newtohogs

been down here going on 12 years.there is no place to hunt unless you pay to join a hunt club. the land ownser all rent to clubs. Funny thing is if your not a good ole boy from around here even the hunt clubs are tighter than a snair drum. cant even find ponds to fish in unless you belong to a club or kiss some ones azz. public land here is a joke to. I am planning on buying my own land to hunt fish trap what ever good luck my friend

whitewolf393

Sounds pretty damned grim. I had considered getting onto AP Hill, a good friend of mine usually hunts there. There's ALOT you have to fulfill before you do so, though.

UFunny2

I thought Va was tough when I moved here from CA several years ago. Ca was tough! I joined a club, but didn't care for the style (hounds, CB radios and sitting in the truck and eating Hardee's fried chicken). Now I hunt several military bases and Natl forest and have great success. You just need to scout, get off the roads/trails and sharpen your hunting skills. Some folks get lucky and shoot within 100yds from the road, but I've found there's more opportunity when you get off the beaten path. Good luck!

aluminumshooter

I moved to VA from Oklahoma 11 years ago. Unless you know a landowneror join a club the pickings are pretty slim. I joined National Sportsman Association out of Woodbridge. That was ok but isn't cheap. When I quit 3 years ago they had a base yearly fee of $600 and then add on another $150 dollars each if you want to bowhunt, blackpowder, use an atv, etc. I think by the time I got finished with the add-ons I was paying $900 per year. I quit because I only get to go hunting a few days per year and I couldn't justify the cost fora fewdays of hunting.If you don't mind a lot of rules (there's a 15+ page list of them) and have the money it'sworth doing. They do always have a lot of good places to hunt in a variety of settings.There aren't any required work days, so if your free time is limited that's a good thing.

ButchA

I hear that... I can't stand running hound dogs! [:'(] I mean, guys can run dogs all they want, it's cool you know... But I just don't understand it. I wasn't brought up deer hunting with hound dogs. So, I just go to places where they aren't running dogs 24/7.

whitewolf, I know all about AP Hill... They SERIOUSLY upgraded their security measures to the point of it almost being ridiculous. I mean, what's next... bend over for body cavity search?!? But they have millions of deer on AP Hill. So it could be worth the hassle in the long run.

coolbrze0

I'm lucky enough to have family/friends that own farms in Northern & Central VA. There are a lot of hunt clubs and memberships aren't that bad if you look around. Of course $ is relative...

daleh

Hunting for free is great. take advantage of whenever posiible.
Hunt clubs charge for membership, isn't that to be expected?
you lease 5000 acres and put in 40 deer stands. that costs alot not to metion the food plot preperation and planting 3 times a year. mineral blocks and100 lbs of corn each stand every week during the season.
if you ever have to pay for this, you will wish you were in a club so that others could share the cost. Hunting is becoming a sport that if you don't have land or know somebody that does you will have to pay to do it somewhere.
Inconsiderate hunters are to blame for this on the most part.
Driving the ATVs and 4 wheel drives through the fields, destroying the roads and making alot ofstuff to fix before a farmer can plant. Not to mention all the trash that most of them leave behind.
Another thing "dogs can't read no trespassing signs" (but you can) don't turn a dog loose on 5 acres and act surprissed when they go somewhere that you don't have permission to be. Deer dogs that work out are often left behind causing another problem.
be a considerate sportsman don't take more than you need pick up your trash and any other trash you see. don't destroy the field or roads. get out the truck and walk your lazy self to the stand. Always ask permission or even invite the land owner to join you.

newtohogs

yes the hunt clubs do cost money you pay rent put up food plots ,stands and such but that is the problem in Va all the hunt clubs have a monopoly on all the good land hunting and fishing. and another problem i have with hunt clubs it this they take way more deer than any one needs for a year. I have even personally seen hunt clubs kill and let deer lay when they have there freezers full. Why? because they like to hunt and they like to keep the dogs in shape. all so i have seen many a hunt club shoot a deer at the tail end of the season and cut the loins out maybe the rear quarters and leave the meat to rot. This is wrong wrong wrong. I guess some clubs are better than others but Va hunting is in sad shape for some one that is not a good ole boy who does not believe in dog hunting. where i came from dogs hunted rabbits and coon dogs that chased deer were shot on sight

ButchA

***APPLAUSE*** [8D]

rick64

What clubs are you referring to? Has anyone else seen this happen? I have hunted in clubs for more than 20 years and have never seen or heard ofbehavior like that. I don't hunt deer with dogs, butI am not against it either. If a club allows dogs for deer you still have the archery &blackpowder before they can hunt with the dogs. Except for the first and last week during the firearms seasonyou will most likely only see the dogs on sat. Private land is hard to find, but it is available. I did hunt public land this year for birds (Phelps & Thompson WMA) and I have to say I was surprised at the number of deer and deer sign.Quail hunting atPhelps WMA in late Jan. I counted at least 9 deer and 2 turkeys in about 6 hours of hunting. I have lived and hunted in VA my whole life, the 05/06 season was my best yet for the number of deer harvested. Next year will be even better. [/align][/align]Where you shooting your dogs or someone else's. I can not understand why a person gets a dog that they cannot train or handle.[/align]