Hunting the Adirondacks Is a Special Challenge

The trees were gray and barren of leaves with scatterings of evergreens adding splashes of color. Some brown leaves stubbornly clung to the whips of young beech trees. Underfoot a thick carpet of leaves would hide any tracks and obscure some of the less obvious trails. On the north slopes or in dense evergreen thickets patches of snow remained from the foot of lake effect snow that had fallen in the Adirondacks on the previous Monday.

By Friday the temperature reached the low 60 degree mark causing us to perspire as we worked our way up Marleau Mountain. We also paused several times to catch our breath or rest tired leg muscles. We joked that the mountain seemed to have gotten higher, and def

initely steeper than our many previous trips up that mountain. We also made jokes and traded comments that the mountain and other distances were longer and more rugged than we remembered.

Nevertheless we pursued on up the mountain and proceeded to hunt the saddles and ridges in search of a big buck or two. We were disappointed but not discouraged when we did not find any or even see much fresh sign. The reality of hunting the Adirondacks is that there is less deer and it is big country, but hunting there is still special to many of us.

Last weekend we were hunting the area around Big Moose and staying at the camp of my good friend and hunting partner, “Yukon Tom” Van Pelt. Tom and I have been close friends for a long time and have shared many adventures from the Moose River to the Yukon River. He was the main one responsible for getting me involved in deer hunting and became a mentor in teaching me a lot about deer hunting.

It was unseasonably warm last weekend and that made for tough hunting. When it is that warm in November the deer are not usually moving during the day. They have their winter coats on and are typically bedded down somewhere resting during the daytime. We figured that this is usually the time of the rut so bucks might be chasing does or moving more than normal. But that is big country so if they were, they weren’t moving where we were.

Perhaps we didn’t hunt as hard or as smart as we could have. But if that is the case, other hunters did not either. We did not see anyone else in four days and did not hear hardly any shooting or learn of anyone else in the area getting a deer.

Today there are far fewer hunters than there used to be. Easier conditions and more deer elsewhere in the state are an attraction. The deer population is less due to changing habitat and decreasing food supply. Predators and irresponsible hunters in remote camps that shoot does contribute to the decline. But it is still an area where the big bucks are more likely to die of old age.

Last weekend was unusually warm for November with temperatures reaching the low 70s. We saw only a very few does. Pictures on Tom’s trail cameras revealed a few nice bucks in some areas but despite the onset of the rut, there were hardly any deer moving during the warmweather of daylight, at least in the areas we chose. Even our still- hunts or mini drives failed to move any deer. Weather and other limitations worked against us this past weekend.

Maybe the hunt was more about ourselves. Neither Tom, nor I, will be mistaken for kids! Many years ago we would hike long distances in hunting and think nothing of going over mountains or other obstacles in finding deer. Our motto used to be “just get them first, then we will worry about getting them out and back to camp.” Now we do carefully consider the chore of getting a deer back. Now there are a lot of the old places we cannot go due to that property being leased. And we no longer have the old gang or others to help us get a deer. However, we could still hunt some of our areas of past success, relive stories, and enjoy the challenge and experience of hunting the Adirondacks.

Hey, we were still able to get out, hike themountains ( even if it is slower than we formerly did). We were disappointed but not upset. Over the years we have gotten our share, especially Tom. The desire is still there and we accept the fact that we have a lot more hunts behind us thanwe have ahead of us.

Sometimes a hunt is about more than getting a deer.