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vrbo has some places in that area.
For example (just randomly picked from a search of Errol NH)
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Path-Finder said:
Oh really? Why no hunting in Maine?
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If you want to walk miles and see nothing northern Maine, NH and central/western MA is good for that.

I go to places with more deer per square mile, not less.

The real big bucks are in places like KY, IL, Iowa, Kansas.....etc. Friends and I have gone to these states and all day long your seeing 120 and 130 inch bucks you'd shoot in Maine, or MA in a heartbeat. In Maine your lucky to see a 120 or 130 inch buck in a week of hunting. I'd see 5 or 6 a sit in KY.......but you can only shoot one buck, so you are very picky, as you could have a 170 class buck walk by or bigger.

People in the Northeast have no idea how good the hunting is in the midwest until they go there.

I'd rather see deer when hunting than see empty woods.
 
Mark from MA said:
If you want to walk miles and see nothing northern Maine, NH and central/western MA is good for that.

I go to places with more deer per square mile, not less.

The real big bucks are in places like KY, IL, Iowa, Kansas.....etc. Friends and I have gone to these states and all day long your seeing 120 and 130 inch bucks you'd shoot in Maine, or MA in a heartbeat. In Maine your lucky to see a 120 or 130 inch buck in a week of hunting. I'd see 5 or 6 a sit in KY.......but you can only shoot one buck, so you are very picky, as you could have a 170 class buck walk by or bigger.

People in the Northeast have no idea how good the hunting is in the midwest until they go there.

I'd rather see deer when hunting than see empty woods.
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My dads been hunting in Maine for 50+ years and it USED to be decent up until about 15-20 years ago. Population (at least where my dads camp is) of deer seems to have dwindled. We see does but no one has got a buck since 2018 up there. My dad said you’d be almost guaranteed to get one years ago. Bad timing on my part as I didn’t start going hunting until 2017
 
andrew1220 said:
My dads been hunting in Maine for 50+ years and it USED to be decent up until about 15-20 years ago. Population (at least where my dads camp is) of deer seems to have dwindled. We see does but no one has got a buck since 2018 up there. My dad said you’d be almost guaranteed to get one years ago. Bad timing on my part as I didn’t start going hunting until 2017
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I started hunting in Maine 50 years with my now departed brother who had 120 acres on which the family deer camp is now. Always brought home deer. The sons and Little Jack went up there on Sunday and already took two deer, a nice 9 point buck and a doe. Another one was taken earlier with the cross bow. Over the last several years there have been less and less hunters seen in the area and less and less shots heard, leaving more deer for us. LOL. jack.
 
one-eyed Jack said:
I started hunting in Maine 50 years with my now departed brother who had 120 acres on which the family deer camp is now. Always brought home deer. The sons and Little Jack went up there on Sunday and already took two deer, a nice 9 point buck and a doe. Another one was taken earlier with the cross bow. Over the last several years there have been less and less hunters seen in the area and less and less shots heard, leaving more deer for us. LOL. jack.
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Nice! Where abouts in ME? My dads camp is near Kingfield.
 
Path-Finder said:
Ha yeah that's probably true. I heard the Midwest was a place to go. I've been hunting Maine for 20 years with limited success. You're right about the walking miles and not seeing deer.

For me though hunting has become more of a nostalgic pastime. I just like going and couldn't care less if I actually shoot a deer. I grew up hunting in Central/western Massachusetts so I'm well aware of the lack of deer.

I may look into upstate New York as well. Going salmon fishing up there for years I saw deer and turkeys everywhere.
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Lots of deer in NY. Further west the better.
 
one-eyed Jack said:
I started hunting in Maine 50 years with my now departed brother who had 120 acres on which the family deer camp is now. Always brought home deer. The sons and Little Jack went up there on Sunday and already took two deer, a nice 9 point buck and a doe. Another one was taken earlier with the cross bow. Over the last several years there have been less and less hunters seen in the area and less and less shots heard, leaving more deer for us. LOL. jack.
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Hard hunting in a good deer area of Maine or MA you'll see and shoot deer with a gun....maybe a good buck in the mix.

Your not going to see 5 or 6 bucks of 120-130 class walk by on a 4 hour one morning bowhunt. Then 4-5 more on the evening sit.

My last hunt in KY.......saw 25 decent bucks, decent but not 160 class, biggest was pushing 140 class, on a 4 day hunt. Does.....probably 20-30 of them or so.......this is the difference I'm talking about. Im after a 160 or bigger as that's the biggest on my wall from New England.

On a good morning in that spot in KY I hunted, you can take a doe and a 130 class buck in the first morning with a regular bow and be done by noon.
 
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Path-Finder said:
Ha yeah that's probably true. I heard the Midwest was a place to go. I've been hunting Maine for 20 years with limited success. You're right about the walking miles and not seeing deer.

For me though hunting has become more of a nostalgic pastime. I just like going and couldn't care less if I actually shoot a deer. I grew up hunting in Central/western Massachusetts so I'm well aware of the lack of deer.

I may look into upstate New York as well. Going salmon fishing up there for years I saw deer and turkeys everywhere.
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If I want to walk alot and track. I go to western MA. Why pay a Maine license fee and travel and all that.

Just stay somewhere in the Berkshires and hunt some of the big state forests out there, honestly, there are more deer than Maine, and if you track you can run across some good ones.

I stay in some Hotels in the Great Barrington area. I also have quite a bit of private land out there I have access too......

I do get that our deer season is really late....and not in the rut....that's why Maine probably has an advantage because the deer are moving more.
 
andrew1220 said:
Nice! Where abouts in ME? My dads camp is near Kingfield.
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Zone 23. With us it's always been a "family" thing. My brother and I hunted together and then with our sons and now with the grandkids. When anyone gets a deer we "celebrate". It doesn't have to be a big buck. The greatest season for old gramps here was when Little Jack took three deer at age 10. Bow in NH, shotgun in Maine and then rifle in NH. I'm not able to hunt anymore so I live thru the sons and grandkids and bore you in the process. Sorry 'bout that. Jack.
 
one-eyed Jack said:
Zone 23. With us it's always been a "family" thing. My brother and I hunted together and then with our sons and now with the grandkids. When anyone gets a deer we "celebrate". It doesn't have to be a big buck. The greatest season for old gramps here was when Little Jack took three deer at age 10. Bow in NH, shotgun in Maine and then rifle in NH. I'm not able to hunt anymore so I live thru the sons and grandkids and bore you in the process. Sorry 'bout that. Jack.
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That's the best Jack. I'd take family together in a camp over hunting by myself in some great deer states.

Unfortunately I have a small family, and my dad and uncle like you can't hunt anymore. We used to hunt the Berkshires for years. My son is a little into it, but not full bore. Same thing with my son in law down south. They've both taken quite a few deer already. But are now into building their lives up and working.

One of my goals is to get some land/camp in a decent state where I can get everyone together to hunt, even if just for a few days. Unfortunately they all work hard at professional jobs which pay good, but don't get a lot of time off.
 
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