OY: What zone for muzzleloading hunt?

[bigbore442001]

I looked at the 2007 deer kill report for the state of New Hampshire to make a determination as to what area would be good for a week long muzzleloading hunt with Dad. This is something we could afford and would not be too far away, yet have the feeling of a trip away from home.

Here are last years stats on the buck kill per day in each zone with the muzzleloader.They are pretty interesting and I see some patterns of the kill in particular areas of the Granite State. I was thinking that there are many knowledgeable hunters on this board and they would be able to offer some wisdom in the decision making process.


SEASON A B C1 C2 D1 D2 E F G H1 H2 I1 I2 J1 J2 K L M ALL
MUZZLELOADER SEASON (3 NOVEMBER – 13 NOVEMBER)

DATE A B C1 C2 D1 D2 E F G H1 H2 I1 I2
11/3 0- 5- 1- 3 - 11- 40 -2- 3- 25 -40 -59 -9 -19

J1 - J2 - K - L - M - ALL
10 - 56 - 53 -26 -35 - 397

Date A B C1 C2 D1 D2 E F G H1 H2 I1 I2
11/4 0- 6 -3 - 5 - 4 - 20-2 -1- 8 -30- 39- 3 -6

J1 - J2- K - L - M- All
3 - 66 - 40 -42 - 56 - 334

DATE A B C1 C2 D1 D2 E F G H1 H2 I1 I2

11/5 15-1 -1 - 0 - 1 9 - 1 - 3-5 - 2- 8 -3 - 3

J1 - J2 - K - L - M - ALL
2 - 30 - 16 - 17-18 -135

DATE; A B C1 C2 D1 D2 E F G H1 H2 I1 I2

11/6 6 -9 - 2 - 1- 1- 4- 8- 1- 1- 7 - 4- 10- 5

J1- J2 - K - L - M - ALL
1- 5 - 4- 8- 11 86

DATE: A B C1 C2 D1 D2 E F G H1 H2 I1 I2

11/7 6 - 1- 1- 3 - 0- 8- 3- 3- 3- 5- 7- 1- 3

J1 - J2 _ K - L - M -ALL
0 10 9 13 26 102

DATE: A B C1 C2 D1 D2 E F G H1 H2 I1 I2
2 - 0 -0- 1- 1- 6- 0-1-6- 6- 7- 2 - 2-0
11/8
J1 - J2 _ K - L - M -ALL
3- 9 - 5 - 12-18- 81

DATE: A B C1 C2 D1 D2 E F G H1 H2 I1 I2
3- 2- 0- 0- 3 - 6 -1- 2 -2- 3- 7- 0- 2
11/9
J1 - J2 _ K - L - M -ALL
3 - 6 - 11- 13- 22 -86

DATE: A B C1 C2 D1 D2 E F G H1 H2 I1 I2
3- 1- 1-- 1-- 4---13 -1 -4 -8 -13 -14 -10 -9
11/10
J1 - J2 _ K - L - M -ALL
5 - 24 - 17 -36 -47- 211

DATE: A B C1 C2 D1 D2 E F G H1 H2 I1 I2
3 -3 -2 --2 --3 ---9 --5 8 -10 14 -2 ---7
011/11
J1 - J2 _ K - L - M -ALL
6 - 20 -22 -20 -36- 173

DATE: A B C1 C2 D1 D2 E F G H1 H2 I1 I2
3 -2 -0 - 2 - 1 -3 - 1 -1 -5- 4--7 - 6 - 4
11/12
J1 - J2 _ K - L - M -ALL

2 - 8 --9 --20 -19 -97


DATE: A B C1 C2 D1 D2 E F G H1 H2 I1 I2
1 -0 -1 --0 ---0 --3 -0 -2 -2 -5 --8 ---4 -0
11/13
J1 - J2 _ K - L - M -ALL

7-- 9 ---4 --3 --15- 64


SEASON A B C1 C2 D1 D2 E F G H1 H2 I1 I2 J1 J2 K L M ALL
TOTAL 45 23 11 18 32 125 13 26 79 122 180 45 59 42 243 190 210 303 1766

So the big question for members of the board is. What zone would you hunt? What would be your rationale for choosing that zone.

[Old Time Hunter]

What the heck is that???? Some special code????

If'n I had to figure out stuff like that, the season would be over!

[Old Ironsights]

I'd look at the satellite for the areas with the LOWEST kills and see what the terrain looked like.

Map the terrain.

Hunt the Terrain.

That & look to the areas directly adjoining the heavily hunted/killed areas and map out the likley deer egress paths and sit in the nearest funnel and wait.

But that's only if you like sniping. I never got into sitting in a tree.

Really, the numbers mean squat except to tell you where all the guys will be next year. At least that's all I can infer from looking at the longitudinal data from the State Hunting Areas in Indiana.

[bigbore442001]

I didn't realize how crappy the figures posted as I copied them.

I just wished I could have posted the whole page which was in Adobe acrobat form.

[Griff]

I didn't realize how crappy the figures posted as I copied them.
I just wished I could have posted the whole page which was in Adobe acrobat form.

I feel there isn't enough info presented to make an REALLY INFORMED decision. One piece of info I like to have is the number of tags sold for each zone, that way you can look at the precentage of success. Say the largest number of kills corresponds to the greatest number of tags sold, and the lowest number of kills corresponds to the lowest number of tags sold, their success rate could be significantly different, or exactly the same. Why, it's just too hard to tell! Without the success rate you're kinda makin' a SWAG, (silly wild-a$$ed guess), whereas if you have the % of success numbers, you're makin' a SWAG, (scientific wild-a$$ed guess); see the difference?

[Pete44ru]

I would hunt anywhere North of Gorham, in Coos County - unless you like a lot of company, and/or don't like to wander too far from your vehicle.

[bigbore442001]

The deer tag that is sold with your hunting license in NH is good for the whole state. It isn't zone specific. The zones are used to determine what days you can hunt antlerless deer with that tag. Some zones are bucks only while others have a long antlerless season. Others are in between.

Zone A which is the north country now has antler restrictions. Personally the chances of getting a deer way up is slim and I don't want to further restrict my chances.

[Kismet]

One thing I can definitely say is that there is a reason that Unit M (Southeastern NH) issues an extra 6000 or so anterless-only tags. Northern NH and Northern ME are really pushing the limits for the range of Whitetails. So, there are generally more deer down south. (There are also more tags simply b/c there are more human/deer/car/garden interactions in that area that need controlling.) I think my suggestion would be stay south to get into more deer, and probably west to get into fewer people. That means H2 and some areas of K. Maybe throw in J2 since it has a high harvest and you can probably find someplace to avoid people. But, as some others posted, if you can get somewhere to set up and get a good look around, I think most units would be pretty good. I don't think the units with low harvests are necessarily b/c there aren't deer - I think it is more likely fewer hunter numbers.

Good luck.

On a related note...no moose tag for me.

Michael in NH

[Pete44ru]

I beg to differ.

The reason for more tags in the Central & Southern zones of NH & ME is that there are more deer, and specifically more does, in those farmland & suburban areas which contain a whole lot of munchies that deer prefer - including small gardens, flower beds & shrubbery.

Both Northern ME & NH are more heavily forested, with the exception of some of the potato lands of Aroostok Co, ME.

In my experience,
More "tags" = more hunters - and when I park my vehicle to go hunting, I don't like to feel like I just found a parking space at a shopping mall, because there are so many other hunters consentrated in a small area.

I been "rained on" with bird shot, and have had a tree next to me shot dead center - and can tell you that it's not something to look forward to.
I've also had rude idiots plop themselves down where I was sitting on a deer stand, because I guess the area looked good to them too - and "the woods are free, aren't they ? "
A shot across their bow gets them to move along, but I'm sure they plopped down again, only just out of my sight.
It doesn't make for a quality hunt, in any case.

YMMV.