Hunting in New England is Hard. And anyone that has never done it and considerdes themselves a trophy hunter should give it a whurl. Deer densities are low, winters are tough and predidation is high. Deer that are located in massive stands of timber and mountains have learned to adapt to the struggles they face and become virtually nocturnal or difficult to locate even during the rut. I've had many years in mass wiht promising sign and many trail cam pictures from great deer that were between dusk and dawn to never even see so much as a flag in a whole season. On the contrary i have been living in MD for the past 2 yrs and the deer population is out of control. In the last 10 years sub burban areas that used to be wildnerness have turned in to small pockets of land that lay within nutrient rich farm land producing some incredible animals. I've seen more deer in the past two years here then i have 10 years of hunting the berkshires of MA. However, it takes away from the sport. I would much rather harvest a spike or doe in MA or NH where i hunt then shoot a 120" 8pt in MD. Becuase it is too common place. I would rather hunt in New england put in the time and effort in, spend as much time on stand as possible and kill one deer then sit in my climber here and watch multiple 60lb does feed in front of my stand. Moral of my long rant is when hunitng in New England it takes a lot of time and patient to connect but when you finally do hook up with one it is a more the rewarding trophy.
I'm not from your great state, and I mean great, the bucks I've seen on here from Maine are healthy trophies. I am just wondering if deer are transition area animals, why wouldn't clear cut areas do well for them. They do in areas of Canada that clear cut. The new growth is just what they need to eat and they like being on the edge of areas they can see well in. Areas in the south also clear cut and then burn to expedite the new growth. They have deer populations we only dream about. Yes they don't have the extreme weather we do but, they harvest alot of doe in areas and keep ratios in check. I'm all for logging of any kind, as here in NY where I am they don't allow it at all, and if you really want a discouraging season try hunting a forever wild area in the adirondacks!!