Whitetails are masters at adapting to manmade structures like office buildings, subdivisions and shopping malls, and they can thrive in small woodlots adjacent to buildings and houses. Chris Jones of Norristown, Pennsylvania, shot this 197-inch "city buck" with a crossbow in 2004. Chris got dozens of trail camera photos of the suburban buck, and numerous neighbors had seen the deer in their yards. Chris appeared on the cover of the July 2005 issue.

As the sun peeked its head over the hardwood ridge, I could make out the unmistakable outline of the nearby McDonald's restaurant 600 feet away. Already I could hear the annoying drone of car tires on blacktop as hundreds of commuters battled their way down the highway on their way to work in busy Manhattan.

In the distance, a high-speed Amtrak train, making its daily run from Albany to downtown New York City, was blaring its horn at every grade crossing. Through it all I could hear the sound of Canada geese as they scolded each other on a nearby pond. No, hunting the outskirts of New York City is not a true wilderness experience, but if you're looking to hunt big unpressured bucks and you're willing to put up with the difficulties associated with hunting within the confines of an urban area, then read on. You may find this interesting!

A DIFFERENT APPROACH
Every big buck hunter is well aware of the value of hunting those special locations that direct a buck's movement into specific areas. The pinch points, funnels or bottlenecks of Iowa, Illinois and Kansas are usually the result of changes in land use, agriculture or topographic features. However, funnels for the urban hunter are usually the result of a subdivision, a shopping mall, a school, tennis courts or a major highway. When hunting suburbia, you have to take an entirely different approach while trying to determine the highest percentage spots to sit in a tree.

The urban area I hunt is just north of New York City. The entire area could be characterized as a bedroom community. The landscape is composed of subdivisions, commercial establishments and some very large mansions, and the majority of folks who live here work in the city. Interestingly, despite the high human population in the area, there are still many patches of woodland -- some as large as a couple of hundred acres -- and they are prime deer habitat.

John Van Buren, a bowhunting fanatic who lives 1 1/2 hours north of New York's Westchester County, makes the trip south many times each year in search of a truly huge whitetail. As you would expect, with such a high population base it can be difficult to find a place to hunt. But John always seems to find those special places. When I asked him how he finds his hunting spots, he replied, "Knocking on doors and asking permission just doesn't work. Rather, I look for small areas of open land where I can park my truck and enter the woods without having to cross a 'No trespassing' sign.

"The woods directly behind many shopping centers are often a kind of 'no man's land.'

The same holds true inside many subdivisions. Developers often construct new roads into wooded areas with the intent of future building, but sometimes that development doesn't materialize for several years and these areas are left un-posted. They are perfect places in which to park and legally enter the woods." (In New York, as in Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, it's assumed that it's okay to hunt and fish urban properties that are not posted with the understanding that if the landowner asks you to leave, you must leave. However, there are many other metro areas where written permission to hunt is required. Always check your local regulations before you enter the woods.)

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