WV rut?
 

Any action going on where you are at? If so, what county? I have already heard of some seeking going on, with one guy taking a 10 pointer. Others have seen some rubs and scrapes, but haven't seen any cruising bucks. In general, almost everyone seems to be seeing less deer than they are used to seeing.

RE: WV rut?
 

DougMD... Ive seen 2 bucks and 6 does in 5 days hunting(Hardy Co).. no rut activity AT ALL...no mast...local farmers tell me there's less deer thanm they can remember seeing... remember, Wardensville was the deer hunting capital of WVa ,during the 60s... now the count is way down.. habitat destruction, along with the States' prostitution of the herd lowered numbers overall... i'm betting for a reduction in total harvest for 2004... about 20k less... the deer population ,from state-wide reports, is very low... Good luck...

RE: WV rut?
 

Doug...I just got back from several days of hunting, and there is little to no rut activity in our area. The big bucks were still frequenting our feeder at night, which they will stop doing once the rut kicks in.

I saw less deer than I ever have for the amount of time I was in a tree. I saw 1 spike...That's it. Under the light at night I saw 3 different bucks and some does...but not much.

Not sure if it was the weather, but relatives that were also bowhunting said it's been an absolutely pathetic year.

RE: WV rut?
 

I have been seeing alot of deer in Preston Co. but no big bucks. I have seen (2) year and a half olds following does but that is normal they know they are doing something they just dont know what.

RE: WV rut?
 

Well, I surely hope that if the harvest and sightings remain low, the DNR will restrict seasons or bag limits because this is ridiculous! It doesn't have to get to extreme overpopulation, but somewhere near the carrying capacity should be the goal. What do you suppose is the cause, liberal seasons and bag limits, bad mast crops, bad winters?

RE: WV rut?
 

Doug I live in Mercer Co in the very southern tip I have saw a few scrapes and some horning all from the same buck . That said it has so far been my worst year in many many years. I havent saw as many deer in this whole season as I usually see in one day and I have been out. I have only missed a couple of days since season came in.
One of the farmers here I hunt told me he hasnt saw any fawns since they were first born he thinks the coyotes took a real toll on them. He told me he saw 8 does on his way to drive his school bus the other morning and there was no small ones with them. I also havent saw any young ones at all this year and that is a bad sign.

RE: WV rut?
 

royak,

Thanks for the heads-up. We've had a trend of fewer sighting over the past three or four years. Where we'd surely see quite a few, we're lucky to see any now. At the same time, we are seeing fewer racked bucks, so it is the worst of all worlds. I know there are SOME coyotes in the area based on sightings and people hearing them occassionally, but it's hard for me to believe they are the reason for declines in deer numbers.

If anyone has any info on rut activity, please let us know...

RE: WV rut?
 

Doug.............Hunting Preston Co. has been slow as to buck activity,as well as fewer deer where I hunt.Saw 2 bucks chasing last wednesday(halfhearted chases) have seen 3 other small bucks this week, I let them walk(little buggers),things are starting to get a little heated over this way.
It can't happen too soon for me.
Snort

RE: WV rut?
 

Bro... the farmers around our camp (Hardy Co) hired trapper thru WVU somehow, and he trapped 15 yotes in about 12 days... YOU tell me how much damage they're doing, and what size the yote population is... My Buddy killed one with a bow last fall in Wayne Co..... Not to mention our illustrious State prostituting the game for $$, just like a NY pimp....... no wonder the herds' declining....

RE: WV rut?
 

Rem, I'm in that general area too, so must have them where I'm at. I hope that's not the reason!

RE: WV rut?
 

I hope not, too,Bro... but SOMETHING is decimating the herds , from past years numbers... the farm I hunt on has been in the same family since the early 1800s... we've got buck mounts on the wall that are SO old..well, you get the idea... we're hunting outside of Baker, where it was easy to count as many as 100 deer in the fields of an evening... I dare you to try to count 20, in the exact same fields. overall size of bucks body & racks have declined to where now if you see a 4 pt, you better shoot... 'cuz the guy down the ridge WILL kill him...
another problem in our area, is these "hunting camps" that total 5 acres or less in size, that house 10-15 hunters( none local)... tell me where they hunt? yep... they trespass... and defy you to challange them. It's sad,but true. I was in my stand last weekend, when 1 of 'em walked right under my stand, carrying a rifle( no way was it a .22)...HUH? 400 yds from their property?... Ethics have gone by the wayside....

RE: WV rut?
 

I hunt in Jackson County and didn't see my first deer until my 5 th day of hunting. It was real slow until about a week ago. I've rattled in one buck on Saturday and I had a few nice ones walk by my stand on Monday within 10 yards. I watched about four bucks chase does around the field in front of my house yesterday. I have also seen plenty of good sign(active scrapes, licking branches, and big rubs) in some other areas I hunt in Jackson County. Now these places I hunt are not hunted alot by anyone so I guess that's why I'm starting to see plenty of deer. Also, I read somewhere, (I think WV game and Fish) that the DNR said we will start to see less deer now but the deer we do see will be bigger. I'm not sure how they came up with that but it doesn't make sense to me.

RE: WV rut?
 

Yeah the deer population is definelty getting smaller every year around here. I have lived and hunted Hardy county my whole life and have really seen a diffrence over the last 10 years or so. Rem1100 was right about Wardensville be a huge deer town at one time, Im born and raised there and remember the town tripling in size during deer season. Now you dont see near the people you used to. With Corridor H coming through and all the new people building and moving here, good hunting land is getting more scarce. The thing i cant understand is how the WV DNR keeps saying that doe populations are out of control and keep adding doe seasons and the number of doe tags and we are not really seeing that many does. I dont know where they are seeing these millions of does at. Havent seen many signs of the rut yet, but it wont be long. The yotes are gettin kinda outa hand around here from what i have heard. I have only seen 3 or 4 but i have had several friends kill one. My fiance saw one last week when she was bowhunting with me on my grandmas land, i didnt see it but i heard it and then saw a few deer busting down through the woods.

Where about are you at Rem1100?

RE: WV rut?
 

Hunted the old family farm in Lewis Co last year. I saw over 100 deer in 3 days of hunting. To me they all looked like does. My Uncle kept picking out spikes in the distance 75yds or more but my eyes aren't as good as his. Either way a spike was the biggest bucks we saw in the three days.

RE: WV rut?
 

BeltedMag... good to hear from a local boy!!! we hunt up at Baker(Needmore), off of Parker Hollow Rd.! My buddys' fathers' kin settled there over 100 yrs ago. Are you familiar with that area? Know any folks back there? Sure is alot of city-slickers movin' in the area, thanks to the Corridor, which in time will be the WORST thing that happened to the local people. The price of land is already passing the locals' ability to buy.... I tried to buy 18 ac of Mt ground, and it sold at auction for over 28K....MT GROUND!!! Rocks & sticks... unbelievable.
Email me,Bro: [email protected]
...we'll hook up & spin the yarn.......

RE: WV rut?
 

Hey Rem,

I went to school with a few people from up that way, havent been up Parker Hollow road in years though. That isnt too far from the ol alma mater of East Hardy. I bowhunt on my grandmothers land up arkansas road near Rio. The family has been talking about selling some of her 130 acres, at like 5 grand an acre, i hope they dont. It used to be i knew just about everyone around here but not anymore there are so many new people i cant keep up with them. As for Corridor H, it has taken out alot of good huntin land, the spot where i killed my first deer and many since then is now pretty much an offramp. Keep an eye out at the local relators some of the land isnt too awful bad, ive been lookin around for some land for another member on here RonM and some of it isnt too expensive. I found 100 acres up near Mathias for like 1700 an acre with is pretty great.
Good talkin too ya, maybe we will run into each other at the checkin station soon.

Dave

RE: WV rut?
 

BMAG...$170k for 100 acres?...does it have a home on it.. it better! Either way, that's ridiculous for the locals to compete with.. and it encourages folks to sell out... I'd rather see the game than the people, especially the Yuppies in their SUVs that have never been off the hard surface roads.... but they're the ones' our kids will be competing with for their piece of the pie. I saw the realtor sign in Wardensville displaying a home on 5 ac for 550K... IN WARDENSVILLE !! New dam going in on PH road,Bro... exactly like the one on Dove Rd...you gotta go see it!!
Know Charles Wilkins..?... owns the store at Mathias?.. he's our neighbor....

RE: WV rut?
 

I thought it wasnt too bad a price considering most land goes for 3 to 5,000 an acre and more. I know alot of Wilkins around Wardensville, but that name sounds familiar. Havent seen the new damn yet, its it like the one up by the lake in Lost River, thats a pretty big damn. Me and my uncle were talking about all the new people around here today, and all the rich yuppies moving in. They are trying to get away from the big city and trying to turn our little town into what they left. Im sure some of them will get discouraged and leave when they realize that there is no cell phone service or Starbucks around, that usually scares them off, Plus the bad roads are hell on their Beemers and Benzs. You should stop by the White Star sometime, i usually get in there on weekends like Friday or Saturday when im not working.

RE: WV rut?
 

WHITE STAR?... what a place!!!! is that albino deer still in there.. it was soooo old that it was damn near brown, last time I saw it yrs ago!!!!

RE: WV rut?
 

Update on deer and the rut.

First, there are only a few rubs around, and I saw NO scrapes at all.

I went out Wednesday evening and didn't see any deer. Plenty of squirrels, but that's it. Then I went out Thursday morning at another spot and didn't see any. My buddy was with me in the morning and shot a doe. Then last night, I had a buck trailing a doe behind me. It had to have small spikes because I didn't see any horns at all, but heard him grunting and follow her about 30 seconds behind. Then about 1/2 hour later, another buck chased a doe near me. He had a fork on one side and it looked like only a spike on the other. He was running up along side her trying to corral or turn her. She winded me and they ran downhill.

So I ask you, how can it go from not seeing or hearing any cruising bucks, to full blown chasing? One thing is for certain, this is by far the fewest deer I have seen since I owned the land. All four deer I've seen were last night, with zero deer seen on any of my other hunts this year. Frankly, I think the cruising probably has been going on, but there's so few deer, it's hard to see any.

RE: WV rut?
 

im hunting wetzel county near new martinsville, any body hunt there? or have any info on the rut or deer activity?

RE: WV rut?
 

I hunt in the southern most tip... Mcdowell county, I have seen a few small rubs and scrapes, but little movement. I too have seen a major decline in deer movement the last few years. They are everywhere during the summer, but during fall and winter they're mostly nocturnal!! Mcdowell has had a 1 deer per yr. limit for a while, and recently made it 2 if one is a doe. It is only open to bow hunting and the land I hunt has very little hunting pressure. That said, I dont think its hunting pressure, I dont know what it is.

RE: WV rut?
 

Here in Berkeley County the rut is just beginning to get started. I've seen tons of deer, and the mast is amazing. Acorns are everywhere. No chasing yet, but the rubs and scrapes are being made alot. I have seen 60 does in the past 3 days of hunting and not a single buck with them. Bucks are still bedding by themselves.

RE: WV rut?
 

In Pocahontas county I am starting to see more deer now that it is getting colder. Have found a couple of scrape lines and accorns everywhere. I havent seen a lot of fawns. I think the deer are just laying down in the day and moving at night is why we are not seeing them.

RE: WV rut?
 

I'm sure some deer only move around at night, but if there were anywhere near the numbers I used to see, there would be a lot more deer sign than I am seeing.

RE: WV rut?
 

That's the concensus where I hunt too Doug.
Indian Springs WMA is about 5 minutes away from our ground and the head of the DNR there says that they only have a fraction of the deer that they had last year and prior. It just seems that the overall numbers are way down this year, and they will only get worse now with the astronomical bag limits that are in place now.

RE: WV rut?
 

My theory is that on top of the liberal bag limits, the bad acorn crops and winters of the last few years led to does who didn't have the nutrition to carry two fawns, and probably some didn't carry a single either. Result: fewer deer to replentish those lost to hunting and starvation.

RE: WV rut?
 

I think you may be right Doug. I live in Mercer Co and hunt two private farms on one between the farmer his wife myself and my soninlaw we have only saw 2 deer with young this year. I usually see as many as 15 a day there and so far this year I have only saw 3 deer period. The farmer drives a school bus and the other morning on his way to make his run which is way before daylight he saw 8 does in the field next to his house and no youngs ones at all.
One of my other places where I have taken at least one deer a year for the past 6 years I have hunted 3 times and have yet to even see a deer. I did see some horning and a small scrape on the way to the stand last week. I tried calling and grunting with no luck at all.

RE: WV rut?
 

Sounds like that assessment is pretty much the consensus. I talked to a yet another guy here at work who is saying the same thing, not near as many deer as in past years. The DNR needs to set limits/restrictions accordingly, and should be able to switch from one year to the next.