np307
Well-known member
I've said it before I think, but standing offer to lend a hand to anyone on here from the West who wants to try hunting central NC.
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WildWill
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You need to do a class on how to do a grade A write up of a hunt yours are second to none. Congratulations on the buck. From my understanding you will have plenty of opportunities at more swamp deer in Michigan.
Nice job man! 
I can completely relate to your story wllm, I lived about 50 miles south of Boston for 22 years and did all my hunting in SE Mass., there is a pretty good # of hunters down in that area and hunting pressure is real during shotgun season.
Once I switched to buckshot I never went back to slugs in that area, it's deadly at 50 yards and less, most my shots were less than 40 in that thick stuff.
There is also a small culture of guys that hunt urban boston and shoot eye-popping P&Y bucks every season, not my idea of fun sitting in a stand and watching landscapers raking leaves and hearing the intercom from drive-up DD's, in addition to fighting I-95 traffic to get to the hunting spot.....
I can completely relate to your story wllm, I lived about 50 miles south of Boston for 22 years and did all my hunting in SE Mass., there is a pretty good # of hunters down in that area and hunting pressure is real during shotgun season.
Once I switched to buckshot I never went back to slugs in that area, it's deadly at 50 yards and less, most my shots were less than 40 in that thick stuff.
There is also a small culture of guys that hunt urban boston and shoot eye-popping P&Y bucks every season, not my idea of fun sitting in a stand and watching landscapers raking leaves and hearing the intercom from drive-up DD's, in addition to fighting I-95 traffic to get to the hunting spot.....
thusby
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You’re gonna find the terrain in Michigan to be similar. Probably a bit deeper bottom to the swamp. Looks awful familiar minus the big city.
Tiredofthebickering
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Does that apply to us that live to anywhere to the west of you??
COEngineer
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Reminds me a lot of hunting in WI. Hunted grouse and deer in the same spots and the bramble never got easier - heck, half the grouse got away because I couldn't swing the gun or I couldn't get my feet on solid ground to even try swinging a gun. Stand hunting is probably way more successful, but I killed at least as many deer tramping through the brush.
No shortage of young guys in WI, in my experience. Of course, I have 3 teenage nephews, so maybe my perception is skewed the other way.
No shortage of young guys in WI, in my experience. Of course, I have 3 teenage nephews, so maybe my perception is skewed the other way.
np307
Well-known member
Well I guess when Boone lived here, across the Blue Ridge was the West. As long as you don't sing Rocky Top you're welcome.
MinnesotaHunter
Well-known member
I can completely understand. It is a gut punch of a feeling.
I came across a kid trying to recover a deer the other weekend hunting public in Northern MN, he had just called a dog tracker and was in the process of trying to recreate the shot. I looked at the scant blood on the snow and listed to his recounting of the shot, and I knew without question he hit it high and nicked one of the spinal processes. Even with the snow there was very little blood, and after dropping to the shot, the deer got back to his feet and went 100s of yards trailing a drop of blood here and there. I knew there was almost no way the deer was going to die from it, but I just did my best to help the kid recreate the scene to help the blood tracker that was coming. There was no way I was going to talk the kid out of doing everything he could to try and recover that deer....
CorkyM
Well-known member
One of the best hunting stories that I have ever read.
Here in my hunting grounds in Carbon County, Pennsylvania I have a mix of farm fields with corn, swamp with thick laurel, leading to a gradual mountain range. The deer trails lead from the fields into the laurels and on up the mountain. There is also a pine woods with a lot of the trees fallen over which makes for excellent bedding spots for deer. The laurels are so thick you have to get through them on your knees at spots, which I have done at times.
Here in my hunting grounds in Carbon County, Pennsylvania I have a mix of farm fields with corn, swamp with thick laurel, leading to a gradual mountain range. The deer trails lead from the fields into the laurels and on up the mountain. There is also a pine woods with a lot of the trees fallen over which makes for excellent bedding spots for deer. The laurels are so thick you have to get through them on your knees at spots, which I have done at times.
PAhunter
Well-known member
Nice recap, wllm. Thanks for the share. It's not just a swamp thing either; laurel/rhododendron thickets in Appalachia are similarly frustrating to hunt.
@TOGIE I think the "limited public land" is true some places, but many eastern states have more public land than you could ever want to try to hunt. To someone coming from the west who is used to terrain you can glass with large open parks/canyon sides, 7000 acres is often just "meh" size, or even small. In the east where cover and terrain don't allow you to glass much (if anything at all), seven hundred acres can keep you busy all day and then some, even when other hunters are hunting the same piece. Here in PA there are millions of acres of public, most of it heavily forested, and in the northern tier especially, bucks and bears routinely reach maturity.
@TOGIE I think the "limited public land" is true some places, but many eastern states have more public land than you could ever want to try to hunt. To someone coming from the west who is used to terrain you can glass with large open parks/canyon sides, 7000 acres is often just "meh" size, or even small. In the east where cover and terrain don't allow you to glass much (if anything at all), seven hundred acres can keep you busy all day and then some, even when other hunters are hunting the same piece. Here in PA there are millions of acres of public, most of it heavily forested, and in the northern tier especially, bucks and bears routinely reach maturity.
Mica Man
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I'm glad you joined Hunt Talk. Your stories are way better than Oak's!
Rzrbck918
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Solid, thanks for sharing!
Irrelevant
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I think we've all been there. Glad you weren't successful in your negotiations with yourself.
AvidIndoorsman
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I was informed in the parking lot that you're not a true east coast hunter until you hunt with these in your pocket.
np307
Well-known member
Actually it's not until you smash the ever living crap out of your fingers by cutting through a branch way too big for hand shears
Hunting Wife
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AvidIndoorsman
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I'm way too much of a dumbass to be wielding a machete, probably end up burying it in my kneeYou see that @wllm ? There’s a use for your backpack after all
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