just the way I like deer hunting with gun.We heard shooting early then it died off. Not much shooting for opening day imo. I sat on a seat on the opposite side of a big oak tree from my nephew, he saw 3 doe out of range which doesn't matter as we have no dmps for that area.About 11 we went back to my car and had lunch.I ask my nephew what he thinks about his first time deer hunting and he says he likes it.Took a drive down the road to see how many hunters and if another spot was crowded, it was.After 45 min my nephew tells me he doesn't feel well.I ask if he wants to go home and he does.Sleeps the hour ride home. It is too far to go back so I do not hunt Sat. afternoon.

Sun. I decide as I am driving to go to 8N as I have dmps.I arrive at Stid hill in the dark.No cars in south lot. I don't see the trail in the dark so I go to north lot. 4 vehicles parked there. I grab everything and walk the trail in. 1 hunter standing in open field before woods.Glad my flash light was on.I take trail veering right in to open hardwood hillside. I can see several hundred yards and no one is in there so I set up my tree seat about 100 yds uphill and sit down.I don't know where the other hunters are so I don't wan't to walk too far.Legal shooting time starts, I hear shooting across the road.Shortly after the guy in the field below shoots twice. I see him walk over and look, he shot right across the trail going in and out. Later I see another hunter walking below me.He leaves. I hear more shots around the area.About an hour later I happen to look around a tree and down below to my left no more than 100 yds. is a guy in orange sitting.He looks at me and looks away.Good thing deer didn't come in because I would have shot not knowing he was there..He must have come in with the other hunter that left.I guess they didn't see my ORANGE hat,vest and neck warmer.I gathered my things and walked slowly uphill until I saw posted signs.I then walked a few hundred yards north stopping and sitting for a short period.I did this back down hill arriving back at my car about 12:45. No cars in lot. I never saw hide nor hair of a deer but it was interesting.A little too warm out.I took a drive and sat on a hillside in Hi-tor for the last part of the day but saw nothing. As I was driving south back past Stid Hill (in the dark) a doe was standing waiting to cross the road heading east.That's deer hunting.