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2023 Hunting Season
So, with the opening of hunting season, has anyone harvested any island deer yet?
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No Hunting
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Dan |
It changed this year - hunting on islands (assuming proper property access is in place) is allowed.
"Deer may be hunted on islands. Special permits are still required to hunt deer on Long and Governor's Islands in Lake Winnipesaukee. See Deer Hunting Regulations for details." |
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Alan |
Access?
I agree with Slickcraft about dangers and proximity to camps and hikers just going to visit other camps with no expectation of island hunters.
You can park on the highway and walk into the woods to hunt. You don't have permission to tie up at my dock to go hunting on an island, so access is limited. I was always under the impression that discharge of firearms (hunting or otherwise) was not allowed on Gilford islands.. Does LRCT allow hunting on Stonedam, Rattlesnake or 5 Mile? Can't imagine 3 Mile and Sandy allow hunting. |
Agreed
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Dan |
Sorry, didn't intend to start a discussion about the pro and cons, that was decided by F&G last year - the islands are overrun with a non-sustainable population of deer, they are cute but they are doing more harm than good now.
There are plenty of folks that allow access to the islands, without markings, the default is you allow access to your property for hunting. From NH F&G website: "Based on long-standing tradition, nearly all lands in the state of New Hampshire are open to hunting. The "rule of thumb" in New Hampshire is: all state, federal, municipal, county and private land is open to hunting unless it is posted against hunting. However, hunting is a privilege granted by the landowner -- not a right granted to the hunter. " |
No Thanks
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I love to hunt and fish, but I would get no pleasure island hunting deer on Winni with a gun...that's just unsportsmanlike in my opinion... Dan |
Seems crazy. I guess on a lot of islands you can find spots more than 300 ft from houses if you know the island well. But... The center of islands is elevated by definition and if you miss the chances of hitting a house are certainly non zero. If the average camp is 40 feet wide on a 100 foot lot then 40% of the land around the island lakefront has a house on it. Of course the Z axis is in play too but the drop over 200-300 yards is only a few feet. Maybe the trees would save us :-)
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On Long Island, at least, and perhaps for other islands on the lake where permitted, there is a fall bow "hunting" season from mid-October, mid-week only, until I think after Thanksgiving, into December. At least one group, BWMANH, refers to this as a "deer reduction" program, not hunting. A minimum of one acre is required, with one owner giving permission, or combined one acre for two or more abutting owners all giving permission. Crossbows are used, from tree stands, so shooting is downward. The signed permission slips must be with the hunter. The land owner may impose any restrictions whatsoever on use of his property for the purpose, such as times, where on the property to use, parking. Of course, if the restrictions are too onerous, that property is effectively not allowing it.
I am in favor of the program; my wife is not. Our compromise is to allow it every other year. |
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The restrictions are not void; just island property is no longer going to be treated different than other property. I can still allow written permission on my property after posting. |
Can you say " shooting fish in a barrel"? Took this just now off my back deck...where would the sport be in this??
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Fish in a barrel
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I think NHF&G made a mistake on this one... Dan |
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I don't have an answer
On Bear Island, there are too many deer which is starting to have a detrimental impact on the island. With no natural predators the heard keeps growing. I can't see the island property owners embracing hunting so I think the number of deer will continue to grow.
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I think it's more inhumane to not hunt. Back in the 90's there were so many deer on Long Island that there was not enough food for them. You would see emaciated deer walking near the road.
Not sure of this concept of "fair". I don't hunt, but have many friends who do, they are humane when they hunt and the harvested deer are not wasted. |
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Dan |
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Dan |
Plan?
In the Long Island situation (1996) there was a plan and a hired shooter. Hunt at night when the deer are active, use a silencer to not scare the deer and take several at once, meat goes to homeless, etc. Probably baited to a desired location. Without a plan, one island may still be overstocked and another lose the herd completely.
A special permit was mentioned above. Any details on that? Maybe that's the "plan"? |
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I have no problem with hunting the islands but it should be archery only. Yes deer multiply quickly and need to be culled to protect the forest. Permission from landowner should be required on private land
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If the landowner legally posts it... then permission is required like any other property in the State.
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https://www.winnipesaukee.com/photop...dium/4deer.jpg |
i agree. And I cringe when I see all these people feeding them and training them to eat out of their hands.
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If they feed them... they stop being wildlife and become livestock.
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Feeding them is certainly a no no also but having an open public hunting season with firearms on them is not right and unsportsmanlike in my opinion…it is also somewhat dangerous. Forcing islanders to put up thousands of no trespassing / no hunting signs is not the answer and is stupid! Fish & Game needs to get their head out their ass on this one! Dan |
It's really population dynamics that factor into this as well. Densitiesneed to monitored. We don't want to see CWD in NH that's for sure. The picture above you can clearly see a browse line in that pic. That is not good for the forest and clearly a sign of over population. Same up behind my house. No hunting on camp Belknap or Northwoods. That is 600 plus acres. I jog by deer sometimes less than 10ft from me and they don't move.
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Am I the only person who wonders “if we are anchored in an island cove and someone shoots at a deer, misses, is it possible for that bullet to mistakenly hit one of us? “ Bullets travel far and some of the islands are smallish. I’d love reassurance from any hunters in the group that this would not happen. Thanks.
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Blame Islands with Lots Bereft of Trees...
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1) "Browse lines" exist where trees are cut down, opening up the forest. Most recent wide-scale cuts are for "self-storage" sites and electric "grid". Cutting "nuisance trees", like White Pines, propagates year-round "browse". 2) Overpopulation will occur when only male deer are selected for "harvesting". There will always be other males to contribute to overpopulation. There should be a bounty offered on female deer. Does that make sense? ;) |
I think it's dangerous on the islands except maybe the biggest ones. What is the law? You can't shoot within 300' of houses?
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Correct.
300 ft from houses and you need to know what is behind your target (yes that includes boats in the cove). |
Isn’t the 300’ for full time residential? Camps and summer homes are excluded. Is this correct?
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In my opinion, there is no sport in killing any deer that run through your backyard. If the deer population is getting too big, it seems that the right thing to do would be to hire people to thin the herd and then be offered to anyone who needs the meat.
I realize they have tried this before but maybe with a little bit of tweaking, it could work. |
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No Feeding of deer on an island... They are NOT forced to stay there, they chose to. They are very good swimmers. No Killing of deer on a island.. Not sportsmen like, gotcha, " I agree " Forcing signs to be put up won't do anything, unless an island has a bridge. Throwing on NH Fish n Game would be a very costly and timely adventure by the State. They care..... But they don't care that much. If it's bothering the landowners that much on a Island, Hire a Hitman. They can use a 222 caliber with 100% accuracy with ABSOLUTELY NO danger to anyone what so ever, and still dispatch the deer population to where YOU/THEY ( Land Owners ) feel comfortable with the amount of deer left. I do not ever see NH Fish N Game spending time and effort in this direction. One thing we can agree on is that there are many foodbanks in this area that could use the meat to feed many under privileged human beings in the area that could use a hot meal during the cold season. I've hunted deer for 60 years. Deer are Deer. Life cycle maybe 8 years for a smart one. Yes they are pretty to watch, but where do you draw the line? I wouldn't look for NH Fish N Game to deal with this. Other then to give you permission to hire someone to dwiddle the herd so to speak. Good Luck with your endeavors, and just remember........................ Shoot straight and don't shoot often. 300 Savage/Remington 30-06/Marlin 35, Springfield 270, Winchester 30-30 probably 4. To many to count. Just if you do, dispatch them cleanly and quickly. |
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Accuracy Common Sense Structured Professionalism ____________________________________ Vs Sure I can do it ! You pay a Professional you will get Professional results. They come with a resume which you can check if you like. Listen to others that have used their service for the exact reason you need them. VS Yeh, I'm a good shot, why do you ask? It seems some people want the answer but don't want to listen to it. I'll step out now, good luck to everyone that is having this problem. |
See below in red
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Its all good..."partner"! :D:D Dan |
Ahhh... but you fail to understand that no laws were changed.
F&G is getting hit for allowing certain landowners to be ''special'' when it comes to speaking before a legislative committee on the current posting requirements. So their ''rule making'' is once again in question. I think you will see the purple paint ''No Hunting'' movement get another shot. |
Some interesting comments here. I'll first say I am a deer hunter of 30 years, primarily archery. Access to new land is always good. I am surprised though that this is not an archery only application from F&G for safety sake. If I was an island home owner on Winni I'd probably have my hackles up as well and hope for sure folks adhered to the 300ft law. How many islands on Winni are actually huntable with the 300 ft law, especially if multiple hunters were on the island? Doesn't seem like many. Everyone is different but personally I don't see myself getting up at 4am loading my gear into my truck, unloading it into a boat, driving a boat across the lake in 20 degree weather (to tie my boat up where?) Then trudging into a legal spot and possibly running into others hunters. No interest here.
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Muzzle loader is end of October, and rifle is about two weeks later.
I don't think they expect a lot of hunting on the islands. They just keep taking hits on their rule making. And what is worse, are always underfunded. |
Island owner here and learned about this just the other day. Will certainly post no hunting signs but to keep hunters off that will also require 60 other residents and the couple owners of the inland portion to post extensively. It’s also very late in the season to implement this rule and provide landowners the time to post.
Do we know what prompted this rule change? Why there wasn’t notice to landowners? Is there any way to reverse it? It does seem like an epic pain in the butt to go hunt an island, especially during rifle season, but we had an incident many years ago where a couple of our friendly island doe were killed in a very unsportsmanlike manner, for no apparent reason other than to kill things, so I don’t put anything past people at this point. |
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Notice was given on March 9th.
Public hearings were on March 30th, April 4th, and April 5th. Our area generally goes to F&G headquarters for the hearings. Those were on March 30th. The ''rule'' generally isn't likely to be turned back. Few incidents with the current restrictions involving unintended targets have ever been recorded. |
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I'm still unclear on what the rationale was for changing to allow hunting on the islands, other than "overpopulation" which certainly isn't the case on ours. |
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When I lived on acreage back in the 90s/2000s, our property was extensively posted no hunting/no trespassing. Never seemed to stop hunters or hikers from popping through the woods into our backyard on a surprisingly frequent basis. |
Then they were trespassing.
But the argument that island property owners should not be treated like the mainland 'peasants' isn't going to work. People walk through the woods on the mainland, and they also have dogs, children, etc. |
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-many islands are small and round-ish so any direction you shoot will essentially be towards camps/cabins/possibly also people that are within a very short distance, given how far a round from a hunting rifle can travel -the herd is essentially landlocked and also pretty tame around humans so it's not terribly sporting or fair to the animals -the only real way to access as noted above would be through docking at people's private docks while cabins are vacant - does the default "you allow access for hunting unless otherwise posted" extend to use of the dock for said access? That opens up the possibility for property damage as well as liability, even though you've not explicitly provided permission for the use. Quote:
You seem to think that hunters are without fault, hit their target every time and follow all the rules so everything is hunky dory and no need to worry about stray bullets or someone accidentally shooting at a person/dog/etc. It's just not the case. While there are not a lot of accidental hunting deaths/injuries or property damage, the number is also not zero. |
The 300' rule applies.
The fact that they are ''tame'' is an issue... but exactly the opposite of what you want to believe. Tame wildlife should not exist. The access to the dock may be a landowner that intends to hunt the island, or has given their permission to use their dock. The current laws in place cover all contingencies, the same as it does for the mainland. |
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Your 1st part you where talking about an ISLAND. Your 2nd part sounded like you were referring to Mainland property. The LAW of NH is the same. ......................300 feet ..... That's twice as far as you should be from any boat traffic on the lake. Walk out on your property and measure 300 feet. Might give you a different perspective. |
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Maybe, We Should Just Drive Faster?
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In the past, there seemed to be many reports of "accidental shootings". (Usually out-of-state hunters shooting other hunters). Regarding islands, where are these "harvested" deer gutted-out? My neighbor can tell you. :rolleye2: (Under high-water conditions, Wolfeboro Neck becomes an island). Over 100 acres of Wolfeboro Neck is posted against hunting, but guess who maintains a tree stand in the middle of that acreage? :emb: A tenant's kid handed me a bone cut-through with saw marks. It was found in shallow water--under my dock. :confused: On a walk with a Wolfeboro friend, I asked my companion, "This is a tiny State Park with lots of markings of antlered deer, but where are the deer?" She answered, "Look behind you". So that I wouldn't be contributing to the delinquency of deer, I'd carried a banana peel in my back pocket. Five deer were following me! :eek2: |
I can't speak for all hunters, but they tend to gut almost immediately.
The guts will decompose. I doubt that other than domesticate dogs off their leash, that anyone will notice. |
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Why are you just looking for a fight on here? Using COMMON SENSE goes a long way. Let me ask you a question. How many times have you come within 150 of a boat on the lake at greater then headway speed this past summer? You can round it by the Hundred's if you would like. Every single time, you could have caused an accident injuring many people. I'm out on this conversation. You will never except anything but your version. Enjoy !! |
Believe all of J2 is shotguns no rifles. I know Laconia is shotguns only. This is due to population
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https://www.eregulations.com/newhamp...ng-regulations Dan |
I haven't heard any gunshots since the season started, usually I hear a few.
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But what you are suggesting one again - ''Island property owners are a special class, entitled to different standards''.
The facts are that if the hunting regulations work elsewhere... then they will also work on an island. |
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I have never seen that done, as hitting the building would still incur charges. The last time an errant hunter obeying for the best part all of the rules hit a person was about six years ago. That incurs a criminal charge regardless of the situation... if the hunter shows negligence, one can only guess if they would ever be able to legally hunt again. |
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Whatever you do, don't hit the damn propane tanks!!
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That would be too close to the house.
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If one doesn't want anyone hunting on their property they can post it so. It's also important to remember doing this will make you responsible for damages, not F&G or the town. The damage that's done by unmanaged deer is extreme. I can remember being on Long Island was shocked ... no vegetation existed from 6 feet to the ground. Course many people would rather see them die of starvation or disease than managed. Too bad ignorance has remained with so many...
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Even when we do allow hunting... F&G nor the town covers the cost of damages.
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This is in todays Laconia Daily Sun https://www.laconiadailysun.com/news...2eee8ab09.html I'm out.
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Though I'm slightly concerned about the danger of hunting on close(r) quarters (both for human and residential damage), I'm more concerned about the potential perception about access to what is almost certainly all private land.
I hope this doesn't cause trouble for Island property owners, their docks, etc. Especially since rifle hunting season doesn't begin until November 6th, when many residents may no longer be around or around only periodically. Sent from my SM-S911U using Tapatalk |
From the Laconia Sun:
Some island residents have already reported seeing hunters on the islands, as bowhunting season started on Sept. 15. Muzzleloader season will begin Oct. 28 for much of the state, and firearm season will open on Nov. 8 for the majority of the state’s Wildlife Management Units. https://www.laconiadailysun.com/news...2eee8ab09.html |
Downstate Herd, Close to the Border...
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:emb: |
From the LDS article posted above: "Timmins said the department held three well-attended public sessions on the proposed rule changes — in Concord, Keene and Lancaster — and no significant opposition was voiced."
How many islands with deer herds are in Concord, Keene and Lancaster? This reminds me of times past when Dept. of Safety used to hold boating related hearings in the off season when summer boaters weren't around. The legislature re-wrote the hearing standards to get them set better in time and place. |
Driving deer?
Am I correct that driving deer is illegal? Easy for a handful of hunters to start at one end of an island and proceed to the other end, forcing deer into limited spaces.
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The three meeting locations are the same ones used for all F&G issues.
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I've heard archers are doing well. Few nice bucks have come off the islands.
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Several have been taken on Cow by bow.
The hunters are very responsible from what i have observed. |
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