Hunting Seasons at Long Ridge Camp

The pictures are taken by a gamecam at one of our honey spots, located up on a far ridge about a mile from camp. It is possible to take turkey, deer and bear from this area, from the same stands. The stand in this spot is a twenty footer, just to the left and behind the camera. The picture of a cub (there are two cubs and a Mom,) was taken and seconds later the camera with attacked by Mom. She didn't totally destroy it, but it was out of service for a few days.

Here in New Hampshire, we have, compared the rest of the country, few deer per square mile..The Eastern more suburban part of the state has about 19 to 30 per square mile. In our county in the West it is estimated that there are 8 to 12 per square mile. That comports with my experience in our woods. This means that many hunters never do see a deer. You do it right, or you'll likely spend a lot more on beef throughout the year. Our season for deer lasts about 90 days, and starts on September 15th with an archery season going through December 15th. You may take one either sex deer with bow, but if you buy an extra tag for 16 dollars you may take a second. With 90 days to bowhunt, I cannot imagine not getting a couple, but there are hunters that don't. October 31st sees muzzle loader season open for nine days. The first three are either sex, then buck only until November 10th.
November 11th opens regular firearms season with three either sex days, and then buck only until Dec 6th. Back to bow til the 15th of December. So, at best, you may harvest three deer per season. Two with bow, and one with either rifle or muzzle loader. A lot of us tag out with bow and muzzleoader. I haven't shot a deer with my 30-06 for 5 years.
In addition, while you are bow hunting you may take a turkey, and a bear. Our bear season varies throughout the state, but ours is from September 1st through September 21st. We cannot hunt with hounds in our unit, but we may bait. Bear may be taken by bow or firearm, including larger pistol calibers.
If this isn't enough, we may hunt moose by lottery. It is seldom that you get a tag more than once every few years, but it's great to put in for one. I've gone twice and I'll post those hunts another time.
Our deer are decently sized, as Northern animals generally are. Our does dress out around 130 lbs average, and our bucks about 170. The biggest buck I ever got weighed 310 lbs on the hoof and dressed out at 240. A big dude, I couldn't get him into my F-150 without help. As far as antlers go, we can't touch the scorecards of Kansas, and Illinoise, Texas or the other Southern States. We have 8-18 pointers, but their mass does not lend to many Pope and Young or other record books. Mostly big bodied to survive our winters.
So, how do we handle our seasons relative to camp? I used to hold a three day camp for muzzleloader, then two firearms camps. Couldn't get enough interest in muzzle loading, so I switched to three rifle camps. As I have developed the property for deer, I am moving closer to quality deer management standards. This year I am going to hold two rifle camps only. Another big change is that I will not allow our camp members to hunt on the property other than camp weekends. I may make an exception for the bow hunters, but I find that hunters tag out in between camps, and then there is less interest. In additon, in between camp hunting puts the deer on high alert come weekends. This may bring howls from some camp members, but they'll get used to it...also I am contemplating restricting the taking of immature bucks. Not sure on this one though. I do encourage the taking of mature does.

Guns in Camp

I love this time of March. It is sunny today, and as I took my Lab for a walk into the far fields it was 10 degrees. That allows us to walk on top of the crust without snowshoes until at least 1 PM, when the snows begin to soften. There are bare spots all over the Southern slopes now, but still about twenty inches of hardpack in our woods and North facing fields. It's gonna go fast now, because though it may be way below zero in the morning, it can reach 50 degrees by 2 PM. . Nice walking in the woods, no sticks, branches or blowdown to walk over. They are still covered. Sidney puts his head flat against the snow, and his front legs strait out behind. He pushes himself along like an otter, with his hind legs. He loves the coolness of the snow, and except for the occasional yelp when he engages a tree trunk, it is funny to watch.
So, about Camp and guns...You've seen our pups, you've been told about our hunters, what about the guns we use to hunt deer? This is a question I often fielded when writing a column for an outdoor publication. Well, like the diverse hunters we have, they show up with diverse weapons and calibers. Never minding the occasional visitors, here are the calibers used by the seventeen regulars:

30-06 eight hunters, mine a Winchester model 70 Featherweight, the rest are Remington 700, Savages, a Wetherby, and a Remington 7400

308 four hunters, A Remington 700, two Ruger compacts, a 14 pound Remington Sniper rifle ( I know, I know!)

30-30 one hunter, Winchester Model 94

7mm08 one hunter, Remington 700 I believe

270 one hunter, Winchester model 70

32 Win Splc one hunter, his Grandfather's lever action..

12 Gauge one hunter, a Remington 870 pump

There you have it. We have a camp rule that no loaded rifles are allowed inside camp. Loaded pistols/revolvers are. Since some of these folks are cops, police calibers predominate - 357 Sig, 9MM, 10mm in Glocks, Kahr, Kel-Tec, Dan Wesson etc.

We have had our discussions on the relative merits of various calibers. All the above will take deer cleanly at reasonable ranges if the shooter does his or her job. Why the preponderance of 30-06? Well, at the very least, most of these hunters take other game with these rifles, including moose, bear, coyote, and hogs. History is clear. There is no better all around North American game cartridge. Period. Don’t argue. Research, read, talk to the best, talk to guides in every state that guide for every type of game there is. People argue all the time about various calibers, and their relative effectiveness. But no one ever makes fun of a 30-06. Especially if you can afford only one rifle. So there you have it from Long Ridge. What do you folks hunt with?

Dogs and Deer Camp

There is no question that if everyone showing up at Deer Camp unloads a dog or two, it would become uncontrollable in no time. But as host of a deer camp, I have always brought a pup or two along. Sidney, our Black lab, loves camp and can't wait to greet all the hunters, congratulate them on their cooking skills, and poison test every meal for us. Plenty of the hunters have dogs or hunt over dogs and love to see the black flash around camp. Sidney generally sleeps next to my cot, but if it is exceptionally cool in camp, he'll sneak up into one of those fat easy chairs we warm for him every evening. If he cannot get one of those, he'll pop up onto the foot of my cot and sleep there. No, I don't mind. When we hunt during the day, he'll randomly choose someone's sleeping bag or bunk, and snuggle into their tangle. He knows not to follow any of the guys out into the woods or fields, and is smart enough to hang at camp as long as some laggard is always there (they are).
Sid is a good pup, but I do not hunt him. He was abandoned on our road late at night, and the next morning we took him in. He was about a year and a half, way underweight, and a bare raw scar around his neck from a rope. He was pretty nasty but eventually I caught and fed him. I turned him over to the humane society thinking that was the end of that. Not so! A week later I called to find out about him and they told me they were euthanizing him. Incorrigible, and a mean biter I was told. Untrainable. Riiighhhhhhhhhhhht...I've owned and trained Chesepeake Bay Retreivers, and labs, and this guy didn't look too bad to me. Hold him I said, I'll be right down, and he became ours. Within a month or two, it was clear he could never be hunted, but also as clear that he was as friendly and loving a dog as they come. So he just kind of lives rent free, and we love him for who he is. And part of who he is, is being at deer camp very year. He is whitefaced and old now, and the dreaded time is coming. Oh my, fellow hunters, is there any worse time? I can barely stand the memories of the loss of past pups. Here are the 1989 Oct entries in my hunting log at the time. They are of Callie, a Chesepeake born in California. Because I got her at two years I never trained her to water marking and hunting, but used her for upland only, and she was a sweet. In the summer of 1989 she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Here we are in October, 1989, my Hunting log at the time -

"13 Oct 80 - Bird dog (her nickname) is sick - weeks to go...an angry tumor"

"17 Oct - Callie on pills but she is fading - wants to be close & be loved - such spirit- we're going on our last bird hunt this weekend.."

"21 Oct - Callie and I, my Birddog - we went on our last bird hunt, up behind Merricon. She loved it, one grouse she handed me, and did so well, and, when done I had to back the F-150 against a bank so she could get in. ... she was too embarrassed and proud to be lifted."

"Saturday I took callie for her last swim. Three throws of her dummy and she was beat, and done, but jubilant."

"Fri, 27 Oct 80 - Callie died at home - I was only gone an hour. Such class, she went this way to spare us. There'll never be a better or classier Chessie.
We buried her up back with her toys, a bone for chewing, a dummy, a snack, and grass seed for her tummy. She was buried cosy, wrapped in her beloved blankets from the Jeep"

Let me ask you, hunters. Do we ever weep for the loss of anyone or thing as we do for a beloved pup? I don't think so. What do you think?

Inside Camp, and Such

There are 17 hunters on our deer camp list but we cannot accommodate them all at once. This is a good thing because seldom do more than 8 or 9 show up intending to stay over for the whole weekend. There are 7 bunk beds, very comfortable, and some set up cots if we need them. Because I have all my hunting equipment, guns, and gunsmithing stuff at camp, I have a semi-separate room with a cot in it. Because it is near home and I visit it nearly every day, winter access and security is not an issue here. It is walking distance for me.

It is heated by propane, a wall heater donated by a hunter when he renovated his home. The stove is propane, and I got that from my Mom's summer camp after she passed away. The fridge was donated by an upgrading cop, an inveterate hunter. The walls are covered with trophies and of course each has a story. There is a huge 4X10 foot table for eating that seats about ten. After dinner some of the hunters retire to the overstuffed chairs to converse and sip their favorite drink, others sit around the big table. The rest stand around the huge roaring fire that I light
Friday noon, in a huge stone fireplace right out front. This fire burns day and night until the weekend is over. The three weekend camps burn about two cords of wood that I gather over the summer.

When hunters start to arrive on Friday, they grab any bunk handy and stow their gear. Most gear up and get ready to hunt right away, hoping to tag and hang a deer early in the weekend. Others arrive and spend hours unpacking, organizing, parking ATV's, feeding the fire, or just letting the previous 11 months go.

There is a log book on the table. Any time a hunter heads out they are required by protocol to fill in blanks about where they will be, which stand, when they'll be back etc. Also there is a tab to fill in for any deer seen. This way we keep a talley from year to year on where the best spots are. I'll post a sample..

We organize meals before hand, deciding who will bring what. Mostly we eat wild game, mule deer, elk, moose, bear, whitetail, goose breast are fairly common. Three of ther rugular hunters are gourmet cooks, that is to say, they have taken courses from excellent restaurants and local chefs on how to cook, and make sauces. I grew up in Boston, and quite often was dined in first water 4/5 star restaurants. But I can tell you, some of the meals we have had rival the best 100 dollar a plate meals I have ever had. Word gets out. We've had the President of the New Hampshire Senate stop by for an evening, and once, the Attorney General of NH. Hunters neither, but good taste in wine and vittles they did have...

Not much for cards and games in this camp...we see each other seldom enough, that it takes several evenings of chat just to catch up on careers, family and personal stuff. It's all so cool.

Lunch and breakfast, on your own.

The Land

As I said before, the land is heavily forested Northern New England hardwood/softwood mix. One hundred foot White Pines and Red Oaks along with Sugar Maple predominate the landscape. Hemlock stands provide ample winter cover for the deer. Our camp sits in the saddle of a (long, you guessed it) high ridge at about a thousand feet above sea level. The saddle is pronouced enough that migrating Canada Geese pass through it. On certain stands, you are actually eye to eye level with them, and can hear the clicking of their feathers as they stroke through. Once it was foggy and I was in the Tall Stand when a flock of about forty winged through. I thought they were going to run right into me, but didn't. Our land is 130 acres, but is surrounded by about 5000 undeveloped and fairly safe acres that has little hunting pressure. We habitually hunt about a third of the entire area, with most success within 3/4 mile of camp. Many deer have been taken within sight (several hundred yards) of camp porch. A walking/ATV trail winds roughly around the borders of our land, and there are several interior trails for still hunting. We used to ban ATV's from the trails except for retrieval of deer, but eventually learned that ATVing to areas to hunt disturbed the deer less than walking there. I have a favorite stand way up on the Far Ridge about a mile from camp and I routinely ride my ATV up within a 100 yards of that stand. I have arrowed some fine deer there. Most of the hunters here walk/still hunt to their stands anyway, and in a way that is more fair chase I suppose. In any case, when we do get one, we seldom have to drag a deer more than a hundred yards before we can sled it out behind a machine. Below is an entry and a typical one, taken from my 2004 journal I keep on the seasons.

"Nov. 17th, a big ground scrape is found at the Far Ridge . We hunt the area, no luck...only animal seen is a whitish coyote 100 yards from camp..on the 20th, I am returning to camp at midday on an ATV and pass a small Christmas tree plantation seventy-five yards from deer camp porch. I find a fresh tree rub that was not there the day before... the tree is big, and so is he. The damage is heavy and we are fired by the discovery that a large buck visits camp at night. Teasing us. November 21st, two deer jumped at Walker's field - no shot. Sunday at noon and most hunters head out for home, three remain at camp. One elects to go to Walker's fields - jumps two deer, but unknown sex and no shot taken. I take the Far Stand for a late afternoon sit. The last hunter in camp, a Long Ridge veteran decides to hike out the West side trail. It's four P.M. and I am feeling good, a buck is nearby...the occasional honk of a passing goose, a low guttural call of a bird high in the trees that I have never been able to identify in fifty years, and life is good. It is calm. 4:01 PM, terrific view of the Far Field, no wind, and I have THAT feeling. POW! - the shot comes from the Southwest, about a quarter mile to my left. I know immediately who it is, and where the hunter is. I reach for my radio, and flick it on... "Yeah, Jack, that was me, I got a hit, might as well sit tight until I check it out." Right. I am as a brother to this fellow SWAT Team member, and I know his skills. I heard his shot, and it is as good as done for me. "10-4" I answer, but I am already unsnapping my safety harness twenty-five feet above the ground. I have my rifle slung, my waist pack on and poised in ten seconds. Down I go, and as I hit the ground, I hear the radio crackle - "Jack, better get one of the ATV's up here, he's down, I'll leave my hat in the trail where I head West". I am already half way to camp, and my radio crackles from our third hunter, who has monitored and is on his way to help. Back at camp, start an ATV, load rope, extra knives, a towel, camera, and head out the West trail. At the moment I see the orange cap in the middle of the trail I glance west and see bright orange in the thickening gloom. Forty yards from the trail, this buck was heading south, parallel to the trail, when he was spotted, and shot. With a shattered heart, broken leg, and smashed ribs, this nine point beauty above managed to streak forty yards before piling up. Dead before his first leap, this buck had such a will to live, that he galloped without consciousness.
We took time to admire his coat, and his swollen neck, and his rack . Silently I said the ancient German prayer .. ‘…and we thank thee for thy beauty, speed and grace...’ By the time he was weighed, and photographed hanging in camp, on the weigh scale, next to hunters, it was late, and way past dark. Several toasts and promises later, I stood alone at deer camp. Pitch black I step off the porch to the fireplace. The fire just red embers, and all hunters gone until the last weekend of the season. The high of the hunt - the loneliness of it's end....there is NOTHING that can match either."

Back to Deer Camping...

I spoke in my earlier post about starting a Deer Camp, and making it work..so now you may have questions about our camp and it's hunters. There are 17 hunters on the camp roster. Not all attend every year or every hunting weekend - I'd say about ten are hard core. Eight of us are police officers, several retired. Also on the list is a doctor, an accountant, a builder, a construction manager, an electrical company owner, a machinist, a custodian, and an insulation foreman. The cops rank from Captain to Patrolman. 32 to 67 is the age range. Our different backgrounds and occupations make for a broad array of evening discussion topics from all walks of life. A deer camp is one place where diversity really does work. Most of the hunters reside here in New Hampshire, one travels from Pennsylvania, one lives in Texas. We keep in touch all year by an email group address list.
Five of us are hard core bow hunters...six of us also hunt with muzzle loaders. All of the group are rifle hunters.
We have lost several hunters off the list over the years and we do not invite others in until we have a spot. Seventeen is about max for a camp this size.
Occasionally we have an April dinner or breakfast meeting with our families just to touch base. Beginning in July we bow hunters start getting together to practice and compare equipment.
We believe in good hunter ethics, and frown upon taking poor shots, hunting with untested equipment or unsighted in (annually) firearms. Chasing wounded deer does nothing for us. As a management practice I encourage the taking of does and usually take one for the freezer myself. We are not specifically a 'trophy hunting' camp. Small antlered bucks are sometimes taken, and proudly hung on the game pole. We hunt as individuals, rarely doing drives. Some of the hunters prefer to still hunt, while others use climbers or nestle into some favorite spot. I have seven strategically placed 20 foot high tree stands on my 130 acres,and the rest and those not afraid of heights use those. Except for a few ladder stands most of my stands are the Wedge stands which I install 22 feet up, and build a twenty foot ladder to access them. They are excellent, and last years and years. Most of the stands are either in acorn areas, or placed to try to catch deer moving toward our fields or food plots. We have a log inside the camp that you must sign in and mark which stand you are going to be in. That way, later arrivals won't bother you or approach that particular stand to use it. If we take a deer in the afternoon, we sit until shooting light is over so as to not disturb other hunters. I have a trail system that allows for ATV access to most areas of the property, so drags are generally short. Deer shot beyond my boundaries however have created some monstrous drags, not to be forgotten. We carry radios and cell phones so getting help when needed is no problem. But overall, the emphasis is on hunting as individuals. In fact, I preface every annual deer camp letter with the following:

"This will be the twelfth 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. Come when you can, and leave when you will…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, two, or all three camps …but remember this first…hunt in your own fashion…"

February Deer Scenes

Here some pictures from our kitchen window on Friday. Generally we have about 20/24 inches of snow in the woods, but because of the last few weeks warmth and loss of some in open areas, the deer are roaming along our upper rear fields looking for open ground. Not much browse here, but it did hold their attention for awhile. They all looked fairly healthy.

They were able to walk off staying on top of the crust. They will go from here in a big circle up the hill to a large softwood bedding area. Years ago we fed them through the winter. We stopped when the coyotes began killing them right out side the kitchen. Even without feeding them, within several weeks the coyotes will be into them in a big way. They whelp around March and really require a lot of red meat. I have photographed some grisley scenes of coyote kills. I will say this. Absolutely nothing goes to waste in nature. Every bone, every hair, every hoof is utterly consumed by the canines. What they leave (and it isn't much,) is finished by birds, foxes and bears. Whatever they do kill does not seem to adversely effect the size of the herd here. When we fed them, we could count up to 35 deer in our yard at once. Once snow breaks, they scatter widely for food. My feeling is that the most predation (by coyote, fisher and bear) is on the newly born fawns in May and June.

I find that about half the does in our area lose a fawn, and sometimes both, by fall. In any case, over the past ten years we have managed our land for wildlife. Logging, bringing back the overgrown fields, freeing up the wild apples, and planting clover have increased the overall size and health of the deer in our area. In the 90's when we first arrived, it was a big deal to see a deer on stand. Now it is not uncommon to have ten or more feeding within sight of our elevated stands.

Why a Deer Camp?

Before we talk hunting, let's talk about deer camps...what is the allure, and how do you join or start one?
It is time to address the question from a hunter last fall – “how do you get a deer camp started and what do you need to do it?” Good question, and the answer is totally fluid. You get a deer camp started with friend (s), and you need little to do it. I was a big city kid, and my first ‘deer camp’ was a huge colonial home in Marlow. We were there all summer, but returned to the city in the fall. In those days, deer season began about December 1st, so after Thanksgiving, Dad took us out of school, and up there where we started fires and furnaces, and lugged water, and made the place comfortable. In the evenings we would clean rifles, check gear, and get reviews on how to use a compass, start fires and things of that nature. By opening day, hunter friends of Dad’s would arrive and settle in a back room near an open fire and plan their hunts. We boys would listen, and learn.

By the time I was in college, the old place in Marlow was sold, and the only ‘deer camp’ I had ever known ended. My next deer camp, years later, was an invitation to hunt in Southern NH, where camp was the lower level of a split-level ranch, where the garage door looked out over a swamp. We all slept in the garage in sleeping bags, got up at 4 AM to grill breakfast, and then piled in trucks to our hunting destination. The night before the hunt was as always..planning, discussions on where and how, friendly arguments about methods, calibers, skills, and recipes. Bragging about families. Deer war stories. The past years’ work, the best truck, beer, rifle, and politics. Wasn’t fancy, wasn’t deeply rural, wasn’t even on land we could hunt – but was full of close friends, on the same quest, and we hunted hard.

Our present deer camp is deep in the Connecticut Valley on our farm. Over a dozen years ago, a hunting pal and I camped in the Eastern half of the old dairy barn, ready to hunt opening day. We had no water, and just a simple Coleman gas cooker to make coffee on. We slept in sleeping bags on the floor and used gas lanterns for light. We scouted the land and placed stands, and over the next several years, other hunters joined us, and the barn gradually transpired into almost luxurious standards. At the beginning the only heat we had was a hundred pound propane tank with a double-faced heater on it. It didn’t matter. We ate out of cans and made a stone fireplace outside. We got deer, some real trophies. Eventually, the place got tightened up, a wall gas heater was donated, and at twenty below outdoors, will bring the camp to a respectable 55 degrees. Another hunter donated a refrigerator. A portable toilet was rented. A real gas stove with an oven appeared one year. Big soft easy chairs were acquired, one by one. A bulletin board, a radio, electric coffee maker. Grill. Trophies from NH, Vermont, Colorado, Quebec, began to cover the walls. Deer hides, and antlers, Elk, Caribou, Coyotes, Fisher, Beaver, Moose, you name it. Bunks for eight, a four by ten foot dining table. Gourmet cooks among us, and wild game suppers have become an every camp expectation. The parking lot had to grow to accommodate up to a dozen big pick-ups and ATV’s. Game pole and hoists, huge woodpiles, and an early fall ‘deer camp letter’ to all hunters pretty much rounds out the scene. We have three long weekend camps during the regular firearms season, about all we can pull off. Some of the hunters hunt out West each fall, and bring elk or mule deer meat to camp. Others are busy hunting in other parts of the state, and have tagged their deer by the time camp is scheduled. They come anyway, and cook, and talk, and share their stories.

And that is my point. To have a deer camp, all you need is a friend who loves to hunt, and a place to share a coffee, a story and a good meal. A tent in a field, a garage floor, a real camp, a barn, a living room floor covered with sleeping bags. A love for the hunt. A place to introduce someone to the thrill of camp, of the hunt. Maybe a fireplace or an outside fire pit. If you start it, and invite a friend, it will grow. It will get better. Maybe you have to drive ten miles from ‘camp’ to hunt. So what? The sheer joy of planning, of strategy, of equipment and of luck is the same. Not all of us can afford a twenty thousand dollar guided grizzly hunt in Alaska. But any New Hampshire deer hunter can invite a friend, and share an evening fire. Deer camps can bring a wildly diverse group together and forge lifelong treasured friendships. Our regulars are as different as it gets – cops, and accountants, troopers and company owners, corrections and electricians, rich and the broke, old and the young. All with the same deep feeling of excitement each fall season brings, the opportunity to arrive at camp and see who’s there and to link up with friends perhaps not seen for the entire year. To check the logbook to see who is already out in the woods, and where. To find out who has tagged during archery or muzzleloader season. To hear the tales of those freshly back from Western hunts and to check out any new additions to the rifle rack. To enjoy the bustle of vehicles being unloaded and ATVs parked, and the clank of tree climbers on the porch.

To be a hunter, and to never have experienced any of this would be a tragedy. A deer camp is the perfect opportunity to introduce a non-hunter to the quest. There are those that hunt only because of deer camp ambiance. Think about that, and if you don’t already join your pals at a camp, make the big move this firearms season. Get together with a friend, or a dozen, and start your own deer camp. Stick with it a few years, and your camp will develop it’s own personality, it’s own culture. You will never regret it, and your lifelong hunting experience will be much richer in warmth and memories than without it. I guarantee it.

Who we are...

Welcome to Long Ridge Deer Camp, often referred to as LRDC. This camp is located somewhere in New Hampshire, in the Connecticut River Valley. Indeed, the river is less than a mile away. This is deep New England territory, mostly forested, with some agricultural fields and plantings. Very rural and uncrowded, there is a lot of land to hunt, snowmobile and hike on. As we go on in this blog, we will be talking about how to successfully hunt deer in New England. I have written for outdoor publications, and have subscribed at one time or another to most hunting magazines, including Sports Afield, Outdoor Life, American Whitetail, American Hunting Club etc. It has always amazed me, ever since I was a child (I have been hunting 50 years) how few deer hunting articles written in the national rags have any relevance to hunting Whitetail deer in New England.

We are definitely a Northern clime, with annual temperatures reaching extremes, from 100 degrees F to -35 below zero F. New Hampshire is about 85 % forested. We usually get 3 to 8 feet of snow during the winter months, so our deer definitely benefit from large softwood stands. Where we hunt it is almost entirely wooded, though there may be fields a few acres in size here or there. I would guess that deer density in our area is about 8-10 per square mile.