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Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

Title:The Hunting Notesfile
Notice:Registry #7, For Sale #15, Success #270
Moderator:SALEM::PAPPALARDO
Created:Wed Sep 02 1987
Last Modified:Tue Jun 03 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1561
Total number of notes:17784

548.0. "Any "best" part of month long season?" by CURIE::POPIENIUCK () Mon Nov 13 1989 12:41

    I've looked, but can't find this covered elsewhere in here.  Any
    opinions on the best part of the deer season to hunt?  The obvious
    answer is the WHOLE season, I know.  What I'm specifically refering to
    is the state of Maine.  This year the season started the 28th of
    October for Mainers and the 30th for the rest of us "flatlanders." 
    With the way the calendar lines up, for the last couple years the
    season has had this October beginning rather than during the first week
    of November.  My brother and I have seen far fewer deer in the same
    area the last couple years than we did when the calendar lined up with
    a later opening to the season.  We typically hunt the first week in the
    belief that by doing so the deer will not be pushed out of their normal
    routines so much.
    
    Varying states opening dates aside, it seems that many of the people in
    this file tend to hunt deer up north more by the calendar rather than
    by the actual opening date of the season.  Can someone tell me more
    about this.  Is the idea to wait until the rut is in full swing?
    
    As a reference, I hunt in northwestern Maine, in the Andover area in
    the mountains.  This is not the greatest area of the state to hunt, but
    it's where my camp is.
    
    This year the temperature on the first couple days of the season was in
    the 70s.  It may have been comfortable, but I much prefer the cold and
    snow.  The floor of the woods was like a field of crackly potato chips.
    
    Thanks for any insights.   Pete
    
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548.1The Last WeekWJOUSM::PAPPALARDOMon Nov 13 1989 13:1122
    
    
    I Hunt the Allagash Wilderness in Northern Maine, I also hunt my home
    state in N.H. where I hunt deer and take what the good lord sends.
    
    But, up in Northern Maine I only hunt Trophy Whitetail Buck's and
    the very last week of the season is the best week there is.
    
    The Rut in my opinion is on big time and the snow is on the ground.
    (I love hunting in fresh snow every-day) anyway to answer your question
    The last week is the best because of ::
    
      The Rut.
    
      The Weather.
    
      Less Hunters(This does'nt apply to the Allagash where i never see any
                  (people while hunting)
    
      Good-Luck,
    
        Rick
548.2Watch the MoonMAIL::HENSONFri Nov 17 1989 14:3218
    If you can, pick a time when the moon is new.  I just finished
    a 3+ day hunt in Central Missouri and only saw two deer.  However,
    there were more tracks than you could imagine and I know that
    there are a lot of deer there.  In my opinion, the main two reasons
    for our poor showing was 
    
    	1)  The weather was warm and windy during the entire hunt, and
    
    	2)  There was a big, beautiful full moon which came up about
    	    4 in the evening and set about 8 in the morning.  I firmly
    	    believe that the deer were running all night and laying	
    	    up all day.
    
    My hunting partner is going back Saturday.  I expect that he will
    do better because the weather has turned cold.  I'll let you know
    how he did.
    
    Jerry
548.3Might be the moon, but I don't think so.CURIE::POPIENIUCKFri Nov 17 1989 16:3023
    Thanks for your reply, Jerry, and I've heard the one about hunting
    during the new versus full moon cycle also, but I don't think that's
    it.  The last new moon was Oct. 28, the start of the week I hunted in
    Maine.  In prior years I've hunted in both full and new moons and it
    didn't seem to matter.  I don't know if they're related, but last year
    and especially this year, the first week of the season was especially
    warm.  In these two years I saw zippo and my brother managed to see
    just three does.  In the preceeding two years, hunting at the same time
    (calendarwise), but with colder temps prevalent, together we saw about
    30 deer.  All four years we hunted the same area.
    
    I suspect it's a combination of factors, such as later in the season is
    better because colder temps = more movement, stronger mating
    motivation, easily available food becoming scarcer, but these are just
    guesses on my part.  I've been hopeful that someone in here has
    something more factual than my guesswork.
    
    Maybe the fact hat ther have been only a couple replies to my request
    should tell me that NOW is the best time 'cause that's where everyone
    is; out there hunting NOW!  
    
    (I hope to get back up there the two days after Thanksgiving.
    
548.4Mark the days !!DNEAST::STEVENS_JIMMon Nov 20 1989 13:0233
    According to a well respected magazine, the prime rut in Maine is
    between Nov 7 and Nov 21...
    
    
    Well, I don't agree. I was out all last week (did'nt shoot anything,
    yet) and the deer are not in the rut yet....All the bad factors,
    warm, rain, full moon, no human sacrifices, etc, were in effect
    last week..We saw LOTS of deer, but not many shots...The woods, for
    the most part, were very noisy and the wind was howling....
    
    I would say the last week may be good to hunt in the rut, but after
    four weeks of strange beings in the woods, the deer are very skidish.
    They will run at the slightest noise.
    
    Some of my many opinions are:
    
    	1) The first week is the best IF it is cold. Deer have had no 
    	   pressure and are less likely to spook.
    
    	2) Thursday, Friday and Saturday usually have more hunters in the
    	   woods. That means more pressure. The deer get a rest on Sunday,
    	   it's slow Monday and for the most part Tuesday is slow also. 
    	   Wednesday starts to pick up but still the not weekend numbers.
    	   I beleive Tuesday and Wednesday are the best days to hunt.
    
    	
    I'm going back tommorow night to hunt Wednesday, coming back home
    Wednesday night, going back for the weekend. 
    
    Jeff, we know where the biggies are, right you sure shot you ?
    
    Jim
    
548.5Need more food to keep warmAKOV75::ANDERSSONMon Nov 20 1989 13:127
    	It's been awhile ago but I remember reading somewhere, sometime
    that deer need up to 10 (?) times more food in the cold weather
    to maintain body heat.  That's certainly one reason they move more
    when its cold.
    
    Andy