Looking for help in finding birds in Connecect an Maine

[longbeards]

If anyone has any info or experience on where to hunt in these two states it would be appreciated!!
Going to try and hunt them late this spring. 

[haystaddle]

Maine is a great State for turkey. Lots of public land and it is a reverse posting State. So plenty of places to hunt. Most locals hate turkeys and permission on private is easy to get. Looks like a pretty good hatch last year too. There are birds even in far northern counties. I'd start anywhere in the south central part of the State right over towards NH. Good luck.

[PalmettoRon]

Agree re: Maine. Drive, look and ask permission, even if it's not posted. The locals do hate turkeys as a whole. They even upped the fall season to 5 birds to try to lower the number of birds. Good luck!

[GobbleNut]

I, too, am looking at a future "trifecta hunt" to hit Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in the next few years.  Looking at the map apps showing land status and ownership, I was shocked at the amount of private land compared to public, at least in Maine. 

My very first thought was "how does one really go about finding a place to hunt when there appears to be so little public land and so many broken-up private parcels?"   When I do head up that way, I will probably have a pretty small window of hunting time, and I don't want to spend much of it knocking on doors trying to find a place to hunt.

Other than what has already been said in previous posts, anybody that might have gone up there "blind" have any additional thoughts on this subject?

[turkeyfool]

The reason why there's so little public is because you can hunt anything not posted. As someone said, it's best to ask. But there may be situations (like floating a river in kayak) where its tough to ask every time. I drove up there last year blind on June 1st and 2nd. I ended up tagging out 545am on June 2nd.

So a few thing-go later in the season even though things will be greened up. It's still commonly 40 degrees at first light that late in the year and it gets light super early. I think it may have even been 4am last year when I was first seeing light. Actual properties are really small and it has that old New England vibe where the houses are right on the streets. The further north you go, the better the terrain and properties seem to lay out. Don't go too far inland as you head north. If you look at their website, they show the harvest #'s by town and you'll see what I mean. Use a kayak to float a river while you're smallmouth fishing, that's what I did.

I'll be going back again this year and will probably go to NH and VT the weekend before

[TauntoHawk]

I, too, am looking at a future "trifecta hunt" to hit Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in the next few years.  Looking at the map apps showing land status and ownership, I was shocked at the amount of private land compared to public, at least in Maine. 

My very first thought was "how does one really go about finding a place to hunt when there appears to be so little public land and so many broken-up private parcels?"   When I do head up that way, I will probably have a pretty small window of hunting time, and I don't want to spend much of it knocking on doors trying to find a place to hunt.

Other than what has already been said in previous posts, anybody that might have gone up there "blind" have any additional thoughts on this subject?

It's really hard for most of us to wrap our heads around this "private property is open to hunting" if not posted and that most land is welcoming and not posted. I was thinking last year about going up late may and just never made the drive. It seems weird map scouting private land and think I'm just going to drive 8hr before I even ask to hunt these places?

This past fall while hunting NY for deer I met a new hampshire man and his teenagers that had coincidentally been camp director at the summer camp I attended as a child back in PA. we exchanged contact info and he's offered to show me the ropes on what NH has to offer so I plan to hunt turkey this spring an bear in the early fall. Doubt I'll get to Maine, VT, or Mass on that trip since it'll already be state number 4 for me but hope the late may trips become a regular occurrence.


Why is spring so short anyways? I could take a few april/may's in a row before summer if you ask me.

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[Extendo Clip]

There are birds on every CT wma that isn't a coastal marsh.  Find one where you can walk a ways from the bikers and hikers (hunting pressure is less of a problem than other recreators) and you'll find birds.

[GobbleNut]

Sooo,...this brings to mind the obvious question of what approximate percentage of private property is posted up that way?  ...And what are the posting requirements?  How difficult would it be, with all those small parcels of private property, to end up wandering onto a place that was posted without knowing it? 

[turkeyfool]

In Maine from the ground I've covered which is Kennebunk all the way up to Augusta  I'd guess that 9 out 10 properties are not posted.

[Jstocks]

Sooo,...this brings to mind the obvious question of what approximate percentage of private property is posted up that way?  ...And what are the posting requirements?  How difficult would it be, with all those small parcels of private property, to end up wandering onto a place that was posted without knowing it? 

Not wandering up on a place, but can sure find yourself in a situation where the landowner wasn't happy about you being there, even if it's not posted. From experience, not a fun situation.

Not in Maine, but in nearby states I had a difficult time adjusting to the concept after having a run in with a landowner.

In Maine from the ground I've covered which is Kennebunk all the way up to Augusta  I'd guess that 9 out 10 properties are not posted.

You guys who aren't from the Deep South, I hope this isn't taken the wrong way, but you know not what you are doing when you post stuff like this. I know you just wanted to add to the conversation, but what you just posted there can cause a lot of pressure to be added to a place. Yes, this thread will already be pulled up hundreds of times by internet scouters looking for that type of information.

I honestly believe you will see the laws changed soon in some of the northern states about posted and private property, and it will be due to the number of hunters who start flooding the area after seeing all the videos, reading these forums, and the loose lips sinking ships theory.

Those of you from the Deep South are taught the sins you don't commit. Talking about where the turkeys are is one of them. Tennessee and Missouri are prime examples of what can happen when you do.

[TauntoHawk]

He did not say there's a turkey behind 9 out of every 10 trees, people are just trying to understand a foreign concept and get sound advice about these law's and permissions. If you have a cautionary tale, drop it here just like to did.

If you want to talk about the nats, miles of timber with thick late may vegetation, or the steep rocky mountains of the north east we can do that too. Common sense also dictates if the barrier to entry is a easy hurdle than Obviously places are going to get obvious amounts of hunting pressure making it not a cake walk to locate and kill birds.

This "your ruining hunting" every time a hunter drops a shred of useful information gets old, especially coming from a member of an online internet hunting forum.



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[GobbleNut]

I wouldn't state that too much information has been divulged in this particular thread, but I think it is safe to say that there have been a few that the posts got pretty specific, resulting in some potential "negative repercussions" in the vicinity of someone's honey hole. 

Suffice it to say there is a fine line between trying to be helpful to others and getting too specific about a certain hunting spot.  Good intentions are best balanced with good judgement in these matters.   

[Jstocks]

He did not say there's a turkey behind 9 out of every 10 trees, people are just trying to understand a foreign concept and get sound advice about these law's and permissions. If you have a cautionary tale, drop it here just like to did.

If you want to talk about the nats, miles of timber with thick late may vegetation, or the steep rocky mountains of the north east we can do that too. Common sense also dictates if the barrier to entry is a easy hurdle than Obviously places are going to get obvious amounts of hunting pressure making it not a cake walk to locate and kill birds.

This "your ruining hunting" every time a hunter drops a shred of useful information gets old, especially coming from a member of an online internet hunting forum.



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I never indicated he said there's a turkey behind every tree. He didn't have to.

I can add to the concept for understanding as you request. As always, everything is not as it seems or appears. I paid a fella once who frequents the turkey forums and Facebooks that several on here and other forums have even hunted with. This fella appears to be an honest guide, and definitely pointed me in the direction of the turkeys. The problem occurred on the 3rd bird in two days on one of these spots for me and my hunting compadre. A very angry landowner appeared and a situation occurred where I had to walk 3 game wardens and a police officer to the scene of the last turkey I shot. Apparently, even though the landowner had not posted his property, he had verbally indicated to the guide that pointed me to his property, that he was not welcome there. This happened the year prior to me being sent there. The man did not want hunters on his place. This was never even mentioned to me or my hunting buddy before we were sent there to hunt and made for a hairy situation when we were approached by the angry fella.

Moral of the story, it is hard to get used to hunting nonposted land and feel comfortable for me because of this issue I had. Personally, I don't think I could have seen it coming or started out any different than I started out.

There's a lot of different rules about how far you need to be from dwellings. Make sure you understand that and know your distance.

Some of the areas you hunt in the Northeast are populated and it's not like going to a wide open space in the Midwest or out West.

Be careful who you trust.

The more details you give, the more crowded specific states or places can become.

Nothing wrong with sharing information. I've met some great people on hunting forums, and I love to help others when I can. I don't want to discourage information sharing, I just want people to know there could be a negative side to information posted publicly, and that information can affect more than just the individual doing the posting.

I'll be more than happy to share information privately about my situation that happened with most anyone who sincerely wants to talk about it.

[turkeyfool]

Never said behind 9 out of 10 trees. It's not an easy state to hunt. There's a lot you're working against. The best part of hunting the state isn't necessarily the turkeys or population. It's just a beautiful state. At the end of the day when I go up there, I'm fishing for smallmouth and basically carrying my turkey gun with me.

Didn't mean to infer that it was easy or that the population of birds was high. If you want that, go to the Midwest. I'm not going to name particular states, but Maine itself is by no means easy. Also, as far as hundreds of people opening up this thread and thinking "i'm going to go to Maine". I can tell you that the majority of the country simply lives too far to hunt it. People in New England can hunt it by driving a few hours, but Vermont and New Hampshire are just as good.

[Jstocks]

Never said behind 9 out of 10 trees. It's not an easy state to hunt. There's a lot you're working against. The best part of hunting the state isn't necessarily the turkeys or population. It's just a beautiful state. At the end of the day when I go up there, I'm fishing for smallmouth and basically carrying my turkey gun with me.

Didn't mean to infer that it was easy or that the population of birds was high. If you want that, go to the Midwest. I'm not going to name particular states, but Maine itself is by no means easy. Also, as far as hundreds of people opening up this thread and thinking "i'm going to go to Maine". I can tell you that the majority of the country simply lives too far to hunt it. People in New England can hunt it by driving a few hours, but Vermont and New Hampshire are just as good.

All good here. I love the New England states because they are something different. The food, the small towns short distances apart, the stone fences, the hardwood, all the lakes, it all adds to the experience.

Don't ever think them good ol boys won't load up and hit the road. I can promise you, folks down here take it to a whole nother level when it comes to turkey hunting. They'll hit their season out in Mississippi or Alabama, then it's on to Missouri, Tennessee, and then on to Nebraska, SD, or wherever the season is open til it ends.