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Good perspective on hunting and the deer herd in NJ and a lesson that NJ 's endless development does not necessarily diminish its natural treasures hidden in plain view. Just because the cows are gone does not mean there are not healthy populations of mink, muskrat, beaver, deer and bear found not just in official designated nature destuinations but everywhere in between.
Modern day NJ bowhunters growing up in an information age with access to computers and bow hunting magazines could hardly imagine the world of hunting in NJ in 1950s. Residents besiged with deer must wonder at the scarcity of deer in the more agrarian state of the 50s and the explosion of deer in a paved over, citified 21st century NJ
I remember going to see the deer hanging at the Sunoco station on Hall ave in Perth Amboy as part of the Double OO rod and Gun Club deer contest. I was so impressed by the one buck that was taken with a bow and still had the arrowhead embedded in the rib cage. What an accomplishment that was to take a deer with an arrow.
Here is a look back, found in the archives of a local newspaper.
Note the inclusion of women in the sport and the fact Fish and Game was under the Dept of conservation and Economic Development.
Would be great to speak to those who held NJ archery Licenses in the days before 1955.
“November 20, 1952
TRENTON – Bow and Arrow hunters will travel to the deer woodsof NJ two weeks before the hordes of sportsmen descend upon the deer herdsarmed with shotguns, the State Fish and Game Division Dept of Conservation andEconomic Development announced today.
The Bow and arrow season ondeer opens on November 29th and closes December 13th,while the deer season for hunters using firearms (or bow and arrows) opens onDecember 15th and closes on December 20th. Each year anincreased number of bow and arrow hunters, both men and women, take part in thegreat sport of hunting for deer. In recent years many women particularly, havetaken up the sport.
Dr. AH Underhill, ExecutiveDirector of Fish and Game, expressed delight in the increased interest in bowand arrow hunting in NJ. “This fine sport can furnish outdoor recreation tomany people without serious strain on our wildlife resources” he said, “Last year fourteen deer were taken during the bow andarrow seasonwhichprovides a fine opportunity for bowmen, male and female, to take part in biggame hunting comparatively near home.”
Deer Taken by counties by themodern Robin Hoods last year include Three in Hunterdon, six in Morris and oneeach in Burlington, Ocean, Somerset, Sussex and Warren.
The legal deer kill duringthe 1951 firearms season totaled 4,533 in NJ.
One deer is allowed perhunter and the kill must be reported to the local game warden or to the officeof the division of Fish and Game, State House Annex, Trenton, NJwithin 48 hours. Hunters may be armed with bow and arrow only, during theseason for bowmen and with shotguns or bows during the regular season startingDecember 15th. During the bow and arrow season one deer of eithersex may be taken but during the firearm season buck deer only may be taken, “
People often don't believe me when I tell them that for a period of nearly 100 years there were no wild turkeys in this state (prior to F&W reintroducing them in the 1970s). Likewise, even many hunters assume that the Adirondacks, Maine, etc...are chock full of deer, and don't realize that if you hunt up there two weeks straight you MIGHT see one This picture (a picture of a picture-I don't have a scanner) was taken in the late 1940s/early 1950s somewhere around my great grandparents' farm in Hedding:
From left, my great grandfather, two great uncles, and on the right my great great grandfather. I wonder what the harvest number was that year-could have been 1952 for all I know...
No.....New Jerseys endless development just continues to reduce the natural wild habitat for all the wildlife you mentioned and reduces their forage areas to include grass from under your backyard swing set !!! Unfortunately, there's always going to be some irresponsible hunter or bow hunter that pictures himself as Robin Hood and willing to take aim at the deer eating under your swing set in the back yard. The reality is that very few hunters are marksman and either miss completely or just wound the animal leaving it to limp off to die an agonizing, painful death. Very few are able to deliver an initial kill shot, especially bow hunters.
I have some photos of neighbors and relatives holding up several bull stripped bass back in the 50s, look like the same guys.
Is that old car a Nash, I'm thinking 1949????
Thanks-I wish I knew-I guess it would help date the picture if I found out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kracer
Have any old hunting licenses? My earliest is about 1962....I still have my juvenile license from that year.
I got my first hunting license in 1993. My dad still has his first license from when he was 12, so that would make it 1966. I wish they didn't start printing them on that goofy green thermal paper. I always wanted to put them all under glass one day and hang them up in my family room. All that neon green paper would just look ugly. They were still printing them on brown card stock when I got my first one. We're going to put all of our state park passes under glass one day-those still look nice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Florida Gentleman
No.....New Jerseys endless development just continues to reduce the natural wild habitat for all the wildlife you mentioned and reduces their forage areas to include grass from under your backyard swing set !!!
Actually it's just the opposite. We've dramatically increased the amount of edge habitat that deer thrive on, hence the large numbers. Normal deer numbers in places that still have lots of forest (Great North Woods area of New England, Western states, etc...) are something like 10 deer per square mile. We have 40 per square mile in some areas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Florida Gentleman
Unfortunately, there's always going to be some irresponsible hunter or bow hunter that pictures himself as Robin Hood and willing to take aim at the deer eating under your swing set in the back yard.
Hunting that close to a dwelling without written permission is a very serious offense. It doesn't happen often-if you have evidence of this you should contact NJ Fish and Wildlife.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Florida Gentleman
The reality is that very few hunters are marksman and either miss completely or just wound the animal leaving it to limp off to die an agonizing, painful death. Very few are able to deliver an initial kill shot, especially bow hunters.
Really? Again, please contact NJ Fish and Wildlife and describe these instances in detail, they would be very interested to hear how most hunters are incapable of downing a deer with modern archery equipment. Are you aware that there is hunting in Florida too?
Last edited by Badfish740; 08-29-2013 at 06:32 PM..
Thanks-I wish I knew-I guess it would help date the picture if I found out.
Actually it's just the opposite. We've dramatically increased the amount of edge habitat that deer thrive on, hence the large numbers. Normal deer numbers in places that still have lots of forest (Great North Woods area of New England, Western states, etc...) are something like 10 deer per square mile. We have 40 per square mile in some areas.
The only problem here is that your not in New England your in New Jersey and because of new construction continually encroaching on natural habitat there is less and less. The reality is that with a smaller natural habitat deer are forced to forage in UN-natural habit like under swing sets in back yards. It's not what they prefer....just what's left.
Hunting that close to a dwelling without written permission is a very serious offense. It doesn't happen often-if you have evidence of this you should contact NJ Fish and Wildlife.
It may not happen often but the reality is that there is and always have been an irresponsible sediment of hunters where anything goes and clearly NJ Fish and Wildlife doesn't have the manpower to stake out everyone's back yard !!!
Really? Again, please contact NJ Fish and Wildlife and describe these instances in detail, they would be very interested to hear how most hunters are incapable of downing a deer with modern archery equipment. Are you aware that there is hunting in Florida too?
Is modern archery equipment capable of bringing down a deer.....absolutely. Are the typical individuals who use the modern archery equipment capable of making a kill shot with a single arrow with a deer in movement that drops the deer on impact.....it's remotely possible......but highly unlikely. A far more likely scenario is the hunter misses badly wounding the deer which escapes into the woods and either later dies of infection from the wound or it dies a long painful dead by bleeding to death. All so some idiot can feel more masculine because he killed something and ate some tough, gamey deer venison which isn't nearly as tender or flavorful as most supermarket beef. I realize this type of senseless slaughter will never end because apparently there's an endless supply of men with low esteem that feel if they can inflict death upon a helpless animal it somehow erases their low self esteem and makes them a man. Nothing quite like a deer head on your family room wall to keep reassuring you that your a man !!!
No.....New Jerseys endless development just continues to reduce the natural wild habitat for all the wildlife
Deer like edge lands; suburban development is better for them than virgin forest, much to the dismay of suburban gardeners. But don't you have some alligators to feed?
So....if we follow your logic and suburban development continues eventually all that's gonna be left is edge lands. As long as natural habitat that they are used to foraging on since the beginning of time....long before gardeners and edge land.....keeps shrinking edge land is all that's left because there isn't enough natural habitat to support their numbers any more. Starvation makes you do things you might not normally do to survive.
Is modern archery equipment capable of bringing down a deer.....absolutely. Are the typical individuals who use the modern archery equipment capable of making a kill shot with a single arrow with a deer in movement that drops the deer on impact.....it's remotely possible......but highly unlikely. A far more likely scenario is the hunter misses badly wounding the deer which escapes into the woods and either later dies of infection from the wound or it dies a long painful dead by bleeding to death. All so some idiot can feel more masculine because he killed something and ate some tough, gamey deer venison which isn't nearly as tender or flavorful as most supermarket beef. I realize this type of senseless slaughter will never end because apparently there's an endless supply of men with low esteem that feel if they can inflict death upon a helpless animal it somehow erases their low self esteem and makes them a man. Nothing quite like a deer head on your family room wall to keep reassuring you that your a man !!!
They usually die of internal bleeding and/or shock. Depending on the wound location, they can be dead before they themselves know it as they run the 25 - 75 yards and drop of a fast bleed, or they can run anywhere from a quarter of a mile to 1 mile, but they usually stay within a half mile of their habitat and will make a break for a location near water when they lay down and die of shock. Most experienced hunters are not taking archery shots over 25 - 40 yards. Modern day arrows are designed to cut through muscle, sinew and bone much like a scissor would slice through paper - make no mistake they are quite lethal and will make quick work of the target in the right hands. A typical deer does not have a long lifespan, since there are no natural enemies abound in NJ or elsewhere, it is far more humane to have a controlled hunting season as opposed to having deer dying of starvation, disease and other less ideal ways to go. Until you've walked the woods in bone chilling temps with 2 feet + of snow on the ground at 5:30 in the morning before climbing into a tree stand or assuming a stalking position- you really shouldn't be preaching about what is or isn't.
Meanwhile, you can enjoy sunny florida sipping your pina coladas while you type nonsense and show just how little you really do know.
Deer like edge lands; suburban development is better for them than virgin forest, much to the dismay of suburban gardeners. But don't you have some alligators to feed?
Really???
But didnt deer evolve before even when homo sapiens were still living in caves, or makeshift tents in small numbers? Where did they live then?
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This picture (a picture of a picture-I don't have a scanner) was taken in the late 1940s/early 1950s somewhere around my great grandparents' farm in Hedding:
