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New Hampshire, Field Care and Meat Requirements?

AvidIndoorsman

AvidIndoorsman

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My best friend just moved out to New Hampshire from Colorado and we were discussing plans to do a hunt out there next year 2019. We were researching options to do a public land hunt, and were noticing that while there is a requirement of bringing your deer to a check station there is absolutely no mention on the NH fish and game website or in the rule book on salvage requirements, proof of sex, definitions of edible portions, etc. (But don't worry they have rules about shooting people while hunting, apparently your aren't allowed to abandon your kill :rolleyes:)

I'm assuming if you hike into the White mountains or similar area you aren't going to want to bring your deer out whole? I've packed out a pronghorn whole a couple of miles so we will do that if necessary... but I prefer not to...

Does anyone know if you can arrive at the check stations with a true quartered deer (4 pieces), a quartered as in hide off 4 legs, plus bag with tenderloins, backstraps, neck, ect, or a completely boned out deer?

I just found it really strange that after about 2hrs of scouring the web I couldn't find edible portions of a whitetail/salvage requirements/ proof of sex info for Hampshire?

(We found that you are allowed to quarter a moose in NH although it was unclear if you could remove the hide and/or bone one out)
 
I would call G&F and ask. They should be able to give you an answer.

NH is tough hunting. Low populations of deer, really thick woods, unless you are down on the Seacoast.
 
If it is anything like Maine, you are required to bring the deer, field dressed, to the check-in station. Quartering in the field is not allowed. Completely stupid, as is the no hunting on Sunday rule.
 
Yes, I'm pretty sure that like Maine, you need to bring it out whole. It's a stupid law and really changes the way you think about where you're hunting. My advice: Try to forget about it and just pretend that you won't be dragging it out. Otherwise, it will provide a mental barrier to success. If you get one down, you'll make it happen. If I had one down 3 miles from the road though, I'd be tempted to rig it into a backpack and carry it out with lots of blaze on...
 
Its a beautiful state and the white mountains and north woods are awesome. I'd bring a shotgun and do some grouse hunting. I think they say partridge though. Super low deer density but big bodied. Snow will make things easier to scout, still hunt or track deer. Then afterwords its easier to drag. Don't take the northwoods lightly, they are easy to get turned around in. There are places in the northeast that make Wyoming look overpopulated. Check into timber company land, much of it is open to the public.
 
I haven't big game hunted in NH for 3-4 years now, but you CAN quarter bone out a moose (though very few people, myself included, actually do) HOWEVER a deer needs to be brought out whole to the check station. Quartering a deer in the field is not a thing you do in the Northeast. We drag our deer out after field dressing...always. Going to MT for muleys this fall and the idea of performing the gutless method and quartering in the field is the source of a lot of worry for me...if under 2 miles from the truck we will probably just drag it out like we do at home LOL. The area you are talking about hunting is beautiful. There are deer there but the denisties are rather low...but you never know when you're going to run into a CRANKER!!
 
Dougfirtree said:
It's a stupid law and really changes the way you think about where you're hunting.
Click to expand...

So definitely accept that it is tradition and general practice... but I combed through the NH statues for hunting, the reg brochure, the website, etc. etc. and I couldn't find a single reference to check station requirements. I did find a couple of spots that says you have to bring a carcass to a check station within 24hrs of harvest but there is no definition of carcass. I therefore think you could argue that one is allowed to bring out the deer in pieces under the current NH statues.

Obviously as a nonresident and therefore a guest hunter I'm going to adhere to the norms and traditions of that area, but if I was to move to NH or if I was a resident I would definitely print a copy of the statues, quarter a deer, show up at the check station with the entire carcass in pieces and challenge the enforcement of the law if the warden gave me a citation. This definitely seems like a giant gap in the NH hunting regs, from my reading you could check a deer and then cut off the head and toss the body as there aren't any meat salvage requirements/ wanton waste requirements on the books.

Would love to be proven wrong on this one...
 
targetpanic said:
I haven't big game hunted in NH for 3-4 years now, but you CAN quarter bone out a moose (though very few people, myself included, actually do) HOWEVER a deer needs to be brought out whole to the check station. Quartering a deer in the field is not a thing you do in the Northeast. We drag our deer out after field dressing...always. Going to MT for muleys this fall and the idea of performing the gutless method and quartering in the field is the source of a lot of worry for me...if under 2 miles from the truck we will probably just drag it out like we do at home LOL. The area you are talking about hunting is beautiful. There are deer there but the denisties are rather low...but you never know when you're going to run into a CRANKER!!
Click to expand...

I was definitely nervous the first time I did it but after a couple of animals I do it even if I can drive the truck to the animal. The gutless method is amazing because you cool off the meat way quicker, as you can get it on ice immediately, you leave all the non edible parts of the animal in the field and don't have to deal with them later, and you greatly reduce the chances of getting bacteria from the animals digestive system on the meat.

I packed out 1 whitetail whole in Montana, (1.5 miles from truck) and will never do it again if not legally required. The NE is gorgeous, I went to school in VT and can't wait to do a bunch of exploring the next couple of falls in NH with my buddy.
 
Interesting question. Lived and hunted here my whole life and I am unaware of any laws regarding this. I'm sure at a minimum you need to prove sex. Dragging large deer out can suck at times but good gps will steer you to closest road. As previously stated density is low and the deeper you get in the whites it is even lower, good place for seclusion though. Hunting better in great north woods and tracking on snow is the ultimate. Good luck and let me know if I can help with any other questions.
 
There ain't no dee'yah in Na Hampshaa. You 'n find more down in Taxachusetts with the rest a them flatlanders. I did see a couple over behind the neighba's house the other day. Maybe I'll bring him a six-pack and see if he'll let me hunt come season. Break out the ol Savage 99 and go sit on that big rock at the edge of his field.
 
wllm1313 said:
So definitely accept that it is tradition and general practice... but I combed through the NH statues for hunting, the reg brochure, the website, etc. etc. and I couldn't find a single reference to check station requirements. I did find a couple of spots that says you have to bring a carcass to a check station within 24hrs of harvest but there is no definition of carcass. I therefore think you could argue that one is allowed to bring out the deer in pieces under the current NH statues.

Obviously as a nonresident and therefore a guest hunter I'm going to adhere to the norms and traditions of that area, but if I was to move to NH or if I was a resident I would definitely print a copy of the statues, quarter a deer, show up at the check station with the entire carcass in pieces and challenge the enforcement of the law if the warden gave me a citation. This definitely seems like a giant gap in the NH hunting regs, from my reading you could check a deer and then cut off the head and toss the body as there aren't any meat salvage requirements/ wanton waste requirements on the books.

Would love to be proven wrong on this one...
Click to expand...


Having grown up in NH I would not recommend u try to get into a situation where u need to argue with a game warden. They aint as nice as the ones we have out west. I haven't hunted deer in NH in many years but the law was always u had to present the intact (field dressed was ok) carcass to a check station. They just recently changed it to allow moose to be quartered. Id call NH fish and game im sure they will steer you in the right direction.
 
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