In my little piece of heaven in the NEK of VT keep in mind I’ve been hunting there since about 1960 or earlier and some of them were meadows, pastures or fields with no trees, or tangles of any kind and most of them were actually used for grazing of livestock.
1. The Pine-Apple Bowl became a fabulous grouse, woodcock, deer and bear cover and four years ago the 100-plus foot pines and spruces were harvested. It STILL holds game.
2. The Scrub-apple Hillside was a barren hillside pasture that I used to ski in winter vacations but has become our favorite grouse and woodcock cover. You may remember my post from last week where the new owner posted it to keep us out so we wouldn’t disturb “his” deer. (He and his sons are deer hunters.z)
3. The Shattuck Pasture which has the rock remains of the oldest pioneer settler's home in these hills. ca 1780’s always was a good grouse and deer cover… but is also owned by the same guy who posted all his land.
4. The Old Wood-Cutters Shack, which has rotted into the ground some forty years ago, continues to be a reference point while we’re hunting in the area.
5. The Milk Can is also a point of reference in the same general area.
6. The Old Ford Cover had three 1920’s Ford skeletons and has always been a nostalgic location for the fact that my Dad loved to find himself there in deer season and also because it is on a slight rise above the rest of the woods around it and always was a great place to find grouse. Unfortunately a local logger was called in to harvest about a dozen acres but he thought those old Ford skeletons needed to be flattened and crushed into the earth. Some other hunters who are my friends don’t remember those Ford skeletons and simply refer to that area as “The Tin Pile”.
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