Shoot it so it dies in site! Then no one can take it. Climbing stands are great, go anywhere and no one knows you're there. I'm not sure about the stealing down there but if you go to a state piece, get off the beaten path. Go further than everyone else. Don't put your cameras or stands in places where people would think to look. If you put cameras, maybe get them every few days, don't leave Them long enough for people to catch on. Park in different spots so other hunters won't catch on to your specific area.

 

Glassboro can get very packed. If you able to drive you can go the pines. There is more than enough room to hunt and not see another soul.

 

The people I have run into in WMAs hunting, I have had not problems with.

 

No such thing as a former marine......Semper Fi!

Hunting WMAs can be great if you put the time in to scout and get away from the crowds. I've found that most other guys are lazy and or afraid of the dark and won't venture very far from the roads and paths.
I'm not really into the ground blind thing but I imagine it could be done. I hang several stands in different WMAs throughout the same general area you are considering and thankfully haven't had one stolen.......yet that is. Again I think the biggest thing is getting away from the crowds and putting a nice chain and lock on it to keep the honest folks honest....lol

I have never had any issues whatsoever during bow season with another hunter trying to claim my deer or any other such crazy things but during the 6 day firearm season it's a whole different ball game. The brown and down guys tend to be trouble makers and slobs in my experience so I stay away.....mostly for safety reasons.

I hope you and your son have a great season and we get to see some pics of the deer you harvest. I live close to the glassboro WMA and if I can ever be of any help with tracking or dragging please let me know via PM.

 

The times I hunt WMA's hunters are never the problem. It's the non hunters that think the WMA's are Parks for whatever they want to do outside. Horseback Riding, Bike Riding, Go Carts, Run their Dogs, Picknick, Jogging Arena. The list goes on. F&W will be quick to give you a ticket if you get too close to a safety zone but ignore these people.

 

Bow hunting you will be fine unless you leave your stands up, then they will grow legs.during fall bow you my not see another hunter. Gun is a whole other story. Every Tom diick and harry and all the yo bucks will be there. During gun get in earily and go deep, when you think you are in far enough go another half mile and sit in the biggest fattest tree you can find.

 

I am looking into going to the Pines too. Glassboro is close to home. Thanks for the tip.

 

Semper Fi!

My plan is stay away from the crowds. I don't mind hiking a few miles. Maybe its i just tend to always prepare for the worst as I have been trained. Thanks for the tip.

 

Just be willing to hunt spots other people aren't. If you're willing to drag your equipment a little further in usually theives are too lazy to drag it out.

 

Glassboro is pretty heavily hunted. Plus a lot of non hunter activity. Try Wharton state forest. Not a whole lot of bow pressure there. If you find the right spot you may go the whole bow season without seeing another hunter

 

In 13 years of hunting awma I have only had 1 stand taken. I hunt as deep as I can and and do not mark my tail. Good luck.

 

I never had any problems with WMA . I use a climber take in and out . I try not to go in beginning of seasons ,they get pretty crowded . Like some one else said Bow hunting is usually not bad at all. There is so much land out there now. One thing I will say the deer are cautious from being hunted you will have work to get one. Gun season they will get pushed around so you might get lucky . I have many time. Get out there early and scout an area . But there is no guarantee someone else will be in your spot. Always keep that in mind it is public. You will get hikers ,bikers ,bird watchers and etc. Good Luck

 

If you are not familiar with the woods, a handheld GPS is great. You never have to mark your trails or stands, just key in waypoints and use the tracking feature to see where you have been/where to go. Its really not all that bad, we just have to whine to each other as everyone fights for their little elbow room. There is plenty of land, and more deer per acre than almost anywhere. climbers are the way to go, But I'll usually hang a ladderstand or 2. Most guys you see are OK, But theres always the joker mixed in there too, same with anything.

 

as a beginner to bow hunting , early season is your best chance. deer are not pressured and you have cover , meaning everything green to conceal yourself. as everybody have said get off the beaten path and stay away from populated areas and you will do fine. SEMPER FI

 

I have never run into any issues. Here is why I don't leave stands cameras on public property, yes you shouldn't have to worry about them being stolen but it's public property so I don't take the chance.

I don't claim a certain area as mine. It's public land if someone is hunting where I like to hunt I slowly back out and hunt somewhere else.

I don't get upset if someone walks in on me, they didn't know you were there as long as they show you respect and back out.

I never had it happen but I go by the old theory on who puts the deer down gets it. If i shoot a deer and it happens to run past another hunter and he shoots it and puts it down then it is his. I never had guys claim they shot the deer when there was only one entrance wound like some guys have had but I typically hunt the edges or way back on wmas.

Best of luck to you and your son

 

Remember that it's human nature to complain. For every hunter that comes on here and says his stand was stolen, there are 50 hunters that didn't have that happen and just keep that to themselves. Same with crowds.

By far your best deal on WMA or State Parks and Forestry lands will be bow hunting. Our various bow seasons are so long, that almost no days are crowded. Weekends will have more hunters in the woods, so if you can sneak out early or evenings during the week, even state lands are relatively free of other hunters.

 

Never had anything stolen from a WMA, I have stuff stolen from private property, but never from a WMA. WMA's I get as far back as I can, as said before a fair amount of NJ hunters don't want to travel more than 200 yards from the road.

 

I may get slammed here but here goes. Bow hunters are generally more curtious than gun hunters. The dedicated guys who hunt 4 months are normally more curtious than the guys who only hunt six days a year.

 

I won't hunt any Of Jerseys WMA's. Way to many people with a total lack of respect for each other. To me a deer is not worth fighting over. I'd rather just not hunt at all than to have to hunt wma's. They are just not big enough to hold the sheer volume of hunters in the state.
if you can find a private piece of ground in jersey then you will have a gold mine.
Jersey is all about access to locked up pieces.

The other option is to go out of state to places with large tracts of public land.

 

With wma's or any state land for that matter stay away from what I call the high profile areas. Areas that look real good, are near cropfeilds, where deer can be seen from the road, ect. These areas will always draw the most hunters and worst of the bunch it seems. Don't get yourself discouraged before you even start. With a little homework you can find yourself some good state land to hunt. You just have to put some work in which I'm sure won't be a problem for you. Good luck

 

i'd recommend climbing stands no matter where you go. no reason to risk having a ladder stand stolen and having to spend the extra money to replace it. get yourselves some quality climbers and you'll have them for a long time

 

If you guys posting haven't hunted Glassboro than you have no need to comment. Pretty much every story you have heard bad about WMA's you will run into in Glassboro. People will steal from you, People will try to run you out of a spot, People will follow your trail to see where you're hunting, people will run dogs past you, You will see Dirt Bikes, 4X4 will ruin a night of hunting for you, you will see dumped garbage, You will see ppl parked doing drugs. And the list goes on.

 

Yep, Glassboro is pretty bad. There are some deer in those thick swamps but there is so much human traffic and conflicts, there is nothing fun about it. The further west you go, into Gloucester and Salem County, the worse it gets. Everyone that lives around there hunts, and hunts seriously. I have had so many stands stolen and "soaped" on Thundergut, Salem River, Union Lake and Elmer Lake, it makes me sick to think about the amount of money, time and effort lost. Harrisonville Lake looks nice too but that's the problem, everyone thinks so and there are about 2 stands per acre in there. Everyone wants to hunt those little WMA's in Salem, Gloucester and Western Cumberland County because they look like good deer country but I've found they are about the worst place you could hunt.

From my experience, the further east you go (into Wharton), the better off you will be. I just haven't had time to go that far as it's a ways from me and my hunting time is limited to a few hours here and there. There are some pretty darn good bucks in the pines and a lot of room to roam and find them. Bodies are not huge but they have some nice racks. I was always curious about that and was hearing and seeing some good things about big bucks over there but a conversation with Greg Rib several years ago brought it all home. When I get into a position to have time to scout and hunt, I'm going East.

 

I hunted the cc woods for many years during the 80's and 90's with my cousins who live in glassboro and Clayton and had nothing but aggrevation from stands being stolen to people coming in after daybreak and climbing trees 20' from me. I've been all over that WMA's and a lot of others and it was by far the worse of the worse with people...


the the funny thing is the posted land around the glassboro woods are loaded with deer. We used to see craploads in puglias fields and down behind the school in Clayton.

 

You should be fine with the bow. Like others have said get off the beaten paths. I hunt late season after a snow storm, most public hunters will not hunt in adverse conditions or thick areas especially swamps, and you can pretty much have the woods by yourself in January and Feb.

 

How many years have you been hunting zone 55?