[Guest]

Where abouts in the Green Mountain state are you? I was born there so I to have one leg longer than the other. I'm in the lakes region, northwest side. We used to have a camp up in Cannan VT but no longer.

 

[BruceBruce1959]

I was born in Newark NJ but spent most of my life here in Vermont.
I'm currently in Williston, Vt. I've never hunted Canaan Vt the nearest to there would be Island Pond. I've hunted soooo many areas in Vermont, It's amazing but it's really a beautiful thing as I think back on some of the places I've hunted in... :thumbup: Some Great Memories that's for sure..

 

[Guest]

ickle:Hey Brucebruce, I'm not sure where that is. There are tons of people from NJ up here. When NH went up 20% on licenses I thought about bailing on NH and hunting in VT. They have twice as many deer as NH. NH has some big ones but they are very far and very few between. There is 93000 square miles in NH and 80000 deer according to the F&G. now if 1 in 2000, for ease of math, is a 180" brute that means there are 40 180" brutes in the state. That's 40 180" boomers on 93000 square miles in NH. talk about a needle in a haystack. Now with VT having twice the deer and being about the same size in area, along with keeping that same ratio that means VT has 80 180"ers. I personally thing the ratio should be better in VT because of the nutrition of the farm lands there. but we'll keep it apples to apples. I was thinking that my chances of finding that 180 was twice as good in VT. of course there are other things to take into account, access to hunting ground and the like. with that in mind if you are looking to hunt NH I more than willing to help in any way I can. have a good one.ickle:

 

[onehorse]

ronn, as a former Vermonter, who moved to Montana just for the hunting, you've got me confused by those numbers. All my friends in Vermont, and the guys on this site who still hunt there, have been saying how bad the hunting has become there. But sounds like you have a different take on that subject. So, what is it? Should I move back? (Just kidding - with all the deer out here, both wts and mulies, not to mention the elk, antelope, bison, black bears, bighorns, moose, and maybe wolves and grizzlies, you'd have a real hard time convincing me.) Still, I too have lots of very fond memories of times spent with great friends hunting deer in the Green Mountain state, and I DO hope things are improving there.

 

[Guest]

Yeah onehorse, Its a way of BIG PICTURE scouting. VT has twice as many deer as NH and its about the same size state. If 1 out of 2000 deer is a monster, then Vt would have twice as many as NH. VT is less populated with humans, there is more agriculture. short version the way I see it based on the numbers, VT will have twice as many BIG deer as NH. In both states the old style of New England deer hunting, humpback shot guns and model 94s and the big family deer drivers, brown its down, is going away but very very slowly. These yankees are thick headed and stubborn and just won't change in order to make the herd better down the road in just a couple years. The reason you went to Montana is the very reason I'm looking to go to VA when my son gets out of high school. just a few hrs to many states with tons of deer. Oh and less cold and snow.

 

[BruceBruce1959]

Ronn I't would be nice to think you are correct but the hard facts don't support your beliefs... If I was to rate the Current Vermont hunting conditions (without gathering a bunch of facts) I would say,
This past year (2007 Season) we moved from POOR to FAIR hunting conditions.

check out just this one New England outlook report from 2004

New Englands 2004 Deer Outlook

"The Green Mountain State posts very good numbers in terms of total bucks harvested each year, but it has struggled in recent years to produce trophy bucks of record-book quality."

That Quote says it best and from then (2004) to now (2007) it hasnt gotten any better BUT now because of the new antler restrictions (2005) Vermolnt is starting to see an upswing in harvest, size and overall quality...
With Fingers crossed, I hope it stays on this better track.

 

[BruceBruce1959]

VERY interesting Report......

This is the total harvest reports for Vermont since 1897 to 2003...

Vermont Deer Harvested between 1897 to 2003 <--Click

:w00t: I LOVE this report :w00t:

 

[Guest]

Brucebruce, that's interesting stuff. What I got out of it was that Vt does have more deer but they are all young or small. That plays right into what I was saying, more deer. The fact that only small ones are being shot also proves the point that the old NE style of hunting is still going on and the state made the rules change to help that improve. NH made the same change in the northern part of the state and shortened the season this last year. It stands to reason that if there are more deer and better food and given the amount of posted land in VT, they in all likelihood have more of every class of buck than NH. I'm not sure about the laws in VT but in NH if the land is not posted you can hunt there WITHOUT land owner permission. So there could be more huntable land here making those deer accessible. That's the first time I've seen records for the deer taken in NH measured in inches. The record typical is a 165, non 180's. Sad to say that's not very big if you compare NH to other parts of the country. Granted I would dump a smaller buck in a heart beat, but these are records. they aren't broken every year. If VT was shooting nothing but little bucks and have been for years, where are there daddies? My guess is on that posted land or in the way back woods some where. People say that areas like northern VA and MD have nothing but small deer. I know for a fact that's not the case even though the bulk of the deer taken are young bucks. its the same everywhere poor management practices of been taking place. Look at Pa and what they did with their season, the same thing VT is doing and now NH. I talked to a guy in Ind. and he was saying they don't have big deer there lots of them but no big ones then Road Trips shows a couple barn burners being taken fair chase by the way. The point of all of this gibberish, just because there are lots of small deer doesn't mean there are no big deer. All that being said I would still bemore than glad to help you if you want to hunt NH. If we want big bucks we have got to let the little ones walk NH, VT anywhere. I really hope the attiudes of the hunters in NE change and make it a better place to find those big deer.ickle: