This is something that I have been thinking about doing for a long time and I finally put the wheels in motion this year. Although I live just outside of the Adirondack Park, most of my deer hunting for the past 15 years has been in the Park, in the High Peaks Wilderness Area. All of my hunting has been day trips, occasionally spending the night in Tupper Lake for a whole weekend of hunting, but mostly just a day here and there. It’s a 70 mile trip to get to where I park the truck. I’ve been wanting to set up a tent camp for a long time, but it just never materialized. This year I decided to do something about it. I ordered a 12x14 wall tent from the Wall Tent Shop in Moscow Idaho. I got an 8’ awning off the front also. The Outfitter 4 wood stove and hot water tank will provide heat and hot water. Cots, pads, new sleeping bags, cooking gear, propane stove and all sorts of miscellaneous gear have been arriving daily. No way I’m packing all of this gear into the back country on my back. I’ve got a Grumman 16’ deep v, with a 20 hp Yamaha to get me to where I want. Lots of lakes and rivers provide easy access to the back country. My wife and I are getting started with a few 3-4 day pleasure trips this summer and early fall. After a few camping trips under my belt hopefully the deer camp will come together nicely. I haven’t done this in 30 years, and to say I’m excited is an understatement! I’ll be adding pics as I go, and j would love to hear back from you guys.
You sound like me. After years of trying to get friends to join me on similar adventures, I just decided to start doing it on my own. I guess after 20 years of guaranteed filled tags out my back door I am ready explore and really HUNT. I’ll be joining you in the ‘Daks but plan to pack my Cimarron and stove in somewhere between Inlet and Stillwater. Good luck and looking forward to you taking us along!
They say everything happens for a reason. For me that reason is usually because I've made some bad decisions that I need to pay for.
I got the tent set up in the backyard this afternoon. I’ve never set up a wall tent before, it took about 2 hours, but that was also cutting all of the guy ropes to length. There is also an 8’ awning, but I didn’t put that up today. I burned a good fire in the wood stove to burn off the paint fumes. We put the cots and pads and sleeping bags in, and the wife and I and the dogs are having a backyard camping trip tonight!
Looking forward to the pics. I grew up in Piercefield and still do all my hunting there.
The past two years there’s a little camp on Route 3 just outside of Seveys Corners, that has had a couple really nice bucks hanging from the pole in the front lawn. Not your camp by any chance?
Originally Posted by brucebruce
You can leave your tent up for the season if you get a permit from the state. Contact the local ranger.
I’m thinking about that. I’ll either be on the north end of Long Lake where the Raquette exits the lake, or on the Raquette below Raquette Falls. My goal is to hunt Cold River, so the best access is from Long Lake. I’m somewhat pessimistic about leaving my tent and gear for extended periods.
Looking forward to the pics. I grew up in Piercefield and still do all my hunting there.
The past two years there’s a little camp on Route 3 just outside of Seveys Corners, that has had a couple really nice bucks hanging from the pole in the front lawn. Not your camp by any chance?
Originally Posted by brucebruce
You can leave your tent up for the season if you get a permit from the state. Contact the local ranger.
I’m thinking about that. I’ll either be on the north end of Long Lake where the Raquette exits the lake, or on the Raquette below Raquette Falls. My goal is to hunt Cold River, so the best access is from Long Lake. I’m somewhat pessimistic about leaving my tent and gear for extended periods.
Originally Posted by cra1948
Where do you guys live in NNY?
Lisbon, about 3 miles outside of Morley.
It’s been a while since I’ve shot trap at the Lisbon Sportsman’s Club
I was gonna say it gets chilly late season in a tent but heck you’re from Lisbon so you’ll be fine! You mentioned boat, if it’s cold early and you leave it up you may be iced in come December… sled access on the ice?
Hunted out of an established camp in Indian Lake from ‘07-14, insulated and heated, 14 guys, home away from home. did the boat in camping thing during the off season. Great memories and lots of fun.
Just something special about hunting the bigs woods in the Adirondacks, sure do miss it come October. Maybe get a couple days in at thanksgiving this year. Maybe get my boys back in for a day!
Post up some pictures when you get set up. I’ll see if i can find any from camp. As brucebruce said, get a permit and leave it up. If you can get a light weight platform in to set up on that sure makes it nicer when the frost is in the ground.
Looking forward to the pics. I grew up in Piercefield and still do all my hunting there.
The past two years there’s a little camp on Route 3 just outside of Seveys Corners, that has had a couple really nice bucks hanging from the pole in the front lawn. Not your camp by any chance?
Originally Posted by brucebruce
You can leave your tent up for the season if you get a permit from the state. Contact the local ranger.
I’m thinking about that. I’ll either be on the north end of Long Lake where the Raquette exits the lake, or on the Raquette below Raquette Falls. My goal is to hunt Cold River, so the best access is from Long Lake. I’m somewhat pessimistic about leaving my tent and gear for extended periods.
Originally Posted by cra1948
Where do you guys live in NNY?
Lisbon, about 3 miles outside of Morley.
Not our camp. My parents still live in piercefield so I just stay weekends with them. They are finalizing a purchase of a camp just east of Seveys at the bottom of Moosehead MTN. Hopeful to get that established and focused in an area instead of bouncing around.
You can leave your tent up for the season if you get a permit from the state. Contact the local ranger.
I don't know about your area but in the various states out here in the west where I've hunted and lived, leaving a tent and equipment without anyone to watch it would last about five or six days. You'd come back to camp and everything would be gone.
Good luck if you try it.
L.W.
"Always go straight forward, and if you meet the devil, cut him in two and go between the pieces." (William Sturgis, clipper ship captain, 1830s.)
i've thought about doing an ADK hunt trip just like that for a long time. hell I have an 8 man seek tipi and stove, and a 24 foot Seaark and 90 hp jet drive. just can neever get the peopel to go with me
The government plans these shootings by targeting kids from kindergarten that the government thinks they can control with drugs until the appropriate time--DerbyDude
Whatever. Tell the oompa loompa's hey for me. [/quote]. LtPPowell
Sounds like a great trip! I’m just across Champlain in the islands. I poke around the Dacks every season in addition to VT, NH & Maine. As a tracker, the Adirondacks are my favorite with the north woods in Maine being a close second due to travel time alone. Post some pics!
I was in the "Dacks " last month.It is some rough country . I don't know how you hunt it. I went through Speculaor and Old Forge.
But the fruits of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, Gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law. Galations 5: 22&23
My wife and I did a recon trip on Long Lake on Friday. I didn’t find any camp spots that excited me much. Next week we are taking the boat up the Raquette and doing some more scouting. It’s tough finding a fairly level spot to put a 12x14 tent!
My wife and I did a recon trip on Long Lake on Friday. I didn’t find any camp spots that excited me much. Next week we are taking the boat up the Raquette and doing some more scouting. It’s tough finding a fairly level spot to put a 12x14 tent!
And meets the setback required from the water AND won't already be occupied when hunting season comes.
You can leave your tent up for the season if you get a permit from the state. Contact the local ranger.
I don't know about your area but in the various states out here in the west where I've hunted and lived, leaving a tent and equipment without anyone to watch it would last about five or six days. You'd come back to camp and everything would be gone.
Good luck if you try it.
L.W.
Sad to hear, not that much of an issue in Wyoming. We can set camp and leave it for a few days and come back to all still there.
I've spent a week or two, most years since the '80s, camping in the Adirondacks during deer season. Since retiring 5 years ago, the 12X15 Beckel Canvas and stove sit unused out in the shed. I sure do miss those days.....
My heart's in the mountains, my heart is not here. My heart's in the mountains, chasing the deer.
Spent a few deer seasons when I was in college in the late 70's hunting out of a friend's place in the Weaverton Riparius area. Great memories but deer sightings were few and far between, did encounter a black bear one season but alas didn't have a tag. Did do a tent camp hunt in the western Rockies outside of Glenwood Springs, CO. Spent a week chasing mulies and elk, everyone went home with an animal, lots of hard work but truckloads of prime venison made it all worthwhile.
I've spent a week or two, most years since the '80s, camping in the Adirondacks during deer season. Since retiring 5 years ago, the 12X15 Beckel Canvas and stove sit unused out in the shed. I sure do miss those days.....
Why did you stop using them when you retired and had, I presume, more time than ever to get out and about?
If I could get my wife to retire, we'd be Jeeping and camping in southern CO and northern NM whenever the weather cooperated.
I've spent a week or two, most years since the '80s, camping in the Adirondacks during deer season. Since retiring 5 years ago, the 12X15 Beckel Canvas and stove sit unused out in the shed. I sure do miss those days.....
Why did you stop using them when you retired and had, I presume, more time than ever to get out and about?
If I could get my wife to retire, we'd be Jeeping and camping in southern CO and northern NM whenever the weather cooperated.
Just not enough time. I'm now retired in Florida, so the Adirondacks are no longer just a quick shot away.. I do a couple of weeks every year hunting out west in Oct. When I come home, I spend a few weeks catching up on things around the house. Then I drive up to NY to spend the Catskills deer season at my club/camp with the guys. Some of those ol' boys are getting along and I wouldn't want to miss what few seasons I might have left with any of them. They're the last hunting ties I have to my dad and Gramps.
Last edited by eaglemountainman; 08/10/21.
My heart's in the mountains, my heart is not here. My heart's in the mountains, chasing the deer.
I've spent a week or two, most years since the '80s, camping in the Adirondacks during deer season. Since retiring 5 years ago, the 12X15 Beckel Canvas and stove sit unused out in the shed. I sure do miss those days.....
Why did you stop using them when you retired and had, I presume, more time than ever to get out and about?
If I could get my wife to retire, we'd be Jeeping and camping in southern CO and northern NM whenever the weather cooperated.
Just not enough time. I'm now retired in Florida, so the Adirondacks are no longer just a quick shot away.. I do a couple of weeks every year hunting out west in Oct. When I come home, I spend a few weeks catching up on things around the house. Then I drive up to NY to spend the Catskills deer season at my club/camp with the guys. Some of those ol' boys are getting along and I wouldn't want to miss what few seasons I might have left with any of them. They're the last hunting ties I have to my dad and Gramps.
^^^^^^^^^^^ Yep, near Crystal River. It's good for the wife's health. I'm not so crazy about it, myself, other than the long boating and fishing season. I get out of here every chance I get though. BTW, I'm a 260 Rem fan also.
Apologies to the OP for stomping on his thread.
Last edited by eaglemountainman; 08/10/21.
My heart's in the mountains, my heart is not here. My heart's in the mountains, chasing the deer.
^^^^^^^^^^^ Yep, near Crystal River. It's good for the wife's health. I'm not so crazy about it, myself, other than the long boating and fishing season. I get out of here every chance I get though. BTW, I'm a 260 Rem fan also.
Apologies to the OP for stomping on his thread.
No need to apologize! Threads usually go off the rails much sooner than 4 pages! Tomorrow morning the wife and I are taking the boat up the Raquette as close to Raquette falls as we can get. There’s a couple of promising sites along this stretch of river and I’m really familiar with the country. If I find a good spot I’ll secure a permit with the local forest ranger. This locks me in on this site for the entire deer season. Then a nice mid September primer trip. Get the feel of using a wall tent, and camping again. It’s been a long time. Also cut up some fire wood for the wood stove and squirrel it away until November.
In the mid 60's guys in my club used to set up a couple of wall tents in/on Indian Lake. We would take boats up and set up on the far side of the lake. No wood stoves then at best a small Kero stove or two. Never anyone around, just us guys. We also got fancy after a couple of years and set up a dining tent made of a dining tarp, 2x2 studs wrapped with clear plastic We never did too well with the deer as there was hardly any in the Adirondacks then---poor hunting at the time!
Myself and a couple of friends bought some hunting land in the NYS southern zone (Delaware County). I had the bright idea that since we already had the hunting license, we should hunt the Adirondacks and maybe kill a big buck or bear, this was in the 80's. After much research, we first hunted East Canada Lakes area in Hamilton County, no one saw an animal. We ended up hunting Long Lake and Lewey Lake and again never seeing an animal. We saw tracks, rubs and scrapes but never a live animal. After 6 years of doing this, we gave up. We hunted in tents and cabins.
Hunting the Adirondacks isn’t for everyone. The deer numbers are very low, but so is the hunting pressure. I have hunted an entire season without ever running into another hunter in the woods, and this is public land! I have also hunted an entire season and seen only 6-8 deer. I’ve found the deer use different areas each year. Mast crops and coyote and even bear pressure has a lot to do with where you will find the deer. Cover lots of ground and find the sign, then hunt those areas hard, all day long. Some hunters like mountain tops, and that may work for them. I look for water, the edges of rivers, streams, ponds, and especially marshes usually will have deer.
The wife, the dogs and I took our scouting trip up the Raquette last week. Navigation was easy, the water is quite high for this time of year. We ran into a lot of kayak and canoe traffic, but that’s to be expected in the middle of August. I also got a chance to talk to one of the local forest rangers, and he was a wealth of information. This area historically gets little use during deer season. I found 2 good camp sites to pitch the wall tent: this isn’t an easy task, finding a fairly level 12x14 spot! I also ran into the brother of an old friend. He was putting his boat in when we were taking ours out. He has camped in this area in the past deer hunting. I told him of my plans and we agreed I had a solid plan in motion. Next step is a week or two after Labor Day we are going to do a trial run camping trip for 3 days. Hopefully get some firewood cut for the wood stove and hidden away for November. Can’t wait!!!
I can’t wait to see the pics! You shouldn’t have any trouble getting wood around there. Did you catch any fish?
The dogs are great in the boat, we take them whenever we go. Adirondack public land rules dictate you can only cut downed wood, and no power chainsaws. That means ax and bow saw. I bought a good bow saw with a couple extra blades, so I hope that works well. The fishing was good, we landed a couple small mouth bass in the 1 1/2 pound range. Close to one of the campsites is a little trout stream I haven’t fished it in about 20 years. When we go for the long weekend in September I’ll bring my ultralight spinning outfit and give it a try. Usually the best you can expect from a stream like that are 8-10” brookies, but they are great frying pan size!
@miguel, When I was a kid my Dad used to hunt the Big Moose area. We would set up camp in the woods somewhere along the road to No. 4 and Stillwater reservoir. We hunted International Paper Co. land. It was a great time and I miss it much. Camping in the boonies, I might be a little old for that these days but I am with you in spirit. Have a wonderful time and as you know living in the area, the weather can change in minutes..
We are heading out with the tent and gear on Friday morning. Staying until Monday. The wife and 3 dogs are going this time. It should be a good practice run for 10 days in early November. The weather this weekend is still in the 70s during the days, but it’s looking like 40s at night. I don’t think I’m bringing the wood stove on this trip.
Nothing like eliminating a morning drive and the ability to start hunting 50 yds from the tent.
We do an adjoining dome tent for sleeping and reserve the wall for dining and socializing. No need to stow bedding or deploy bedding in the AM/PM, respectively. Same same when using the travel trailer.
If one expects significant snow, I'd suggest tarping the roof. Snow will slide off a plastic tarp but cling to canvas. Especially significant if one is away from camp when the snow accumulates.
Our long weekend in the Adirondack back country went great! We were had the boat in the water by mid morning Friday. It was loaded down with all the gear plus my wife and I, then the three dogs. It was a very scenic and relaxing trip upstream. The leaves are just starting to turn. There still hasn’t been a frost yet.
My first choice campsite was open, as was every other site on the river. We arrived about an hour and a half after launching. This site also has a lean to, which is a very nice bonus. We had the boat unloaded in short order, and it was time to start setting up camp. It was only my second time setting this beast up, but it went well.
I left the rain fly for the tent sitting on the garage floor, along with the camp chairs. Luckily the tarp I had for a fly on the front porch was large enough to cover most of the tent. Other than those two items, we had all of the comforts of a back country camp.
We spent a lot of time on the river and did some hiking(scouting for November). The dogs went everywhere with us and were great. Jesse the beagle can’t be trusted to not follow her nose to the next county, so she was under leash control all the time. Ginger the Golden Retriever and Buster the Cockapoo were great and never wandered far.
One disappointment was the lack of downed wood to cut for firewood anywhere near the camp. I was hoping to cut a pile and stash it. Now I’m thinking about using lump coal. The stove I bought has a grate just for coal, so I think I’ll buy some and do some experimenting. I am familiar with this country, a 15 minute walk from the campsite gets you to the main trail that I hunt off during deer season. What’s different is that point 15 minutes from the camp is about 3 1/2 miles from the nearest road. That’s about as far as I get back in. So this will be opening up a lot of new territory for me. This trip has really got me pumped for November. One of the nicest things about the whole weekend was the peace and quiet, no cell phone reception!! No clients bugging me, the hospital wasn’t calling Helen non stop, total isolation from the world as it is today. That’s really nice. We ate well, slept well, and did what we wanted on our own schedule.
miguel: Looks like a fun adventure and happy the trial run went well. Can't wait to see photos pf the hunt time in Nov from camp ! Wishing a safe and successful hunt ! Nice photos ! HH
NICE! I used to hunt the Catskills on a regular basis and the Adirondacks a few times.
So, what is it in man that draws us to a remote deer camp? Or should I ask, what is lacking in folks that doesn't draw them to that kind of primitive peace and tranquility? I thank God I am not lacking that special something.
Faith and love of others knows no mileage nor bounds. That's simply the way it is. dogzapper
After the game is over, the king and the pawn go into the same box. Italian Proverb
I wouldn't worry about your camp friends of mine leave a wall tent up in the moose river plains and have never had a issue. They get a logger to bring wood right to the camp. less work more hunting. My camp is more comfortable I can walk across the street and hunt 43000 acres.
Typical of this area…very thin. November could be entirely different. I’ve hunted this area for a long time. The deer will be where the food is, and where the predators aren’t. You have to cover some country, but I can usually locate good pockets of deer. You have to realize even on a good year, deer numbers are very low in the Adirondacks. I live in the St. Lawrence River Valley. One morning last week I had 14 deer in the front yard. That is more deer than I saw in 9 full days of hunting the Adirondacks last year. That being said, I’m still optimistic and looking forward to my trip!!
Miguel, I might have missed it but how do you hunt? Still hunt or tree stands? Rifle or bow?
I’ve only bow hunted that area a few times and pretty much stick to rifles but curious if you were going for the more challenging route. I’m challenged just seeing deer consistently in that area.
Typically I’m on the move, still hunting. Tracking snow is hit or miss, but normally I’ll move slowly through areas that hold good deer sign. I will sit on occasion, and have had great success a few times. I have tried calling with grunts and rattling but never had much luck. I want to try rattling a little more, I really think it will work. Two years ago, I had hunted an area that had good sign a week earlier but the deer had abandoned. Mid morning I decided to try a little mountain I hadn’t hunted in a few years. As I was slowly working my way uphill I thought I heard a deer blowing. I froze, waiting to see what would happen. I couldn’t believe the next few seconds, a doe came running straight at me, a big buck right on her tail, grunting non stop. They blasted by me about 5 yards away. I shot once at the buck and missed clean! Then off to my right another buck, came running following the first two deer. I swung on him and quickly shot, dropping him in his tracks. Start to finish the whole encounter was maybe 3 seconds. Things happen fast, you always have to be ready. After I collected my wits and took some photos, I got the buck field dressed and started dragging him down the mountain, here comes the doe with the buck on her tail still, grunting non stop still! I got a good look at him, about a 18” spread 10 point I believe. Really nice buck. Mine was 178 pound 8 point. Don’t think encounters like this are common in the Adirondacks, more like once in a lifetime. Another neat encounter occurred in 2008. I was still new to hunting this area. I had found a lot of good sign along a couple of ridges and knew there was a buck working the area heavily. I hunted all day and never connected with him. Next morning I was right back there. Just about sunrise I walked up on a good 6 point and dumped him with the .35 Remington. I was seriously proud of myself, my plan actually came together! I was about 1 1/2 miles from my truck, so after I dressed the buck and dragged him to the main trail, I walked out to my truck to get the two wheel cart. I left my pack and rifle at the vehicle. I was almost to where I had left the 6 point, just rounding a sharp bend in the trail, and there stood a buck that has haunted me since. He was a heavily muscled buck with a huge neck and a wide chocolate brown rack, I believe typical 12 point, standing broadside about 25 yards away. He just trotted across the trail in front of me. He was so close I could feel his hoofs hitting the ground. He was at least a 250 pound buck. I think the rattling of the cart may have attracted him. The sight of that buck has kept me going back since!
Great experiences and good stories. 2018 it seemed like we had too much snow from 11/15 to the end of season. Luckily we were able to break trail each day in between storms to maintain some road access. I shot one of my nicer bucks on Black Friday that year and was up to my crotch in snow tracking him. Last year we didn’t have much for snow. Hopefully we get a reasonable amount this year.
Hunted the Adirondacks For 40 Years, Built many Lean to's and Wall Tents from the back of my truck out about 8ft. Built these with tarps and dead trees cut on location. The first one I built fast and not much support, got 12in. of WET SNOW the first night and caved it in. I Slept in the back of my Truck,was high and dry, but my cooking gear was not----Make sure your wall tent is made to take a lot of snow. Do not leave it up if you will be gone for any length of TIME---IT may be GONE WHEN YOU GET BACK!
I’m pretty sure the OP is safe where he sets up base camp. Most people in that area are respectful of someone’s motivations to hunt, fish or hike. As always there are problems. But I have to think most crank heads are getting in a canoe to “get some Schmitt” 1 mile down river
I enjoy revisiting this thread - good luck this year! If I’m ever in your camp neighborhood, I’ll pop in to say hello. Best of luck!
Do you hunt this area much? I’ve run into a couple guys from Vermont over the years, possibly you? One fellow I’ve talked to a couple times has a Ford F-150 and he keeps a two wheeled garden cart in the bed to transport deer out.
Muzzleloader opens this weekend. First time in 6 or so years we’ve been allowed to shoot a flat head so I’m actually going to get out some and see if I can’t get something in the freezer. Good luck out there
I enjoy revisiting this thread - good luck this year! If I’m ever in your camp neighborhood, I’ll pop in to say hello. Best of luck!
Do you hunt this area much? I’ve run into a couple guys from Vermont over the years, possibly you? One fellow I’ve talked to a couple times has a Ford F-150 and he keeps a two wheeled garden cart in the bed to transport deer out.
I’ve only visited & hiked the area - never hunted it but who knows, I end up chasing the snow around the mountains in search of a good track and never really know where I’m headed.
We[some friends and I] used to set an old army surplus octagonal tent down here in Nat. Forest along the VA/WVA border for the 2 week Virginia deer season in a primitive campground. It housed a woodstove, cookstove and 4-5 cots along with all the other stuff. Couple of times we had 5-6" of snow which is unusual here in mid Nov.
Some my best hunting memories are from that camp over the years!
Yesterday was my first time hunting the Adirondacks this year. Work has been busy and kept me close to home last weekend. I usually use early muzzleloader season as a way to fill my freezer anyway, and a fat spike with a belly full of corn helped out with that! It’s been unseasonably warm here this year, and the first hard frost was this past Friday night. Saturday night it got a little colder, as I was driving to my hunting destination early Sunday morning, my truck was reading around 27f. As I headed into the woods pre sunrise I was surprised at the amount of foliage still on the trees. Lots of the smaller maples and most poplars still had their leaves. The beech of course were still holding fast but that’s normal. Needless to say visibility was very limited. I hunted a series of ridges and found good deer sign, but no deer. About mid morning I think I bumped a bear. I heard a sound like a 100 pound sack of feed being dropped, then nothing. As I approached where the sound came from I found where a bear had been pulling beech nuts down. It never ceases to amaze me how they can just vanish into thin air. The rest of the day I spent still hunting/scouting new territory much deeper in the woods than I usually hunt, but closer to where the tent camp will be. A couple marshy areas, and the hardwood ridges around them look real promising. Less than 2 weeks to go until I head in. I haven’t been this excited for a hunting trip in a long time. I’ll keep you all posted.
Looks like a few nice spots there. In the last week we’ve gotten two really nice bucks on camera out checking the trails. They are starting to move. Good luck
Good luck, I will be visiting southwestern Adirondacks once or twice this season. Two years ago I shot a nice buck in the area. They are in there. Stay positive.
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go
Since the deer are food centric I wonder if some of the "no till" food plot mixes would grow there? Probably always weather dependent but once established would the deer dig for it?
I moved from a snow state before starting deer hunting so not sure about their behavior then.
I’m getting all of my gear packed, and ready to head out early tomorrow morning. I’ve cleared my schedule for all of next week, so 10 days in the Adirondacks is mine! We’ll see how long I can tough out the solitude. My wife is taking care of all the business calls, and looking after the homestead while I’m off chasing bucks in the mountains. She is great! I’m sure that I’m taking way more gear than needed, but that beats not having enough. I’ll definitely have enough grub for 10 days, probably double that. A couple good books, some magazines and my new shortwave radio will help with the 13 hour nights. No cell phone service to speak of, although I should be able to send a text in a few spots. The weather is looking good, mid 20’s overnights, and mid 40’s during the day for most of next week. Snow doesn’t look too likely, but the cool temps should keep the deer moving. The rut is kicking in and bucks are chasing the does. Doesn’t get much better than that. I’ll keep you guys posted, planning on lots of pictures and got a GoPro to try some video. We’ll see how that goes. I’m really pumped for this trip, I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve!
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
The government plans these shootings by targeting kids from kindergarten that the government thinks they can control with drugs until the appropriate time--DerbyDude
Whatever. Tell the oompa loompa's hey for me. [/quote]. LtPPowell
All packed and ready to go. If all goes well I’ll be heading upstream around 7:30. I feel like Eisenhower on D-Day eve, that I forgot something. Truth is, I’ve got way more than I need. I’ll be taking my Remington 7600 carbine in .30-06 with a Leopold 1.5-5. I almost grabbed my Marlin 18” Texan in .30-30, but I have really grown fond of the 7600. I’ll be reporting back when the trip is over. Thanks for all the support!
Miguel... I have been following your planning and upcoming deer hunt adventure. Good Luck ! Sounds like quite the NY wilderness adventure with peace and solitude thrown in. Hope you find a " big woods monarch " ! HH
Last edited by Hungry Horse; 11/06/21. Reason: correction
Love this thread...been hunting the dak's for 30 years, mostly Indian Lake area. We have a deer camp but wanted to do a remote tent over by Vanderwacker area. Called and left messages 3 times for the Ranger with no call backs. So we scrapped the idea for this year. Best of luck to you!
Kiss your girlfriend where it smells.......take her to Jersey!
It was a beautiful, crisp morning when I headed out, 11/05/21. I got a later start than I wanted, but spent a little additional time with the wife making sure that everything was in order for the next week. This pic is along Route 56 near Seveys Corners. I belonged to a club that leased land here back in the 90's. Beautiful country.
I had the boat and cargo canoe in the water by 10:00. Just as I was putting in, a fellow hunter from the Buffalo area was just getting out. I helped him load up, and he helped me launch. He had seen a few deer the previous week, including two nice bucks, but no luck. He reported the rut was kicking in and the bucks were chasing. I couldn't have wished for better news!
On top of all of the gear associated with a wall tent camp, I also decided to bring firewood. I never had much luck with the Anthricite coal I had planned to use, so seasoned hard maple was the new plan. The canoe held 110 pieces of wood, the wood stove and chimney, and the deer cart. The rigid conduit with a tow rope threaded through proved to be a good way to tow the freighter. I couldn't have asked for a nicer morning. High 30's, still and clear.
It was a beautiful, crisp morning when I headed out, 11/05/21. I got a later start than I wanted, but spent a little additional time with the wife making sure that everything was in order for the next week. This pic is along Route 56 near Seveys Corners. I belonged to a club that leased land here back in the 90's. Beautiful country.
You're making me homesick with that picture. I can not tell you how many times I've driven that stretch of road in the picture but it's certainly in the hundreds. My first deer hunting in the Adirondacks was not too far from there: the hill up above Ham's Inn (when Ham's Inn was still a going concern.)
It was a beautiful, crisp morning when I headed out, 11/05/21. I got a later start than I wanted, but spent a little additional time with the wife making sure that everything was in order for the next week. This pic is along Route 56 near Seveys Corners. I belonged to a club that leased land here back in the 90's. Beautiful country.
You're making me homesick with that picture. I can not tell you how many times I've driven that stretch of road in the picture but it's certainly in the hundreds. My first deer hunting in the Adirondacks was not too far from there: the hill up above Ham's Inn (when Ham's Inn was still a going concern.)
I bought a lot of burgers and fries at ham’s inn as a teenager. Having a snowmobile at 14 was like having a seasonal drivers license.
He already mentioned how peaceful and quiet it was with no cell service where he's camping and hunting. I'm looking forward to the rest of story myself.
Sorry guys, I’m not screwing with you, just haven’t had much free time since I got home. Playing catch up from taking over a week off. And hunting when I do get a free hour or two. Sorry to report no buck on the camping trip. I’m heading back to the woods tomorrow for the day. I’ll get some more photos up as soon as I can.
It was a beautiful, crisp morning when I headed out, 11/05/21. I got a later start than I wanted, but spent a little additional time with the wife making sure that everything was in order for the next week. This pic is along Route 56 near Seveys Corners. I belonged to a club that leased land here back in the 90's. Beautiful country.
You're making me homesick with that picture. I can not tell you how many times I've driven that stretch of road in the picture but it's certainly in the hundreds. My first deer hunting in the Adirondacks was not too far from there: the hill up above Ham's Inn (when Ham's Inn was still a going concern.)
I bought a lot of burgers and fries at ham’s inn as a teenager. Having a snowmobile at 14 was like having a seasonal drivers license.
I belonged to The Flying A hunting club for about 12 years. We were 3 1/2 miles north of Hams Inn. We had running water but no shower in camp. A burger and fries, plus $5 for a hot shower was a real treat after being in camp for a week or 10 days!
The camp was a lot of work to put together. The river was high, so no beach to speak of where I landed the boat and canoe, just steep bank. I had all of the gear, including firewood at the campsite by 1pm, and the main part of the tent up.
By 4 pm I had the entire camp set up. All the comforts of home in the middle of wilderness, what a feeling!!! It was about 42F, and mostly overcast and still. This was before daylight savings time ended so off for a quick evening hunt,
5 gallon pails, you cant have enough of them. They make great water proof transportation containers for paper goods or clothes. Once camp is set up, its surprising how much water one person uses a day. Those little LED battery powered lanterns were great, I think in the week I was in camp, I changed out the batterys once. 4 AA per lantern. The ease of use for 2am piss runs was worth it alone.
This is what I used for water purification. I got all of my water right out of the Raquette River. The water was still somewhat tea colored after going through the filters, but Ive been home over two weeks and still healthy. This campsite also had a leanto, which was a nice added bonus. I didn't use it a lot but it was good to have.
Here's the winner of the big woods hunting rifle contest! Remington 7600 Carbine in .30-06. Topped with a Leuplod Vari-X III 1.5-5, you would be hard pressed to find a rifle better suited to this kind of hunting. I have a Marlin 336 in .35 Remington with the Leupold 1.5-5, another 336 but a Texan with a 18" barrel in .30-30 and a 1-3 Weaver, and a 1895G .45-70 with the 1.5-5. Any of those would be well suited also. A model 7 FS 7mm-08 with the Brown Precision stock and a Leupold VX-R 2-7 is also a worthy contender. I bought this 7600 a couple of years ago. I had had a few in the past, and I never warmed up to them. Then I got the urge again and bought this one. I love it!! I think Remington had changed the stock design some, I know Hal Blood of Big Woods Bucks fame had worked with Remington to refine the 7600's and I think this is what they came up with.
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
Wow, that is a palatial tent camp for a wilderness set up! We did that out west with more guys and it worked better, but I tried it with a pup tent and it made a memory, though not a good one. Opening day get back to the tent around 5:00, fire up the stove, cook dinner, eat dinner, it's 5:30. Now what? Go to bed I guess. Oh, oh. Condensation dripping off the tent has the sleeping bag wet. Sleep in deer hunting cloths and rain gear. Portable sauna. Sweat, get cold, 2;00 a.m. Wide awake and all slept out. Thinking about home, electricity and central heating. Realize those deer never did anything bad to me, heck Sweetness isn't going to help me eat one anyway. What am I doing out here besides making a bad memory? Wilderness misery camping just isn't in my DNA I guess. Your set up looks WAY better.
My other auto is a .45
The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory
I fell into an easy routine the first day. I would get up around 5am, have coffee, and a cold breakfast around the awesome wood stove. Then time for the daily sponge bath. A dish pan and a 5 gallon bucket both about half full of hot water, was Heaven on Earth. This also was in front of the wood stove, talk about luxury in the middle of nowhere! Usually around 6:20 it was out for the morning hunt. Around 11-1 I would head back to camp. Mid day meal was a lot bigger than I had planned on, but a full morning in the mountains works up an appetite. More than once I surrendered to the comfortable cot in the warm tent and had a nice midday nap. Then back out to hunt until dark. Most mornings I spent still hunting, and covering some ground. Afternoons I usually still hunted my way to a good stand and sat watch until the end of legal shooting light, which is half hour after sunset in New York now. Thats new this year, previously it had been sunrise to sunset. Depending on where in the woods you are, half hour past sunset can be plenty dark! After getting back to camp, it was time for the big evening meal. After dishes were done it was still quite early. I had a couple decent books with me, as well as my new shortwave radio. I think 8pm was the latest I ever stayed up. Usually once or twice during the night I had to make a piss run, and also stoke the wood stove. A couple nights the cold woke me up. The stove performed great, but it wouldn't heat the tent for 8 hours, 4-5 at the most. Then it was back up to do it all again. It was such a basic, and rewarding way to live. The days flew by.
Lots of scrapes, some still wet and musky. The bucks were definitely rutting. I found one area inside of maybe 10 acres adjacent to a cranberry bog that had 15 fresh scrapes. I hunted that area hard, and only saw a couple does. In fact I saw a total of 9 deer the entire week. The second day of hunting I saw 3 pairs of does. 6 deer in one day in this country is ALOT! The rest were single does. I have heard all kinds of figures on how many deer per square mile in the Adirondacks, but if I had to take an educated guess, I would put the area I was in at 5-8 per square mile. That may be high, because I know the area well, and I hunt in areas that have proven productive, or types of terrain where I know deer frequent. That leaves a lot of empty woods with no deer at all in it.
It's really no small wonder why the deer densities are so low. Trees this size and larger are everywhere. The Adirondack Park Agency dictates that once land goes into state possession it will remain "forever wild". This generally means no more logging. Makes for a beautiful forest that is almost devoid of wildlife.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to use my deer cart for its intended purpose, but table space was at a premium, and with a small piece of OSB, it served a good purpose after all!
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
Thanks for taking us with you Miguel. The only thing i miss about NY is hunting the Adirondacks. Only hunted Lake Pleasant one day this week and it was cold for this yankee that has gotten used to warm weather! I sure don’t hunt for the deer population! Just the experience you have posted here is what it’s all about. Not many places you can sit at the base of a beech or birch or maple that is 4 feet in diameter at chest level, hard to put in words for someone who has not experienced it.
Any bear sign where you were? I’ve only killed one but seen several while at camp in Indian Lake.
This has been a tough season in the woods with it being so warm & void of snow (until yesterday) are you sticking around till 12/5 or are you over it? To encourage you, I popped across Champlain today into Hurricane. Tracked what I thought was a buck & doe for 3-ish miles only to find out it was a big doe & skipper. Coulda shot them both at 15 yards but laughed at myself for tracking two does and watched them feed for 15 mins before I reversed course back to the truck at 4:30pm. . I’m headed to Hurricane again tomorrow to track more - things are looking up this week!
Dry leaves & no tracks make life SO discouraging in this area.
Miguel: Meals fit for a King ! : ) Thank you for taking us along on your NY Adirondack hunt. Your camp looked very comfortable for a Wilderness setting. I have always wanted to do this in Pa bear season or in the earlier archery season with milder temperatures. I am sorry your Remington did not bark... and create a kill for you. Thank you so much for this informational and entertaining wilderness hunting trip ! Best to you ! HH
Unfortunately, I didn't get to use my deer cart for its intended purpose, but table space was at a premium, and with a small piece of OSB, it served a good purpose after all!
Hahah, so that's what those are for!
Who knew a deer cart would make a handy table in a pinch?
Thanks for taking us with you Miguel. The only thing i miss about NY is hunting the Adirondacks. Only hunted Lake Pleasant one day this week and it was cold for this yankee that has gotten used to warm weather! I sure don’t hunt for the deer population! Just the experience you have posted here is what it’s all about. Not many places you can sit at the base of a beech or birch or maple that is 4 feet in diameter at chest level, hard to put in words for someone who has not experienced it.
Any bear sign where you were? I’ve only killed one but seen several while at camp in Indian Lake.
Good hunting and thanks for the thread.
I bumped into a bear opening weekend. I never even caught a glimpse of him. It always amazes me how such a large, lumbering animal can be so stealthy. During my trip I saw very little sign, which was good with me. I have seen what a bear can do to a camp and I’m glad I didn’t have to deal with that.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to use my deer cart for its intended purpose, but table space was at a premium, and with a small piece of OSB, it served a good purpose after all!
Hahah, so that's what those are for!
Who knew a deer cart would make a handy table in a pinch?
That cart had saved my ass lots of times!! As long as you have a halfway decent trail to use it works great. Numerous times I have walked up to 3 miles to my truck to get the cart to get a deer out. It literally makes it easy getting a deer out whole. I remember the first time using it and I was jogging in front of it going down hill with a 150 pound buck on it. I couldn’t believe I had ever gone through the agony of dragging one.
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Our long weekend in the Adirondack back country went great! We were had the boat in the water by mid morning Friday. It was loaded down with all the gear plus my wife and I, then the three dogs. It was a very scenic and relaxing trip upstream. The leaves are just starting to turn. There still hasn’t been a frost yet.
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