Going the other way....

[Guest]

I guess you fellas normally hear questions from Easterners heading out west, but I'm going east.

I've never hunted in the east before. My family and I are going to visit my brother-in-law in Maine this fall and he says we are gonna do some deer hunting. I've shot a 7mm mag for a long time. Shot the old 7mm rem mag for over 25 years until I got a Sendero in 7mm Ultra Mag. The critters seem just as dead as before, but I've shot my longest Antelope ever (425 Yards) with the 7mm Ultra Mag. Now don't laugh cause I know a lot of you boys shoot much farther, but for me its a ways. My dad liked them in knife and fork range so I grew up listening to him and got a late start on the longer ranges. I don't think my dad ever shot an amimal past 100 yards. He thinks my Antelope was 50 yards away at a watering hole. At his age I don't feel like upsetting him.
Or hearing a lecture.

My question is, for hunting in the east where I'm not gonna be in wide open country. Should I change my setup a bit?
I'm shooting the Sendero with a Leupold 4.5x15 scope.

Also, I hear that I'm not gonna see nearly as many deer as we do out here, and I'm probably not going to see any?
But he says if I do see one, it should be a wallhanger.
Anyone have any experience here?

 

[royinidaho]

Take whatcha got. Keep the scope on the lower powers but mess around with it till you're comfortable.

Then, Don't hit any bones, like the front shoulder, could make a lot of waste. Stick to the ribs so to speak. But then again there may not be much time to shoot, so shoot! Its hard to get a runnin' deer to stay on the dinner plate.

This is based on my experience from bringing my hot shootin' 270 from ID to PA and shootin white tails @ 40 and 50 yds


Good luck. It'll be fun.

 

[Tailgunner]

No experance in Maine, but here in northern Michigan ranges can run from 25yd to 500yd (and that's just by turning 180deg). If your in dense scrub a shotgun/buckshot is highly effective (mostly snap shooting / running shots in the 25-50yd range) if on the other hand your overlooking a timber slash cut or crop field the ranges can stretch out to the horizon (feeding/walking activity). Inbetween you may find a shooting lane (fire trail, power line cut etc) where the shots may be in the 100-300yd range, but the deer will only be visiable for a minute.
If you can scout the area, or get someone to do it for you, perhaps you can find a shooting area that's to your liking/style. Keep your optics set on low power until you see a deer, and having a "tough" bullet (partation etc) in the chamber and your "long range" bullet in the mag is not a bad idea.

 

[davewilson]

if you have a less magnification scope on that 7 rem mag, that would be the one to take.a 2-7 or 3-9 would be better than a 4.5-14.ask your buddy if he has a 308 with a 22" barrel and 1-6 scope? now you're cooking with rice in maine!

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the advise guys. The 7 rem has a 3.5 x 10 on it, but I gave it to my son when I got the Sendero. He's gonna be hunting with that one. I'd like to set up on clear cuts, but he says there is a lot of wilderness and you can't predict where that bruiser is going to come from. He also said that still hunting is done a lot. I guess thats like slow spot and stalk in the woods? I figure thats gotta be a tough way to hunt a whitetail. But if its real cold it might be better that sitting still. Is it true about deer in maine being hard to find, but good quality?
You know my dad has an old 308 Semi-auto remington, I dont know what power scope it is, but It gotta be a lower power knowing my dad. Don't know what model it is. The barrel is pretty short.

 

[davewilson]

sounds like dad has the gun you need.maine has very low deer densities.if you're hunting wilderness areas,i'd move the whole day.if you're around some farm ground, you might sit in the evenings watching clearcuts or fields,but plan on walking most of the day.if you're in big woods,you might walk all week and only see deer 1 or 2 days.

 

[Kenster-Boy]

Wow Dave,

It sounds a lot like hunting for blacktails in Northern California. Although the big buck part is totally wrong. We can hunt for weeks on end just to see a legal buck let along a shot at em. But when you do see the long awaited opportunity don't expect anything more than a forkin horn. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Neverlost1]

Birdman
You subject line had me worried for a minute. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I grew up hunting in New England. I was also fortunate to spend 25 years in the Air Force stationed in some great places. I've lived and hunted in New Hampshire (small mountains & big woods), Upstate New York (Adirondacks = big woods), Maine (more big woods), Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Ohio, and my favorite, 5 years in Alaska (or was I in heaven). So anyway, I have a lot of experience with both Eastern and Western hunting.

You don't mention what part of Maine you'll be hunting, as the terrain is quite varried, but like other folks have mentioned, I would be most concerned with your scope. Your rifle is just fine. Most shots will probably be close range (well under 100 yds). If you are stillhunting/walking, your gonna kick up whitetails like rabbits. They can hold really tight and won't get up until you just about step on them. You'll have a hard time picking them up in your current scope under those cirmcumstances. The good old 30-30 with open sights is still really popular in Maine for just that reason. So anyway, you should consider going with a lower power scope if possible - 3X9 is ok (probably the most popular), lower even better.

If you have the same kind of luck I have, everything will happen completely opposite from what you planned and prepared for. Expect the unexpected. Even though 95% of shots in Maine are under 100 yards, you still could end up with a 400 yard opportunity.

As for your last question, yes, you'll see fewer deer. Unlike the wide open west, where deer will concentrate wherever there is cover, they can be anywhere in the big woods. There are no pastures/feeding plots to draw them out (unless you're in Southern Maine farm country). They don't seem to follow any particular trail through the woods. They can be anywhere at any time. Hunter success rates runs betwen 10% to 20%, and thats including both buck and doe (unlike 60% to 80% success in some western states, like Nebraska). Because of the low success rate, many bucks survive into old age. In high success rate states, few bucks make it past 3 years, so yes, "IF" you see a buck, it could be huge.

One more suggestion. I've found that westerners get lost real easy in the big woods (easterners too). I grew up in these woods and have come close to spending the night there a few times. There are no landmarks for reference, no mountains (there are little ones but they all look the same), no fence lines to follow, and your lucky if you can see 50 yards in any direction. In some places you can go 20 miles and never cross a road. You can't walk in a straight line because of swamps, beaver ponds and other obstructions. So you either hunt within a few hundred yards of a road (like everyone else), or you need something to help you find your way out (compass & map is good - GPS is good, both is best).

Good luck, have fun and don't get lost!

 

[davewilson]

the first unplanned overnight stay in the woods is always the worst.the next few you might even get some sleep.

 

[Coyboy]

Elroy hit the nail on the head, unless you rent a local for the week bring a GPS and extra batteries. I have the same problem in the central Wisconsin forest lands.