NJ hunting?

[slonstdy]

I'm in the early stages of planning to hunt in NJ for the first time ever and could use some help with understanding the regulations in regards to the different bow seasons.

As of this moment, I decided I will focus my hunting efforts in zones two, three and six. Feel free to offer ideas on locations, whether to stay away from certain areas or focus my efforts at others. I don't want your honeyhole location but an area or two that you've seen or is known to have many deer would be a big help.

My understanding is I will need to buy the Fall Bow license and the Permit Bow license. Now for the questions...

1. Do I need to purchase a Permit Bow license for each zone I want to hunt in during the permit bow season?
2. In order to take a buck during the Permit Bow season I need to buy a Buck permit. This permit would allow me to take a buck in any zone I hunt and is only valid during the Permit Bow season or can it also be used during the Winter Bow season?
3 As far as bag limits, if Fall Bow season allows 5 doe and I do harvest that many, when Permit Bow season rolls in does that allow me to take another 5 doe?
4. Is Winter Bow included with the Fall Bow license or is it a separate purchase?

NJ is the first state that I've encountered that has this type of permit system so forgive me if these questions seem silly. I'd rather ask the silly questions now instead of answering silly questions from game warden later.

 

[1simplemann]

Where you from? Sounds like you don't actually live in NJ otherwise you would know that NJ is full of silly rules. It's been 20+ years since I lived there. Here's what I remember. Your permit is only valid in the zone you are in. Don't quote me but you might have to shoot a doe 1st.Buck tag comes w/ the permit. In some zones the regular license is that way. As for how many does on a permit? Not sure. I know it used to be a doe a day until you filled your buck tag then you were done. Winter bow is part of your 2022 license. Jan 1 you have to buy a new license. Don't quote me on any of it. A lot of things have changed since I lived there. Judging by the zones you picked, your wanting to hunt in North Jersey. Private land will be hard to come by or expensive. Delaware Water Gap area has tons of public land. Be prepared to see people. Beautiful location to hunt in though.

 

[TFL]

in NJ you purchase a bow license , that covers you for winter bow and fall bow season,
you have different zones with different rules, so read up on what is legal to take per each zone
some zones force you to take a doe first. others its either sex
most of the zones that open in september are doe first

permit season starts at the end of regular bow season, and the permit is legal for does only
if you want to take a buck during the permit bow season, you have to buy an additional buck permit
that buck permit is good for one buck in any zone that you have a zone permit for
but you are limited to only one buck only, not one in each zone
you have to buy a different bow permit for any zone you want to hunt

if regular bow season says you can take x amount of does, and you do,
you can take another x amount in permit bow, read and understand the limits

and yes winter bow is statewide as well as fall bow, and is good for one buck, and as many does as listed
in the book

just be careful in NJ, read the compendium front to back and then again, the wardens are not our friends
and will right you up for any little picky thing they can find.

especially look into the tagging , reporting, and confirmation numbers, what information you have to have
what a properly tagged deer would be.

 

[slonstdy]

I'm from the Hudson Valley area in NY. Over the last few years I've seen the effects of EHD on the deer herd along with the influx of Covid borne hunters migrating up from the city limits so I responded by branching out to CT and PA the past few seasons and decided to add NJ to the list for this year.

I'm a public land hunter who has a great work schedule which allows me to hunt during the week so I rarely if ever encounter anyone while I'm out there. My wife's uncle lives in Hunterdon County NJ and I have an open invite to hunt with him anytime I want but that's a bit of a hike for a day trip.

 

[TFL]

nj has some great hunting, but it is very hard to find a spot on private property.
public is ok, but gets a lot of pressure. like most other states. takes a lot of time to find the right spot,
townships make it very hard to find open land, they don't want you there so it is a cluster trying to find an out of the way
public spot to go. EHD hit us pretty hard here in my area this year also, very few deer around, but most other parts of the state
did ok with no issues.

 

[OspreyZB]

1. Yes
2. Your buck permit would be valid for the permit bow season only.
3. Yes
4. Yes, winter bow and fall bow tags are included with your license, but it goes by the calendar year, so you'll need to purchase your 2023 license to hunt next winter bow.

 

[Robert loper]

28$ for each buck tag you buy for each permit season. Fall bow and winter bow is covered by archery initial liscence fees.
i was born and raised in extreme south Jersey where the deer clubs and bait piles are numerous.
it’s ridiculous the fees a resident hunter must pat to hunt each season.
i also hunt Delaware which i now am a resident. Its $ 59 all year any season.

 

[slonstdy]

Yeah NJ hunting licenses are gonna put a hurt on the wallet. It's $135 for the non resident bow, $28 for permit bow (per zone!!!) and another $28 for a buck permit. Right off the bat it's looking like $197 to get in the game.

 

[1simplemann]

I'm from the Hudson Valley area in NY. Over the last few years I've seen the effects of EHD on the deer herd along with the influx of Covid borne hunters migrating up from the city limits so I responded by branching out to CT and PA the past few seasons and decided to add NJ to the list for this year.

I'm a public land hunter who has a great work schedule which allows me to hunt during the week so I rarely if ever encounter anyone while I'm out there. My wife's uncle lives in Hunterdon County NJ and I have an open invite to hunt with him anytime I want but that's a bit of a hike for a day trip.

Hunterdon County is great county. Lot's of deer up there. EHD sucks. We had it here. It took 5 years for the things to get back to normal. That 1st year was tough. I ate my tag. Couldn't find a buck to even hunt.

 

[enkriss]

Stay out of zones 6 and 3 if you are afraid of bear.…lol

 

[slonstdy]

I'd hunt those zones if there was a bear season!
Some people may say otherwise but bear meat is delicious and I prefer it over deer meat.

 

[Jimdude]

In NJ we have a ton of stupid laws. Don’t set your weapon on the tailgate or lean it against a tire. If it’s touching the vehicle, it has to be in a case. In most zones you can kill as many antlerless deer as you can. Most people here put out a giant pile of corn and sit 10 feet away from it. When the doe and 2 fawns walk up to eat it, they shoot the mother first because the fawns will stay with her. Then they shoot the 2 fawns. They do this year in and year out (unless 20 of them are doing deer drives). Then they wonder why NJ deer hunting was so much better in the 80’s. Here I go, let me stop there.

 

[enkriss]

In NJ we have a ton of stupid laws. Don’t set your weapon on the tailgate or lean it against a tire. If it’s touching the vehicle, it has to be in a case. In most zones you can kill as many antlerless deer as you can. Most people here put out a giant pile of corn and sit 10 feet away from it. When the doe and 2 fawns walk up to eat it, they shoot the mother first because the fawns will stay with her. Then they shoot the 2 fawns. They do this year in and year out (unless 20 of them are doing deer drives). Then they wonder why NJ deer hunting was so much better in the 80’s. Here I go, let me stop there.

Sounds about accurate. Guys think public is their own property. Leave nasty notes about you hunting “their area”…

Deer drives … seen them 40 deep. Talked to the one guy in the group they shoot anything that moves. Guy told me ”if we shoot something not legal just say one of the kids shot it. A game warden isn’t going to mess with a kid.”

 

[OspreyZB]

In NJ we have a ton of stupid laws. Don’t set your weapon on the tailgate or lean it against a tire. If it’s touching the vehicle, it has to be in a case. In most zones you can kill as many antlerless deer as you can. Most people here put out a giant pile of corn and sit 10 feet away from it. When the doe and 2 fawns walk up to eat it, they shoot the mother first because the fawns will stay with her. Then they shoot the 2 fawns. They do this year in and year out (unless 20 of them are doing deer drives). Then they wonder why NJ deer hunting was so much better in the 80’s. Here I go, let me stop there.

Can you show me where it says your weapon needs to be in a case for transport? Never heard of that. I've had several game wardens stop and chat with me while my bow was sitting on the passenger seat uncased, on my tailgate, etc. and they've never taken issue with it.

 

[enkriss]

Can you show me where it says your weapon needs to be in a case for transport? Never heard of that. I've had several game wardens stop and chat with me while my bow was sitting on the passenger seat uncased, on my tailgate, etc. and they've never taken issue with it.

From the compendium:

 

[1simplemann]

You've never heard of the cased gun law in NJ? Now that's a sure way to get a ticket. As a kid, my family belonged to a local gun club. We used to drive the Wharton State Forest. We never cased our guns. It wasn't just us. All of the local clubs just loaded up and headed to WST. Never got bothered by the GW's. Truthfully I think I can count on one hand how many times we saw the GW. Anyway, It always was the law but not enforced. We were in the sticks on backroads. Anyway then one year they set up checkpoint. No tickets just warnings to every truck returning. The next year it was tickets for any uncased gun. Gun socks became real popular after that!

 

[OspreyZB]

From the compendium:

View attachment 61503

Oh ok. So nothing about bows, which is what the OP mentioned hunting with.

 

[OspreyZB]

You've never heard of the cased gun law in NJ? Now that's a sure way to get a ticket. As a kid, my family belonged to a local gun club. We used to drive the Wharton State Forest. We never cased our guns. It wasn't just us. All of the local clubs just loaded up and headed to WST. Never got bothered by the GW's. Truthfully I think I can count on one hand how many times we saw the GW. Anyway, It always was the law but not enforced. We were in the sticks on backroads. Anyway then one year they set up checkpoint. No tickets just warnings to every truck returning. The next year it was tickets for any uncased gun. Gun socks became real popular after that!

I just bow hunt.

 

[slonstdy]

I haven't been able to find info pertaining to transporting. What I mean is I'm planning to quarter, bone and then pack the deer out of the woods so I can bring it back home to NY (legally due to CWD fears). I know I have to fill out a deer harvest card and tag the deer along with reporting it either online or phone call to get a confirmation number. Is there anything else I need to be concerned with if I bump into a GW while walking to my vehicle?

 

[1simplemann]

Here in MT, the gun laws are much mor relaxed. No gun cases needed. The chamber needs to be unloaded however. Guns & Shells can even be together in the cab of the truck.There is some leeway though. In the spring, it popular to shoot ground squirrels right from the truck w/ a .22. You drive around the hayfields and cattle pastures. They are a major pest and the ranchers want you to shoot every dang one you see. It's not uncommon to shoot 100's in a day. Anyway, since they are not a game animal and your on private property it's legal. The GW never bothers people for that. I even been stopped by the Sheriff w/ a loaded .22. I told him what we were doing. "Have nice day!" However don't shoot a deer from across the hood. That will get you a ticket.