After spending all day yesterday in 10-15 degree temps in NY's southern zone at Dan's camp and only seeing one flash of a deer, I decided to drive several hours north to spend some time with my soon-to-be inlaws hunting in NY's northern zone in the heart of the Adirondacks. This was my first time hunting the NY northern zone, but hopefully won't be my last. I grew up deer hunting big woods in Vermont's Green Mountains as a kid and had some success, but unfortunately never had a big group of family/friends to share it with, so this was a trip that I've been looking forward to for quite some time. These guys come from generations of loggers, with well over a hundred combined years of cutting timber in these woods. They know these woods better than just about anyone, and while I knew it was going to be some hard work.......I knew it was going to be a pretty cool experience. I woke this morning to a balmy (kidding :d ) 10 degrees, and by time we were in the woods for our first drive, the upward thermals caused the warmer air to head uphill, dropping the temps down and well into the single digits. Hunting the Adirondacks is so very different than anything we typically see further south in the country. Most often you are hunting truly big woods, literally hundreds of thousands of acres of unbroken timber........miles from the nearest public roads, and with a group of good friends and family. Mix this in with some of the steepest mountain terrain the northeast has to offer, deer densities of only 2-4 deer per square mile, no defined food sources or bedding areas, extreme temps and snowfall, and now you have a bit of a mental picture of what Adirondack hunting is all about. It's fairly common to be hunting at the peak of a 3000-4000' mountain, and because the deer get occasional pressure at the bottom of the mountains, most of your better hunting is found at these higher elevations. With the northern part of the state falling into the Adirondack Park (largest public park system in the country), the urban sprawl has been restricted and a significant amount of the property is owned by paper companies as part of large scale logging operations. Because of this, the public can access the land using unmaintained logging roads for those that are willing to 4WD themselves in several miles from town roads. Our third drive of the day presented me with an opportunity to be a "watcher" on a large drive that covered probably close to a mile of mountainside. We spread 4 "watchers" up the side of the mountain all sitting on the edge of a hollow that cut down through the mountainside, looking across the hollow. My assigned post was at the very top of the mountain, which meant a roughly 1500' elevation change spread over a quarter mile hike. This was so steep, that most of it found me not only hiking, but also using my hands to climb and pull myself up the mountainside. Not exactly an easy feat when your wearing the kind of clothes necessary to keep you warm in single digit temps. After reaching the summit, cooling down a bit, putting my extra layers back on to delay the inevitable cold chills from my sweat, I found a great spot to see a fair bit of ground and nestled in to the tree to wait for the show. 45 minutes into the sit, and after LOTS of hiking and driving already under my belt for the day, the first deer of the day showed his presence. I saw him long enough to get the gun on him and determine that it was a decent buck with at least a main beam, and then he disappeared downhill headed directly to the next "watcher" who sat roughly 200-300 yards down from me. Somehow I got lucky, and the deer turned almost directly after disappearing.....headed straight back up towards me. The deer kept coming and was eventually about 60 yards from me, nearly broadside, and headed up to the peak of the mountain at a slow but steady pace. I bleated at him to stop him, he looked at me, and that was all I needed to send a 140 grain Accubond his way to bring closure to this encounter. He ran roughly 100 yards straight do
I enjoyed reading that Rick.That mountain hunting sounds like an awesome experience.Congrats on a nice buck too.
Congrats man, that's a nice buck and a great story. I've been fortunate enough to be a part of a few Northern Wisconsin big woods hunts and I know what you mean. It's WAY different than the fields and small woodlots I'm used to here in IL but something that's a blast to experience. Well done, and congrats again!
Congrats! Great story. I used to love being in the Northern WI big woods for the rifle season. It's not as neat as what you describe but it certainly was a lot different than being in the 'burbs of Chicago. Nothing like going to the local diner and being surrounded by folks in bloody blaze orange and all talking about deer hunting. And while I much prefer bowhunting, I do miss the precision and certainty of settling the crosshairs of my .30-06 on an deer.
Thanks guys. He's not my biggest buck, I've killed a few bigger with the bow but he is the biggest I've killed with a gun. It was a great hunt with a good group of guys, and honestly this sort of hunting has brought the fun back into hunting with a gun for me. It's really quite challenging, I was just super lucky to have gotten one like him the first time out up north, most of these guys hunt all season long and don't see a single buck all year. I still prefer hunting with a bow, but this was a really nice change for me and I'm hoping to do quite a bit more of this in the future. I'll be back at it Thanksgiving morning in the same area and with the same crew hopefully looking for a nice bear this time around.
yup hunting the mountains and big woods is hard to explain until you've done it. Completely different ball game. Congrats Matt, sounds like you had a great time.
