Long Ridge Deer Camp, 2009


This is the 2009 LRDC camp letter just sent out to all members. I'll post some past ones too.

This will be the fourteenth anniversary that deer hunting camps have been held at Long Ridge. For any that have not attended, these are three-day weekend camps for serious hunters and serious friends. No pressure, no demands, no work. Hunt in your own fashion, in your own way, on your own schedule. …if you cannot stay over, hunt for the day. If you cannot hunt for the day, join us here for a drink around the fire in the evening. Come for one, or both camps …but remember this first…hunt in your own fashion…

OK Boys, I’m only going to repeat myself once. This is the year! Y’all get that? THIS IS THE YEAR! Let me clarify that. THIS IS THE YEAR! Now that we are in sync with quality deer management techniques, we have every right and expectation to harvest at least two 12 point bucks apiece. If you can’t live with that, find another deer camp. That’s all I can say about it! I’ve done a fair amount of research and phone calling on the internet, and I discovered that there are over 7,147 registered big game taxidermists in the USA. So, to be safe, and to assure timely turnaround of the copious mounts we’ll be sending in, and in a patriotic effort to NOT overload and back-up the system, I have engaged all 7,147 taxidemists in the continental US (the Alaskans are busy in their own right doing Sarah’s trophies, I hated to bother them) to be ready for the truckloads of huge racks we’ll be wheeling out of Long Ridge. They are ready. Over seven hundred have replied and stated that they are clearing their freezers of undone heads to make room for ours. A sacrifice to be sure, but one that is sure to pay off for them in the long run!~ In fact I even warned them of Bruce’s trophy over on his hill, and Artistic Wildlife Studios in New Mexico (artisticwildlife.monstermuleys.com/ ) wrote, desperately begging to be included on the list! They promised to handle any trophys with a maximun two day turnaround! So now you know what kind of weight we throw on a national level, you know? Sheesh! I could have used a little help fending these pros off me, ya know? Anyway. No big deal, I just wanted you guys to all understand the actual impact your hunting here actually has on the national GNP. Jobs count on you! If you don’t believe it, I got a midnight call from Ed at http://www.trophyroomsocal.com/ who was so excited…he informs me that our prospects look so good that he is going to be taking on an extra ten people just to handle the carcasses he expects us to generate. Hey, he accepts the fact that with his taxes going up a minimum of 48% this year in California, he’s taking a risk, but as he puts it
“ When Long Ridge Deer Camp Speaks, We Listen.” Go figure!

For meals, We will touch base further into fall, but it would be nice if we had the wild game dinners set up with Larry’s sauces as usual….We have plenty of baggies, tin foil, wax paper and all that stuff…I’ll bring napkins, silverware. …Also I have a ton of venison…

Please let me know which camps you want to attend overnight. 1, 2, or both is fine but I do need to know ahead of time. If I don’t hear soon, I’ll be calling…

Radio channel 16-8.


Bring an ATV –Plenty of parking, and by the looks of the pictures that got sent around, it looks like those ATV’s will be needed! If you need to drop them off here ahead of time, that’s fine! Need help doing it? Give a call!


Hunting:

When you arrive, throw your gear on a bunk, first come, first served except Bills single bunk, which should remain undisturbed and unclaimed. Please log onto the sheet on the table so other hunters, later arrivals etc. will know you are out there. Some of the tree stands are spoken for, so check the log before you take them. There is a map with the various stands on it, so if someone is logged in, you’ll know exactly where they are. Some of the stands are for climbing stands so you may not see anything there. Also there will be mock scrapes set up, so please do not go near any scrapes, real or mock. Try to stay at least ten yards from them. Some of us will be on stand, others still-hunting.. Grouse, fox etc. in season and if you want to take some, fine. But if you get a deer, and want assistance dragging get on the radio only after last shooting light. Remember, coyotes are fair game, no matter who is near you! Please familiarize yourself with the hand drawn property map. There are topos of this area for your use on the main table in camp. There will be the same silly, never visited mock scrape at the far stand, which I am going to hunt hard this year as every year, so if you can steer clear of that it would be good. But there are a ton of other trails, especially if you head out to the far West trail. Follow that and you’ll come to a dozen forks! That’s where all the deer are bedding now. Try to be on stand by 3:00 PM so you don’t bother others already out there…


Also please remember – if you want to hunt an elevated stand, you MUST wear a safety harness. If you do not have one, or there is not a spare one in camp, you can NOT hunt from the high stands…

Remember, we prefer not to have loaded rifles inside camp.. Handguns are fine, we expect all to carry. We want you guys to be safe ! 9 mm minimum please!

During afternoon hunts, if you plan on not coming out till after dark that is fine, but log it or let others know, so they don’t go looking for you. Not all of us wear blaze orange, but if you come out after dark, please wear some. In fact, please log all hunts on the sheet…

Camp rifle weekend dates: Nov 13, 14, 15 Doe is open the 11th, 12, & 13th

November 20, 21, 22

There will be no hunting at Long Ridge except at the above stay-over camps, with the following exceptions:

Bow – Oct 2, 3, and 4 (Fri, Sat, Sun) Let me know

Muzzleloader - )Oct 31, Nov 1, (Sat& Sun) Let me know

Please call and let me know what weekends you can make it, thanks, Jack, err, sometime this century…603 357 9820 ext. 7005 at work, or 603 399 7070 at home or cell 209 1749 or mailto:jackzeller@verizon.net or jzeller@ci.keene.nh.us or, for anyone with a modicum of taste and class, try writing an RSVP to Guess where!(-:

The Eye of the bear

The "Eye of the Bear" I call this one...these guys are curious, and somewhat fearless. The next picture is of him grazing in the high ridge food plot. Strange to see a bear grazing just like a cow, but they do...

In the mean time we are preparing deer camp for the pounding use it will get over the next three months. Ten to fifteen guys will be in and out, eating, sleeping, hunting, and when they arrive in the fall, they know it will always be prepared, tons of firewood, stove and grill ready, propane full, water jugs filled etc. In return, they bring stories of out West, down South hunts, work experiences, family stories, friendship, laughter, jokes, show off new guns, bows, you name it. Above are photos of the inside of camp as I write. Still some sweeping out to do and supplies to get in, but it'll be ready for our first bow weekend October 9. There will not be any organized camp or hunting here until then. I may try for a bear (our season ends the 21st of this month in this unit) and may arrow a buck or meat deer before then, but I don't like any serious pressure in these woods until we hold a full camp. Tends to raise the success rate for those that travel far and can't make all the camps. Left to do, finish staining the porch, replace a kinked propane heater copper gas line I kinked and rewash the pots and pans. Then we are all set. Bow season opens September 15th, but I won't be in my stand until the 1st unless it is cool. Then on October 9th we'll have a non-stayover bow weekend. Then no more hunting until the weekend of October 31st when I'll have a non-stayover muzzle loader hunt. Quiet after that until the weekends of November 13th and 20th, when we'll have our three day campover rifle weekends. After that the hunters are allowed pretty much to hunt here whenever they have time up through December 15th as long as they stick with the QDM rules we have set. By the third week of November most of us have tagged out so anyone out there is pretty much alone. Kinda nice actually.

So, back to the standing deer target for another leisurely week or two of practice. I feel quite confident now, pretty much confining myself to the forty yard exercises. One thing I have worked at, and never mastered, is ranging for bow distances. Therefore I ALWAYS use a rangefinder and my first job once in stand is to range everything in sight, so I know what pin to use. It's the only way for me. So, I wish you all the best of luck this bow season, please let me know how you do, and your methods. I love learning new tricks! Jack