Rem1100

wow... we switched!! I grew up here, and now hunt off Parker Hollow Rd.... deer count is down(good) and the quality of bucks seen is better than ever. unfortunately, I'm 3 for 3.... 3 days in stand...3 days of 30+ MPH winds [&o] and quess what they're callin' for for Thurs & Fri? yep.....wind.
for the record..the EP best hunting days are behind us... you shoulda hunted these farms back 30 years ago....man, what bucks we had!! Jefferson Co, STILL has big bucks, but noone can hunt 'em where they stay...ride down Kabletown Rd, drive up the Colonels' driveway...you'll know it..no missin' it!! feast your eyes on the brutes on his game preserve... amazing bucks in the 140+ range...but don't feel bad, noones' been able to hunt there forever,that I'm aware of.with the depletion of farms/orchards/mountain ground for development, the availble ground to hunt is nearly extinct, considering that you can't fire a gun w/i 500' of a home... and they're everywhere now. I know that ALL the areas that I grew up hunting are GONE...that's why I'm in Hardy. not as good huntinh that I was use too, but better than dealing with all the morons who live there now!!

HEAD0001

I am a handicapped hunter who just picked up his modified Kawasaki Mule. I can now get back in the woods. I am going out the door right now to bowhunt, and you guys are saying the deer are moving. Man I can not wait. Wish me luck. Tom.

DougMD

Good luck! Be sure to report back how you did/what you saw. I'd like to know of any recent updates on deer movement/predictions of when to be in the woods.

maddawg0517

not sure about wv, mut i hunted northern baltimore county, md this morning and the deer were moving for sure. the cold weather had them up i think. i saw 12-13 and missed a small doe at 10yards due to a little tree branch i could not see in my peep site. its ok tho...just a sign that i wasn't suppoed to kill her and that a big buck is looming in my future tomorrow!

Rem1100

..the only thing moving this morning...like the previous 3 attempts...was my treestand in the strong breeze... but the 20* temp made it ALL worthwhile.......

HEAD0001

I saw a 6 point this evening with 5 does under the pear tree. The pear's are about gone. Unfortunately the pear tree is in the middle of the hay field, with no where to set up. I saw the deer on the way to my ground blind. I got set up in my ground blind and had a doe with two fat little fawns walk by. I had a shot, but I was having too much fun just sitting there enjoying the afternoon(also did not have any help getting the deer out, my buddy was at work). I saw two more deer off in the woods, with no shot. The buck I saw in the field was not bothering the does, but he sure was munching on those pears.

My modified Kawasaki Mule works great. Thank God for welders. Tom.

mkiesslinggop

Was out this morning about 6am in the 20 degree weather. Nothing but squirrels moving until about 10:30 when I just couldn't sit any longer. Toes were too numb. Got out of the tree and packed everything up. Walked 20 yards and ran smack into 3 deer (doe and 2 fawns I believe). Going to try to get back out this afternoon for a couple hours.

hillbillyhunter1

You're right Rem, development is going gangbusters in Jeff. County (although it has slowed a bit lately) I've got some really good places to hunt here though (including a small place on kabletown), just been working too hard to get out much lately (hopefully that's goin to change this coming week for a short while) I killed a 140' class about 5 years ago near there--I'll try to post a pic if I can figure out how. One thing I like is that you can hunt here in Jeff Co on Sundays and the huntin is good if you can find it--most of the "newcomers' don't hunt so you get strange looks sometimes but hey, this is still WV, my home state. They can look all they want but they better not touch).That parker holler area should be good (as long as you can get away from the pumpkins during gun season)--lot of deer all over that country--there is a first class taxidermist (Halterman's Taxidermy) that lives in that area. He is the man, if he's still around. he did mine for me and he is/was the "go to guy" for all of Hardy Co. I hunt around Moorefield (hometown)myself when back home Good luck.

mkiesslinggop

Back out yesterday afternoon and wouldn't you know it, sometime between when I left to warm up for a couple hours and grab something to eat (11am-2pm), the scrape I was hunting over yesterday morning was hit again (I know better, just couldn't feel the toes) Should have gone late morning and sat all day. UGH...makes me sick. This land is new to me this season and I haven't been able to get out much, but I learned alot about it yesterday. The deer are using old logging roads to go back and forth and up and down the side of this mountain. Picked a fork in a couple roads and hunted the upper bench so that I had a couple of scrapes within bow range. Saw many deer, but all seemed to pick the bench below me (the easier route, stupid me, deer are like people-generally lazy). Good news is that I saw three bucks, a spike, avery tall 4 or 6 (couldn't see browtines, but they mayhave been there), and a beauty 8. Tried grunting the eight, but he wasn't interested. None of these bucks checked the scrapesalong the trail I was hunting, or responded to a grunt call with any enthusiasm, which makes me wonder if there may be a bigger dominant buck in there. Any thoughts? None of these deer tended any of the scrapes either by the way.

Good news is that there is a perfect tree to hunt the lower bench from, as well as cover the upper scrape line, and I will certainly be in it the next afternoon out.

BTW-None of the bucks I saw seemed to be dogging does, and while the bucksfolloweddoes down the trail, there didn't seem to be any sense of urgency or the feverish pace you see rutting bucks moving at. Still some time away I believe.

Hope others had good WV weekends.

HEAD0001

I got to take a good long ride on my new Kawasaki Mule Sunday afternoon, and early evening. I saw about 25 deer on the farm. 4 basket rack bucks, but nothing large. The deer were really moving this afternoon. I saw a half dozen ground scrapes, and quite a few tree rubs. Things are heating up. I hope to be in my ground blind Monday afternoon. I sure hope that three legged one horn shows up. Just kidding. Tom.