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Help I moved to Maine!!!!!

9K views 110 replies 48 participants last post by  gridman 
#1 ·
I moved here from Pennsylvania 1 year ago. I've bowhunted most of my life. I have been successful most years getting a buck and a doe. I was all excited moving to Maine hearing of the Huge deer. Well let me tell ya the deer are huge if you see them. In Pa its common to see a deer or 2 in the fields at dusk, not here! I have seen less than 20 deer in the course of a year. This season I hunted since Sept 10 till now Dec 6 I had 1 opportunity to get a doe and saw a total of 4 deer all season (expanded archery) I checked stats in Pa they killed 60 some thousand deer here last year 2400. I know how to hunt but need advice:cry: :cry: :cry:
 
#2 ·
up here in the big woods You have to hunt them. Many places around the country people are used to hunting on 100 acres or less and seeing deer. as You have now seen hunting in Maine and northern NH may include thousands of acres for a single animal. I have hunted all over the world and the most phyiscal hunt we do all year is in Maine and NH. When You finally stick one of them big boys it will be the greatest thing in Your life!

Keep the faith, it will happen. Get a GPS and get ready for a 18 mile day..
 
#4 ·
there are pockets, but in general they are few and far between. One thing I noticed hunting northern NH vs PA is that you can't find the same type of sign in northern NH (and ME is very similar). Its lots of open hardwoods and trails like you see in PA just don't exist, if they do they are small in length where something funnelled the deer for a short distance. It's harder to find a good treestand spot, which is why its so common to have hunters walking bout still hunting and tracking in the snow.

Welcome to northern New England hunting! Now you know why we laugh at the folks who tell us if we want to improve hunting we need to pass on "little 6-8 points". Heck it might be the only chance you get all year!

When you do get one, there's a good chance it'll be a big one!
 
#5 ·
I agree with the others on this one. New England is much tougher to hunt than many people realize. Especially compared to PA. I had several sightings this year in mass, but never got drawn on a single deer. Western Mass where I bowhunt is very similar to NH or Maine. It's very tough to pattern the deer and find a hot food source.

I would absolutely love to see some of these "Big Name" hunters from these tv shows come up our way and try to arrow a deer....buck or doe. Hunting big woods like that is what seperates the men from the boys. To be successfull hunting up here you have to be either damn lucky, or damn good.

Keep at it....your day will come sooner or later!

Ben
 
#8 ·
buckfeverben said:
I agree with the others on this one. New England is much tougher to hunt than many people realize. Especially compared to PA. I had several sightings this year in mass, but never got drawn on a single deer. Western Mass where I bowhunt is very similar to NH or Maine. It's very tough to pattern the deer and find a hot food source.

I would absolutely love to see some of these "Big Name" hunters from these tv shows come up our way and try to arrow a deer....buck or doe. Hunting big woods like that is what seperates the men from the boys. To be successfull hunting up here you have to be either damn lucky, or damn good.

Keep at it....your day will come sooner or later!

Ben
I agree with Ben 100%!
Hunting in New England is tough:cry: ....even getting a Doe can be an accomplishment.
I see all those BIG, Wonderful deer people shoot from the midwest on AT with envy ...
A 6-10 pointer around here (w/bow) is excellent, ...awesome actually. I wish I had some cash kicking around to go on hunting trips throughout the U.S.
.....Someday I hope to hunt antelope in Wyoming
Mil6161
Chris
 
#9 · (Edited)
Arrow Smith said:
I moved here from Pennsylvania 1 year ago. This season I hunted since Sept 10 till now Dec 6 I had 1 opportunity to get a doe and saw a total of 4 deer all season (expanded archery).
WELCOME TO MAINE!

We all watch the shows where they see 5, 15, 30 deer pass in a week (day?) and they get 3 or 4 shots.

As my Dad says, "Those people know how to hunt fields, here in Maine we learn how to hunt deer"
(No offense to anyone)

Here in Maine, the woods deer are hard to find due to geographic size and the urban deer are wily. Pair that up with all the posted land by people who 'want to preserve nature' and the deer know right where to hide once they hear that first gun shot. Bow season is slightly 'easier' since they are in their normal warm weather patterns.

Arrow Smith said:
I know how to hunt but need advice:cry: :cry: :cry:

This is my Dad's advice and it worked for me.

Find someone with posted land and get permission.
That is where the deer are.

Seriously, people who dont hunt places like Maine and New Hampshire really don't understand the difficulty.
Now that 150 buck will mean something!!! :teeth:
 
#11 · (Edited)
"Most" of this generations hunters don't possess the mentality it takes for a Maine style hunt. It does require hunter maturity that most hunters never obtain "today".
Todays generation has been scarred with too much commercialism and paid hunts where all they do is pay to pull a trigger.
The four friends I use to hunt there with have died and I want to try again. GPS's where not available when I hunted there and without a doubt are a huge avantage.
After a couple of seasons of Maine hunting, I learned to go with the attitude that I wasn't even going to see a deer all week. The brochure Maine's F&W handed out, showed less than .5 deer a square mile.
After 42yrs. of hunting, the two best hunts I had where both in Maine(one of which I ended up missing, after a three hour track).
While you can get a nice scoring rack from Maine, weight is what gets prestige, more often.
 
#12 ·
I know I'm not a mainer but I was up there in june 03. I went to llbean and chatted with the archery guy. He was so excited to talk to a hunter and not one of the many yuppies that shop there he was very forthcoming. Maybe try the bow shops and make some friends/hunting partners. Are you putting in for a moose tag in 06? Good luck
 
#13 ·
I went to school in NH & hunted there for 3 years. Rifle hunted only, but during those 3 years I only saw one deer in the woods & had to get lost to see him. I didn't see him very well either, as it was just about completely dark. Nonetheless, I got real close before I jumped him & could tell by the way his hooves pounded the ground that he was BIG. I didn't realize how much ground you had to cover & it took me a while to get out of the stand & go after them. Thats how you gotta do it though.

I sat in one particular tree stand that really should've produced, it was about 50-60 yards off an abandoned orchard onthe edge of a bench along a well worn deer trail. I sat there about 10 times throughout the season and saw 1 bear and no deer. It can be frustrating but if you connect I"m sure it will be VERY rewarding.

Now I'm back in NY and its easier to see and take deer, but I'd still love to get one of those big woods giants. Don't be afraid to hunt with a rifle up there either. You've got to even the odds somehow, at least until you get to know your area and its deer.
 
#14 ·
I do feel bad for the guys I see post that there hunting area is 10 acres. I have a hard time imagining that. Up here 10 acres is a place to park the truck.
We are just so lucky up here to be able to have access to thousands of acres to hunt. We spend alot of time finding remote areas and at times I feel we are hunting deer that may have never even seen a human yet. The past few years we have been kayaking across lakes and then starting in from there. This is putting us into areas that very few if any hunters bother to travel.
Only the past 2 years have we been using a GPS unit. This has been a major plus for our style of hunting. For the past 30 years we have only always used a compass. The difficult thing was if you were 3 or 6 miles or more back, you had to begin the walk back before prime hunting time in the late afternoon. The last couple years we have been able to stay into the remote areas until dark, and use the gps to come out at night. Sometimes we do not get out until 10 pm, but it is well worth the effort.
We hunt these remote areas with both gun and bow. I have to say, we see deer almost everyday. We passed up alot of deer this year and we certainly took some nice ones also. Our goal is always to get a big boy over 200. But I think everyone in new england hopes for a deer over 200.
 
#15 ·
Back in the early 70's when I hunted Maine, the night time poaching was horrendous! Nothing like laying in bed and hearing rifle shots.......I hope it has stopped or slowed down.
 
#92 ·
Jerry, when I was a kid that was almost a rite of passage. They view it a little more dimly now...thankfully.

I agree with what most guys are saying. There are some monster deer here and I don't doubt many die of old age without ever having a human eye layed on them outside of crossing a road at night.

Aroostook Co. has some great hunting if you do your homework. Mixed farmlands with big timber.

You can have square miles to yourself...all the cedar swamp you'd ever want to bust through.

It's a different game for sure.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Jerry/NJ said:
Back in the early 70's when I hunted Maine, the night time poaching was horrendous! Nothing like laying in bed and hearing rifle shots.......I hope it has stopped or slowed down.
Jerry that isn't a problem at all where I hunt. Hell even with a spotlight its probably still harder to take deer in Maine at night than in most other states during daylight.

I agree with all the above posts. If I were to create the "ultimate test" for a deer hunter, one that would measure his skill in finding and taking a mature whitetail deer, I would give him a gun (yes a gun) and send him to the Maine wilderness. If you can consistently take mature deer in the big woods with a gun, all other forms of whitetail hunting in other parts of the country will be easily learned in comparison. I have met guys with walls full of archery trophies from the midwest that who came to hunt Maine, and seen the same guys leave after one day of hunting. Most are just too scared of getting lost to even really start hunting. Its just a whole different world.

Here is a pic of an area I hunt in the Western Mountains . . . .
 
#104 ·
Jerry that isn't a problem at all where I hunt. Hell even with a spotlight its probably still harder to take deer in Maine at night than in most other states during daylight. QUOTE]

I agree 100%
 
#17 ·
Meleagris1 said:
Most are just too scared of getting lost to even really start hunting. Its just a whole different world.

. . .
Yes, those were my thoughts exactly when I hunted there. Maine was one of the first places I hunted and the woods in back of my buddies house went straight for over 20 miles with nothing but wilderness. I was scared to wander too far for being lost.

A truly beautiful place but intimidating if you're not used to the "big woods". I definitely wasnt prepared for it then or now for that matter.
 
#19 ·
If I were to create the "ultimate test" for a deer hunter, one that would measure his skill in finding and taking a mature whitetail deer, I would give him a gun (yes a gun) and send him to the Maine wilderness. If you can consistently take mature deer in the big woods with a gun, all other forms of whitetail hunting in other parts of the country will be easily learned in comparison. I have met guys with walls full of archery trophies from the midwest that who came to hunt Maine, and seen the same guys leave after one day of hunting. Most are just too scared of getting lost to even really start hunting. Its just a whole different world.






Its True.
 
#20 ·
What a great idea for a new reality show for tv. Take the drury boys, the primo's boys, mr waddel, hell invite chuck adams too....can't forget the fitzgeralds, jackie bushman, invite every bowhunter that gets aired on Tv and proclaims themselves to be a "professional hunter" or whatever they like to call themselves these days. Ship them all up to maine....do it yourself unguided hunt....film everything and we'll see who the real deer hunters are. I would watch that show.....but I know none of them would likely be up to the challenge.

You know what would happen to a biologic food plot up there? It would quickly become a moose plot....just like mine did out in western mass this past fall.
 
#25 ·
bowhunter 1968 said:
I think hunting in Maine would be awesome. I hunt public here and some of the places like woodbury and tri-valley are big like 20,000 to 25,000 acres but to hunt in what I consider true wilderness would be awesome.Do any of you Maine or NH guys camp out while hunting?
I have a couple spike camps up there that I hunt out of periodically, depending on the sign that year. Mead, who posted above also hunts out of a spike camp in the big woods, the Adirondack Mts of NY.
 
#26 ·
Thanks for the replies!!!!!!!!

WOWI feel alot better now!!I now have a quest! Everything is just as described by all of you! I especially love the Reality Hunting show idea. I have spoken to alot of those guys @ an AMO show I attended and I agree, that truely would be a challenge, even for the seasoned "pros." I do have a GPS and I have discovered its value in a whole new way. I am as happy as a Clam! or a Lobstah! here in Maine just needed a little reassurance. I will continue my #1 hobbie(lifestyle), hunting with a bow!!!! THanks again.
 
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