Is it possible to escape hunters, ATVs and noise in a rural area? (Marlborough: sales, houses)

[Tupaloop]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

It’s bad drivers and entitlement culture.

Here in NJ we have a reputation for being bad drivers too. But we're not so much bad as we are highly skilled drivers who have no patience for amateurs who are in our way.

[OutdoorLover]

I don't think there's any rural place with 10+ acre properties that you'll find (that you can own) where there are laws against snow mobiles, ATVs, hunting, etc., or where they can't run a chain saws to cut firewood, a jackhammer to bust up concrete or a wood chipper to chip logs... but these latter working machines aren't used all the time.

At least some things though, you can avoid by doing your homework - like gun ranges for example, they're easy to find right on google maps. If you have land abutting a wildlife refuge, hunting is likely off-limits there... many parks do allow hunting, but it's easy to ask the rangers what the rules are. Same goes with trails running through public lands - you should be able to find out from the rangers if things like ATVs, snow-mobiles and dirt bikes are allowed on those trails.

There are laws about discharging firearms within city/town limits, and out in rural areas within so many feet (500 I think) of a residence or occupied building without permission... but 12ga shotguns are mighty loud, and if someone owns a big piece of rural property, whether it's wooded or fields, I believe they can shoot their shotgun or pistol on their own land, maybe even rifle? You can't hunt deer with a rifle in Mass, but that restriction is only on deer hunting. If someone wants to shoot a bear, turkey, coyote, groundhog, etc with a rifle, I don't think there's any law against it.

[Lampert]

Look for a hilly area with a very rocky ground and rocky paths, probably you will find a lot less ATVs there.

I have never had problems with hunters, but I mostly work in my relatively large plot of land so that's maybe why.
If you are very active outside your chances of having hunters coming in your land is a lot lower even with no signs.

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by Tupaloop

So many helpful responses. I will be researching the great suggestions today. Please keep them coming and thank you!

Just for additional clarification, we definitely aren't rich! But we have managed to save enough to escape the crowds and immerse ourselves in quiet solitude, if we are able to find it. We are nature-loving loners from South Jersey who no longer want to bump shoulders with neighbors. We know exactly what we want but it's proving very difficult to find a rural location that isn't overrun with guns and people with noisy pastimes.

To the nice folks that have suggested this, we have considered buying more land to create a buffer, but we don't want to deal with the stress of having to continually post and patrol that land (every year fresh signs, name and address, every so many feet, etc, etc) in order to keep it safe. Being a terribly anxious person, I will be in a constant state of stress about who is on our land and why, so that won't work unfortunately.

And by the way, we love Mass on paper and google maps, but admittedly haven't spent all that much time there. We've been to the Berkshires twice, but that's the extent of it. We've spent a whole lot more time vacationing in NH, but I don't think we would survive living there with all the hunting and ATV (noise) culture. So we think maybe western Mass would be closer to our comfort level since it's mostly liberal, less crowded and has an abundance of natural beauty. Is our vision of western Mass a skewed fantasy?

As far as the sanctuary we want to create, it's mostly going to be geared toward pollinators and birds - they really do need the help. But being advocates for all animals, we also envision a place for wildlife to feel safe and welcome. We are more comfortable around animals than people and don't mind deer eating our flowers. They can have all they want - we humans have taken enough away from them - we want to give back without conditions. I cannot stress enough how much we both love animals and that is why having to listen to them being shot on a regular basis would be profoundly detrimental to our mental health.

So on paper, the following towns look promising because it's our understanding that hunters are required to get written permission from landowners to hunt their land, unlike the open land policies elsewhere that put the burden on the landowner to keep trespassers out. I would love to hear what you know about these towns:

West Stockbridge
Middlefield
Sheffield
Sandisfield
Blandford
New Marlborough
Tyringham
Alford
Monterey
Tolland

Thanks again to all the nice Mass people for your insight! So far you are not living up to your unfair reputation. Being from NJ we get the same bad rap, so I feel for you.

It looks like the towns you're considering are in the Berkshires, not in western Mass. Western Mass is the usual name for the towns up and down the Connecticut River, with Northampton being an important center.

I'm from western MA and so I know very little about these towns you have listed, just Stockbridge and Lenox, where we used to go for concerts by the Boston Symphony Orchestra outdoors in the summer.

Oh, I also know that it's freeezing cold out there in winter. We never ventured out that way until the warm weather appeared. If you want to be closer in toward "civilization" I would suggest western MA, outside the Northampton area (west and north of.) Winters are still very cold but not as freezing cold as in the mountains. You would find many kindred spirits in western MA, people who are into conservation and not into hunting. But, of course, hunting is everywhere, and, as someone already said, people have killed off the natural predators so we need hunters to (sadly) kill deer. There is also a surplus of black bears for the same reason. Good luck to you.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by massnative71

You are far more likely to crash your vehicle into a member of the severely overpopulated deer population (due to not enough people hunting these days)

Based on what you say this? The number of deer harvested in MA is at an all time high.

Hunters like to claim they are a crucial part of the ecosystem but they really aren't, there are much more important elements in the picture.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Lampert

Hunters like to claim they are a crucial part of the ecosystem but they really aren't, there are much more important elements in the picture.

So how do you propose to deal with the deer overpopulation problem? Planned parenthood?

[Tupaloop]

in-newengland, thank you for clearing up the western MA vs Berkshires logistics, I had no idea! Your posts have been extremely helpful and will be setting me on a new course of research. We do love the beauty of the mountains/hills in the Berkshires, but unbearably freezing cold does not sound fun.

Can you point me to any additional towns in western MA that are on the small side, quaint/charming, historic, with more liberal and crunchy types that aren't into hunting and ATVs? We know nothing about that area, absolutely nothing. But it sounds promising from what you've mentioned.

On another note, does MA have biting fly season in springtime? I have been to NH during that time and can totally see why they call it their "state bird". Is that a NH thing or a New England thing??

OutdoorLover, I love your screen name! Thanks for the helpful tips. We actually have our sights on some towns that abut wildlife refuges for that very reason. Particularly Wapack NWR in NH.

Lampert, great advice about the rocky places, thank you! From what I understand hunters don't like that terrain much either.

If I haven't thanked anyone else for their helpful replies directly, my apologies. THANK YOU! Honestly I wasn't expect to get this much feedback.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

If someone wants to shoot a bear, turkey, coyote, groundhog, etc with a rifle, I don't think there's any law against it.

You can't use a rifle for turkey hunting in Mass.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

It looks like the towns you're considering are in the Berkshires, not in western Mass. Western Mass is the usual name for the towns up and down the Connecticut River, with Northampton being an important center.

I'm from western MA and so I know very little about these towns you have listed, just Stockbridge and Lenox, where we used to go for concerts by the Boston Symphony Orchestra outdoors in the summer.

Oh, I also know that it's freeezing cold out there in winter. We never ventured out that way until the warm weather appeared. If you want to be closer in toward "civilization" I would suggest western MA, outside the Northampton area (west and north of.) Winters are still very cold but not as freezing cold as in the mountains. You would find many kindred spirits in western MA, people who are into conservation and not into hunting. But, of course, hunting is everywhere, and, as someone already said, people have killed off the natural predators so we need hunters to (sadly) kill deer. There is also a surplus of black bears for the same reason. Good luck to you.

We've been through this before here. And no, Western Mass. is not just the Connecticut River towns. It's basically everything west of the Quabbin, including the Berkshires. Perhaps some from that particular area claim "ownership" of the name that technically includes the whole rest of the region, but the rest of the world disagrees. Tell somebody from Pittsfield they do not live in "Western Mass.", you are guaranteed to get a funny look.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Massachusetts


"Western Massachusetts is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and universities, with approximately 100,000 students;[1][dead link] and such institutions as Tanglewood, the Springfield Armory, and Jacob's Pillow.
The western part of Western Massachusetts includes the Berkshire Mountains, where there are several vacation resorts. The eastern part of the region includes the Connecticut River Valley, which has a number of university towns, the major city Springfield, and numerous agricultural hamlets.[2] In the eastern part of the area, the Quabbin region is a place of outdoor recreation.[3]"

[Tupaloop]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

So how do you propose to deal with the deer overpopulation problem? Planned parenthood?

For starters, stop killing the predators. Open season on coyotes, mountain lions, bears and other predators is certainly not helping. Unfortunately the term "wildlife management" has come to mean "make sure there are plenty of animals for hunters to shoot". Hunting is a business, first and foremost. And the scare tactics used to justify it - "deer ticks", deer/car collisions, starving deer, etc are greatly overstated. Yes, some places have too many deer. And yes, some deer do starve. But the truth is, hunters aren't shooting skinny, starving animals, they are going for the biggest and healthiest ones they can find, which does nothing for the health of the gene pool. And most deer/car collisions occur during hunting season when the animals are running scared.

And yes, Lyme disease is a thing. But mice and other animals carry the black-legged ticks too, but the deer tend to be most demonized for it. I live and hike in the Pinelands and know more than I'd like to about ticks. A thorough tick check is always advised, whether you have a large deer population or not. As long as you pull the ticks off within 24-36 hours your chances of getting Lyme are very slim. IF you find a black-legged tick on you that has likely been on you for more than 36 hours, and if you have a compromised immune system, you can ask your doctor for a prophylactic dose of doxycycline as a preventative measure. It works. I spend a great deal of time in the woods in an area notorious for black-legged ticks and have never gotten Lyme, but have pulled off a few.

I really didn't want to get into a debate about hunting here. That was not my intention at all when posting my questions. So I will just end here and bow out of this part of the convo now. But I will say, I have spent a great deal of time researching this since the early 90s. And the "hunting is a necessary evil" is not entirely true. If we can put a rover on the moon, we can find ways to deal with overpopulation problems without causing harm.

But I will say this: hunting is a hell of a lot better for animals than factory farming. At least the deer or turkeys are free until the day they die and are (hopefully) killed quickly, unlike the poor animals raised on mega farms. So if you're going to eat meat, it's definitely better to hunt than to buy suffering in a neat little package.

Okay I'm done.

(edited to correct numbers, please do your own research regarding tick bites and prophylactic remedies, i am not a doctor)