Stonewall308

Hey all. I have been living here for a little over a year. I am thinking about hunting on public land this year. My main concern is whether there are too many people hunting these already to have any success. I have heard horror stories about public lands where you cannot find a spot that isn't within sight of another hunter.

I am thinking about hunting on Quantico or on Thompson, and to a lesser extent CF phelps. Any insight at all on these would be greatly appreciated!

VaSavage270

First Welcome Stonewall,

The wma's are just that best advice get in early and deep or mostly hunt weekdays IMO, Quantico is ok arrive early get in line always a certain percentage left over for Civillians.

crenshaw

Virginia has a lot of good public hunting but it can be work. phelps and thompson are good, but can get crowded. Early season tends to be better on both. Quantico's bowhunting area is good and there is also Fort AP HIll too. Va just acquired another piece of land east of fredericksburg for hunting too. Check out all the WMA's on VDGIF website,its listed. Gettin lost in National Forest is always a good bet too (less access the better)

DoubleH

I used to hunt Thompson and took a couple of fairly nice deer out of it. My advice would be to access it from the gravel road that runs alont the top of Blue Mtn and hunt your way down. Lots more hunters down the ridge and they push the deer up in the morning. As I recall, there were some good spots along Lot 8.

Robb92

if you plan on hunting AP Hill, look forward to paying for a background check prior to being able to hunt, last check was 50 bucks, didn't matter if you were military or civilian.

Stonewall308

Thanks for all the info!

Stonewall308

One more question. If I go out to scout around Thompson this weekend, is there any reason I couldn't bring my dogs? What about CCW? Thanks!

vadeer

My buddy hunts Phelps alot. He has good seasonal success.
He also tells me Thompsonis packed on the weekend, the deer are young, smaller andhe does not feel safe.

Good Luck.

JimB

I hunt C.F.Phelps. It is not too crowded in early archery if you go in deep and get away from the access roads. During its gun season it is very crowded on the weekends and I won't even go out on the either sex rifle days because I would rather not get shot and it is extremely crowded. Late archery is not crowded. There is a forum for virginia the WMAs here is the link. www.wmahunters.org

coolbrze0

When the sun comes up on opening day muzzleloader or gun, Phelps looks like a pumpkin patch. With that being said, there are a lot of deer there. We rabbit hunt there occasionally and the deer try to sneak out on us and get shot by other hunters. Quantico and Belvoir are decent spots in NOVA for public hunting as well, it's just not as convenient to hunt there as it is on private land.