here in the valley there are lots of bear being killed in the past week my friends have killed a 180lb,220lb,280lb,468lb,480lb and a 600lb bear. all within 3 miles of my house. i killed 2 bear back in sept on crop damage tags. if i were going to hunt bear here i'd go to the national forest between harrisonburg and montery along the virginia ,west virginia boundrys. i' m not near any national forest,i live 1 mile from the shenandoah national park which is a great safe haven for bear,but the corn fields are below my house . so we get lots of bear here. i just heard an hour ago that some other bear hunter friends killed 3 on NF yesteday while running dogs . they didnt say how big they were.