G-day fellas just wondering if anybody ever hunted this erea
any feedback ?
Thanks
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G-day fellas just wondering if anybody ever hunted this erea
any feedback ?
Thanks
I sent a PM to rf2 during the week on this topic so I cut and pasted it below to share the info.
I'm going back into town on Mon and will try to get more info on the logistics and will post it here...Quote:
Hi Rob...I read your PM just as I was heading into town so I figured I would pop by the MNR and ask if there was any special provisions. The parking lot was full and lined out the door...so I will have to try again next week. I don't want to give you wrong info so I also popped by the Ferguson Forrest/ WoodLot office, since they control the area. As luck would have it they are closed on Fridays...it seems to me they have an instruction sheet now for the hunters, but I may be wrong. I'll be in town Mon morning, so I can pop in an ask.
I hunted there back in the days when the township controlled the 'cull' and it was done thru the township offices. I did stop in there this morning, but they knew nothing of it.. so I don't think that is the way anymore.
As far as hunting there it is a bit of a challenge due to the fact you really couldn't set up a stand/blind in advance of the hunt, so you're basically left with walk/stalk hunting...which is fun and there are lots of open field surrounded by bush for places to hide.
We went in as a group (6 people) and basically did a 'push' for 3 days of the week. A few hunters at one end and a few guys walked and 'dogged' the bush. We had good success and shot 2 Bucks in the 3 days.
It's a fabulous opportunity and lots of deer, but luck plays a big factor, to be able to be in the right place at the right time...which is what most of hunting is all about eh !!
The woodlot is open year round (still I think) with public access so you can go anytime and scout out the hunt area. Look for trails etc and you get a pretty good idea of how to set up the hunt for opening morning. It is a worthy challenge and some guys do really well there.
Thanks Mike, i drive by there alot in the fall n winter always see alot of walkers hikers ( never pulled in) there has been a hunt in there for a while was thinkin of buying a tag on wensday and giving it a try
As far as a RECCE goes, this was a successful endeavour and informative.
Meet with the two CO’s that run the Enforcement Division at their office in the MNR here in Kemptville and had a nice chat with them. In all fairness, as they are both new to the area, neither of them had previously any knowledge of the 66B Bow hunt opportunity with the additional tags. Hopefully I haven’t opened a can of worms by bringing it to their attention.
Results, basically WMU 66B is considered “Crown/Public Land” and is open to hunt like any other in the province and restrictions, like township discharge rules apply and private property respected.
Today I meet up with the primary tenant on the crown land, Ed Patchell COO for the Ferguson Forest Centre . He’s runs the forestry there. The great news is, he happily welcomes hunters, provides permission to retrieve came etc in those areas where they have trees growing. He will even open gates to allow access to retrieve deer etc with your truck.
There is a map of the Forest provided by the friends of Forest; it delineates most of the important info on trails etc that the people hike/walk daily. They are not stopped or discourage from using the trails during the hunt, however Mr. Patchell puts up signs informing that there is a Hunt in progress on the Crown land.
Map.. http://www.friendsofthefergusonfores...2596069471.pdf
I did not speak with the owners of the Golf Club at the North/West corner about retrieved deer on the course if required, but may touch base with them this summer.
So for guys who want to give it a go, it’s a great opportunity and do-able with a good RECCE of the forest area, especially on the North End..hint hint. :)
Great information. But just for clarification, it seems that the only hunting allowed in 66B is one week of bow hunting for deer between Nov 14 and 19 (this year). Are you saying that small game hunting is allowed during the regular seasons just like any other WMU? Or is there a township discharge bylaw that prevents this?
The CO confirmed it was Public land like the Limerick and the Marlborough forest but he did stress that the Township discharge bylaws would be in effect and being that the Forest is within the town limits I would gather that 'shooting' would not be allowed.Quote:
Originally Posted by rf2
The Deer cull in there was requested by the township many years ago to reduce the deer population, so like they do in other 'parks' etc in the province, they open a special controlled 'Bow hunt' to cull the herd.
so can anyone hunt there or do you need to apply.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikePal
Open to the public....but you need one of the additional deer 'Bow' only tags.
Reviving this thread because I was unsuccessful in the antlerless draw for my first choice, but I was successful for my second choice of 66B.
Does anybody here know someone who actually hunts in 66B? I would like to talk to someone about the actual rules that apply during this short bow-only season. Based on the above information, it seems like the COs don't know too much, so I'm not sure if it is worthwhile calling the MNRF, if I can even get someone on the phone. I'd particularly like to know about the use of ATVs for recovering game, and if portable treestands can be set-up.
I assume Ed Patchell is still COO for the Ferguson Forest Centre, go to his office and he'll answer those questions. It's right beside the parking lot for the North Grenville Municipal Building. Like I said above, he'll open gates etc for you to retrieve you deer etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by rf2
Yes the MNR guys don't give a hoot, they didn't even know about it :)
I read they are going to be opening a off-leash dog park there this fall. It will mean increased usegae in that area, but shouldn't affect the hunting that mostly takes place at the backside of the forest.
I just bought an additional tag for this area in the event that I use my main tag prior to the season in 66B. I am determined to follow through this year and actually get all the information related to this hunt. Once that is done, I'll decide if it is worthwhile to sacrifice a day or two of rifle hunting to see if I can get a deer with my crossbow in this forest. I'll do some scouting during August with my mountain bike to see what this area looks like and talk to Mr. Patchell to get all the rules about how this hunt takes place.
Things might change there with the funding cuts from the province. Not sure of the impact yet. A lot of it was run privately so what will be left that Mr. Patchell has control over will be unknown.
I asked around last year and nobody from my old days hunt there anymore...
Thanks for reviving this thread. I was looking for info on 66B this morning. I decided to buy a tag and see what happens.
I walk the dogs at Ferguson quite a bit, but never spotted any wildlife other than birds and skunks. Though I haven't ventured much further than the nursery area.
Maybe we can meet up sometime. I haven't hunted the area at all since I moved here 3 years ago. This could be a good opportunity to recce at the very least.
If you're scouting, head for the top end towards the Golf Course and Rideau River. There are a few access parking lots along #44 that provide a good starting off point or drive up as far there is access thru the Forrest Center and then go in on foot.
There are lots of deer on the golf greens at Dawn/Dusk but you can't hunt up that far as a wounded deer running that way may be difficult to retrieve.
I'll try to let you know when I plan to go over there. If you walk your dog there though, it should be pretty easy for you to scout the area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by awndray
I went to the Ferguson Forest on Saturday. I brought my mountain bike and rode around. It's a strange place, and not somewhere I would normally consider hunting - seems too "residential" to me. Anyway, I will have to speak with the guy at the forest center to try to understand exactly where hunting is allowed. There are some large sections of bush in the northern part of the forest that seem to have less human traffic, so I assume that's where hunting is allowed. The mosquitoes were ferocious and apparently immune to bug repellent, so I got chased out of the deep bush in that part of the forest after a while. I saw two deer in the rain in the middle of the day, so that's a good sign.
They do advise residents of the area to stay our during the hunting season, have never heard of anyone hunting it since I have been out there but Mike knows some and it will be really nice to hear about your experiences this year, best of luck.Quote:
Originally Posted by rf2
I'll be heading over to talk to the gentleman who runs the Ferguson Forest on Friday morning to get more info. Awndray, if you are available, you should come too.
So what became of this endevour....did anyone buy a tag and partake in the Bow hunt there ???
I bought a tag, scouted a bit with my bike, met with Mr. Patchell in the summer, and had the week off for deer hunting. I didn't see any deer during the October bow hunt in my regular WMU, then passed on several deer during the first and early part of the second week of the rifle hunt, waiting for something bigger. As a result, I still had my primary tag for the entire second week of the rifle hunt, which coincides with the bow hunt in 66B. I thought it best to concentrate on the rifle hunt, as my chances were highest to fill my tag that way. Also, with the unusual weather we had during the second week of the rifle hunt, I didn't want to spend any time wandering around unfamiliar and potentially low probability areas. In summary, I never went to 66B. Maybe next year?
Reviving this old thread to give an update. I used my primary tag on the first weekend of the rifle season on a nice little buck (I'll post about that later), so I had my back-up tag for WMU 66B and I had taken the entire week off as I initially planned to rifle hunt the whole second week of the rifle season. After getting a deer early, I ended up changing my plans and worked a couple of days, but decided to take Thursday and Friday off to hunt in 66B. I didn't intend to shoot any deer unless I saw something really extraordinary since I already had an entire deer in the freezer, and I had very low expectations due to the fact that I had never hunted the area before. I was mostly going out to explore and spend some more time in the woods.
I arrived kind of late in the afternoon on Thursday. There was a surprising number of bowhunters heading out - maybe because it was a federal government holiday? I drove past a main parking area to see if there was somewhere less crowded for me to head into the woods. Not too far from the main parking area, I spotted a nice doe just off the road. I stopped to have a look, and she eventually bounded off, seemingly not too bothered since she didn't wave the flag and then stopped and looked back at me. I thought this was a good sign. I chatted with one hunter who was heading into the woods (using a recurve) - very friendly guy and gave me some good intel. I mentioned to him that I saw a doe just off the road, and he sounded interested as he was heading in the general direction. He mentioned that the deer there are pretty used to humans. The hunting season is very short, and the rest of the time, people are walking in the forest constantly. After parking, I grabbed climber and my gear and tried to strike up a conversation with another guy heading out. He was not friendly.
As I walked down the road looking for a spot to enter the woods, I saw the dark figure of a deer about 20-30m into the woods watching me. I stopped and had a look and saw a really decent looking buck (by my standards, anyway)! I could not count the points due to all the brush in the way, but it looked significantly bigger than the deer I already had in the freezer. I started to think that if I could get a shot opportunity at this deer, I might take it. We had a stare down for a few minutes, then he finally just calmly turned 180 degrees and started walking parallel to the road I was on. There was no way I could get far enough off the road to be able to load an arrow and take a shot, but I kept walking down the road to see where he headed, and I was going that way anyway. I lost sight of him, but decided to take a trail into the woods that potentially could allow me to cut him off. I still hunted the rest of the afternoon, but didn't find him.
I returned Friday evening. There were only a couple of other vehicles in the area, unlike the day before. I set-up in my climber at the spot where I initially saw the buck. There were some rubs there, and it looked like a nice spot with some potential. It was a nice evening to be out, but I didn't see any deer.
Overall, I was impressed with the area and might consider hunting it in the future. I admit though that it felt kind of strange to be hunting there. It's a very "residential" forest, with lots of people walking around. There's a fenced-in dog park there, and I found it bizarre to be driving past people walking their dogs as I was leaving from an evening deer hunt. Also, the timing of the hunt is not ideal as it coincides with the second week of the rifle hunt. If they moved it to the last week of October or the week after the rifle hunt, that would be awesome.
Thanks for the update, I haven't talked to anyone that has hunted there in years. When we did our recce of we also felt a bit uneasy with the nature walkers everywhere. We decide if we would head up to the area just south of the golf course, less traffic up there.
Any idea, from the guys you talked to, of the success rate. ?
The one guy that actually took the time to chat said that it was his 3rd year hunting there, but he hadn't shot a deer there yet, mentioned that it can be difficult to get a shot off. I believe him since many spots are very thick.