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New Adirondack hunter

patm

By patm,
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patm Newbie

patm

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Long time flatlander hunter who just started hunting the upstate Adirondacks.  Gotta admit it was a tough season.  Been watching videos of tracking since I really didn't have much luck sitting.  Heck, it was NO luck.  I don't think I've ever spent that many days in the woods and not seen anything.  Anyway, hoping to pick up some pointers here.

patm 

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Daveboone Proficient

Daveboone

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Be patient...The bucks can cover alot of ground. If you are finding sign, esp. both old and new sign with bedding, food areas known, etc. sometimes you just gotta plop your butt down and sit...sometimes alot for a long time. Game cameras can be your friend.

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Farflung Collaborator

Farflung

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later in the season, when (and if) the snow gets about 14 inches deep, the deer will head to their winter ranges (deer yards or winter concentration areas). If you can find a pinch point or a area along a stream, they may come to you. Once the snow seriously comes, 90 % of the deer will be in 10% of the land.

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wolc123 Grand Master

wolc123

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3 hours ago, patm said:

Long time flatlander hunter who just started hunting the upstate Adirondacks.  Gotta admit it was a tough season.  Been watching videos of tracking since I really didn't have much luck sitting.  Heck, it was NO luck.  I don't think I've ever spent that many days in the woods and not seen anything.  Anyway, hoping to pick up some pointers here.

patm 

I see a lot more up there walking, but have killed more sitting.  The keys are knowing where to sit and seeing them before they see you.  I have never really even had a good chance at a buck that I saw while walking.  I did kill a doe that way, during the early ML season (in one of the few areas where they are legal up there then).

I have also passed many other does up there while walking, most because they are not legal during gun season, and one last year with my ML, because her head was hidden.  I did not want to risk punching my buck tag on a little spike on the first day.

Snow makes it much easier to kill deer up there.  I only killed two bucks in the Adirondacks, and I had good snow each time.  Not only does it show you where they have been, but it also makes them a lot easier to see.

If you keep going the same place each year, and remember where you saw tracks in the snow, it will improve your odds on the snow-less hunts.  Picking the right place to sit gets easier with each hunt.  I was a split second late on the draw on a big Adirondack buck on a damp, snowless opening day of gun last year. 

Had it not been for this damn smart phone, I would not have ignored the stick that I heard break, a split second before he popped out of a gully, 15 yards away.  My NY state regular season buck tag would have been punched on a big Adirondack 10 point, rather than the flat-land 6 point, that I killed on the Southern zone opener a month later.

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patm Newbie

patm

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I appreciate all the responses.  I'm hunting about 20 miles south of Plattsburgh.  Lots of mountains, little sign.  This was my first year there so I'm not totally dejected and plan to put the time in this summer and fall to figure things out.  Might even put some small plots on a few logging trails.  

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Buckmaster7600 Mentor

Buckmaster7600

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The best part about the Adirondacks is you can hunt a different mountain every day of season and never see the same tree.

Some people like sitting and patterning deer and it can be effective. I can’t sit for more than 10 minutes let alone 10 days in the same tree so I walk a lot. Learning what holds deer is the hardest part of hunting in the ADK’s. That’s the difference between guys who regularly see 3-4 deer a day and the guys that don’t see 3-4 in a year. When there 1 deer per square mile that really meant there’s 4 square miles without a deer and 100 acres with 4 deer. Once you figure out where that hundred acres will be you’ll become successful.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Salmon_Run Enthusiast

Salmon_Run

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Welcome aboard, drop on over to the Big Woods section of this forum, there is a handful of us hardcore Adirondack hunters. 

I'm in Western Hamilton County with a limited number of deer and lots of terrain where I never see another person while out hunting. It's a very different type of hunting than Western NY...

Glad your here,

Salmon 

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