Hey there....
I just got back from a nice rainy/drizzling Sunday scouting mission. From here in Richmond, VA, I went out to Cumberland State Forest (Route 60 to Route 45, then on to dirt roads 624, and 626).
I' ve been out there hunting before, and heard a lot of good talk about the place. I' ve hunted around Bear Creek State Park and such like most people, but have never really gotten off the beaten path and REALLY scout the other areas before.
Would you believe I bumped a HUGE BUCK from his bedding area? I just stood there like, " [
] " and had to pick my jaw up off the ground! I couldn' t count the points on him, but he had a huge tines. He winded me as I was quietly walking up the trail (with the light rain/drizzle, it made my footprints soft in the leaves and dirt). He took off like a flash and I didn' t know what to do but, again, stand there like, " [
] " !!!!
Please see the map that I scanned of Cumberland State Forest. I brought up the image into Windows Paint and drew a thick line to where I was and what the area looked like. The image is probably too big to post on here, since I scanned it full size and also rotated it 90* so it' s 11x8.5, landscape format.
http://members.aol.com/ammonc/CumberlandSF.gif
Look to the bottom right of the image and you' ll see where I was. The logging trail splits off to the right and leads downhill to another area of thickets. There are HUGE rubs and scrapes all over the place too!! There' s doe tracks all over and bigger (way bigger) buck tracks too.
VA Hunters: Please email me. I would like to share this opportunity if you would want to hook up and hunt this incredible area that I found.
Butch