Virginia,GW National Forest, Big Levels

[Bearclaw Crislap]

I hiked this area in July with my son. We entered this part of the National Forest from Route 64 at Waynesboro. Drove Forest Road 42 to the parking area of the St Marys Wildnerness. From there we hiked to St Marys Falls. Looked like Hurricane Isabel really tore up the St Marys river valley.

The general firearms season for deer in this area is from Nov 13th to Nov 27th. I'd like to return to Big Levels for a couple of days of hunting. I've studied this area on topo maps and like I said, I checked it out on the ground only once.

Does anyone here know this area well? Does it see much hunting pressure during the open season? Is there anything there that's not obvious on a topo map. Some insider knowledge would be welcomed. Thanks.

[dpv]

I was planning a trip toe GWF last year but it fell thru. I've heard that it gets lots of pressure, but most of that iswithin half a mile of roads/parking areas. Push in a little deeper and you should have less human contact. Doesn't mean you'll get the deer, but When hunting public land, I've seen some pretty good deer when I slip in a couple hours before light and have time to quiet and settled before most of the other folks get there. They can often stir things up significantly. I have had some beauties get pushed my way by the hunters who don't come very far into the woods. Somehow I always manage to screw up the shot, but at least I see them.

David.