Quantico Hunting 2009
 

Hey,

Was curious if anyone has had any luck on Quantico this year I been down there twice and the big bucks defiantly are not moving yet but very soon

Weather changing, end of october early nov, its on

Any Quantico Pointers?
 

Hello Everyone,

Anyone willing to give any pointers on hunting at Quantico?

I have the base permit, I just haven't gone on base yet. It seems like it could be a hassle checking in and out but I hear a lot of good things about the deer hunting. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated.

what are you doing ? (Archery, Gun) Its not that bad to check in or out well maybe on opening day but after that its not bad. I will let you in on one pointer you need to do some scouting and get to know where you are hunting. There are a few Quantico Hunter on here and they have help me a lot. This is my second season (Archery only) on base I have miles of tracks on my GPS and still need more. The training area (T/A) you wanted to hunt might be close that day so having a few spots is key. try scouting with the net on http://mapper.acme.com/ or Google earth. If you don't have a map of base stop by and get a few I have one at work in the car and in my pack it is a must when I call in and a area is close I just cant remember all of them. So welcome to the club. Let me know if I can help.Rick

Thanks Rick, I have always gun hunted before but I'm trying out the crossbow this year which I like since it gets me out in the woods earlier. I've been hunting some public land and havent had anything close enough for a good shot yet. I've heard the public areas get real busy during gun season so I thought I'd start going on base after ML.

I work on Quantico so I think I'll heed your advice and do some scouting after work before the time changes and it starts getting dark earlier.

I saw a nice buck about 6 am Monday across from the museum.

Thanks again.

Lenbenjs PM sent let me know if you didnt get it

got it I'll give you a call in the AM-thanks

Yes I agree scouting is key to killing the big bucks on Quantico especially since it receives to much hunting pressure a good tip is learn the T/A off 610 Garrisonville and Joplin alot people hunt inside the base becuase of the hassle to hunt outsdie the base at times scout these areas and go deeper then the rest and u will shoot big buck

Key to shooting a Quantico BB
 

Pass on the small 8's...these deer follow other deer to protect themselves. Unless you get lucky in the rut..you have to wait and pass on lesser deer.

Every area has them..archery and gun areas. the bigges two on my avatar one was archery only the other a gun area the opposite side of the base.

I regularly pass up 115's waiting for a P&Y. No many people will pass up a 115

So you pass up 115 inch bucks on Quantico? For some reason I have a hard time believing that one Grizzl. The reason I say this is because only about 2% of the buck kill on base involves bucks larger than 115 inches...maybe 5-6 bucks a year get taken that big by bow each year. Unless you have amazing skills, one might only see 1-2, 115 inch+ bucks a year on Quantico....if that. And I said "see", not get in range of a bow. If you are getting multiple 115+ bucks within bow range, and have killed multiple 130 inch bucks on Quantico, then you are the man!

Checkout my album "POPE&YOUNG" 3 are P&Y. If you hunt Quantico regularly..you've seen me (Drive a red Trooper II w/ Bike or my best friend Barry (Drives a brown 1967 Dodge Dart with Mountain Bike on top). Both of us with Steve the PG Cop and a few others regularly score P&Y (125 +). I heard Steve got one in ETA mainside this year. Barry has passed on a few but no shooters

I mainly video now while waiting for a shooter.

I'll post a still of a video I took last year of a 115 that I passed on at 20 Yards. It usally takes me two -three years waiting for these things to get big enough. 50+% of the bucks I pass on are shot by someone else but SOME make it through to the next year to get bigger.

I moved out of Virginia in 1999 to Florida..then texas and now back to Florida. I take 3 weeks every fall to hunt Quantico in Achery season. This is the 1st year I've missed in 43 years.

I'll be back 2nd week in October next Year!:cool2:


If you have the discipline to pass and let them grow..you'll set yourself up for the next year. Course, you have to pattern deer that are hard to get to and likely to evade hunters. Execpt you :biggrin:

2008 Buck passed up at 20 Yards @ Quantico
 

This is one was was hoping to tag this year. Am on a bigger one in another area too but no video of him but the Area wasonly open 1 day the three weeks I was there. I know THAT one will be there next year...no pressure where he's at.

I travel 1400 miles one way just to hunt Quantico every year. Been hunting it since 1965

Grizzl---I would really like to sit down with you and pick your brain about hunting Quantico. I have hunted it for 10 years now. I only bowhunt these days. I work hard and scout my tail off and my success has slowly risen. But I am still finding it challenging to get on even 100 inch bucks.

I have seen Barry and his unique car/bike...seems like a good guy. But for real, I would really like to buy you a cup of coffee next year, and sit down and talk about all that you have seen on Quantco over the years, and your general method of scouting/hunting techniques...I don't need to know your spots, just your mindset and such.....I have been passing more and more 2.5 year olds on Quantico the last few years and have slowly closed in on more 3.5 year old bucks or older, but have not taken a big boy off the base yet. I am determined to do so and will put in the work, just like I always have...I find it hard to pattern specific bucks as we are not allowed to put trail cams out and such.

You might have seen me as well as I drive a black Dodge Ram 1500 with a dented tail gate. I am there alot bowhunting.

BEST of luck to you and I really hope we have a chance to catch up one day. Take care.

Brett

I'm not sure who the PG cop is, however one gentlemen killed a monster non-typical on 6B a couple weeks ago. i dunno what it would score but def go over 125. With the amount of hunters growing each season, it gets harder and harder to get a pass. i mostly hunt east of 95, when i can.

Did he kill it with a gun? Man I had a great encounter with a buck last year on 6B. I bet he was a 3.5 yr old 115-120 class buck. I have been hunting his area this year and finally thought I gathered some clues about his whereabouts 10 days ago. I really HOPE the buck he killed was not him. Did he have his picture up in the game check? Thanks.

Sure, we'll keep in touch on this forum. Like I said I'll be there Mid October for 3-4 weeks.

Just to relate my tactics a bit..its no secret. A deer that lives to 3.5-5 years knows how to avoid danger. He is the first to stop in his tracks and reverse field at a human scent trail. So;

1) Post season scout so you don't push BIG deer into other Hunters
2) Locate a hang area for a big buck. Just look for size of prints, scat, yes rubs but they don't really tell size, second best of all is BEDS..they tell body size..then you look for sheds. If you find the SET of sheds..that means its a hang area (antlers don't drop both at once)..that deer spends allot of time there. This is what I call the CORE. The DEER HANGS THERE ALLOT OF TIME
3) When you find a target buck...scout his approaches..trails in and out of the CORE. (DON'T SETUP in the CORE..you'll just move him out with your scent and push him into other hunters). Get a TOPO map and look for draws/funnels..then scout them

4) Set your ambushes up at several 3-4 spots based on trails/distance from core and at least the prevailing wind direction and another wind direction (all 4 if you have time and there are crossing trails) Try and get a backdrop of trees/cover to help breakup the setup..if none there..you have to go high..25' to 30 Ft (BTW practice shooting from that high!!!)

5) Don't have setups closer thatm 150 Yards from the CORE

6) Plan your entry so as to NOT CROSS MAJOR trails. Come in from the angle least likely the deer will aproach

7) Come in CLEAN. I wear a set of cloths while walking in and 150 yards from my tree I change out into a set of cloths sealed in zip lock bags (I use scent lock too)...I do an alchohol wipe down and change out. Sometimes I wear rubber medical gloves until I get up in my tree if the DEER is BIG and I want NO SCENT AT ALL.

8) VERY IMPORTANT- DON"T REPEADEDLY HUNT THE SAME SPOT. Move around to the other abush spots. I rarely hunt the same tree 2X in a week (unless it rains and I see the target buck). Just remember..your scent stays there after you leave and too many visits will alert that deer. Too many is greater than 2 IMHO

9) and MOST important..LET LESSER DEER WALK!!! WAIT for a shooter


There is allot more..how to position stand..when to call/rattle..when to move off of CORE and setup on Doe Trails during the rut. When to Hunt scrapes..when to abandon scrapes and hunt Doe Core areas....how to use hunting pressure to your advantage at Quantico

You are on the right track if you are passing on 2.5 yr olds! If you see Barry..ask him some advice...he won't tell spots but will confirm tactics. He always stays late after checkin after dark to pickup cross-talk and talk with other trophy hunters.

Listen to cross talk about BIG ones..area/location..what they were doing..etc...then BE CAREFUL about YOUR crosstalk...

WE ARE LISTENING :s4:

I hope that the picture was up there. it def was a monster, he killed it with a gun.

I stayed for a min to catch a glimpse of the buck on the scale, not sure if there is a pic, I'm pretty sure there is tho. Had real thick base, mass, and alot of non-typical points.

Man Grizzl, that is some fantastic information. I am going to print it off and bring it with me when I am scouting in the off-season. I have slowly but surely learned that more and more intelligent scouting=more chances at bigger bucks. I am slowly getting there, but need to fine tune my techniques. I have gotten into topo maps the last two years and benefitted greatly from the information gleaned from them this year. I have also gotten a lot better at using the wind and my entry/exit to stands. I have not hunted the same tree twice this year and keep my scent to a minimum. I have also realized that every little thing I can turn in my favor increases my odds of bagging a big buck. I saw 3, 3.5 year old bucks or older this year and got into range of 2 of them. I killed one of them. I am still struggling to consistenly get onto them but I will put in the work.

I need to literally find the big buck beds/tracks.....and I have not shed hunted. That is something I am going to do this year to verify bucks that are still alive. What size deer tracks are your looking for Grizzl....5-6 inch tracks? The 3.5 year old, 115 inch buck I arrowed this year had about 5 inch tracks.

I love talking about this stuff and I can tell you do too. I look forward to your advice in the upcoming months, and I would surely like to meet up with you come October next year. Thanks again...

Brett

check out this link. scroll down to a hunter named sc mercer. that is a nice quantico buck

http://forums.bowsite.com/tf/regiona...ES=64&state=VA

Thats Steve the Cop. He just went from a compount to a recurve!
He got a MONSTER last year on mainside the blows this one away!
Wonder if he got it mounted yet...Maybe a B&C!!

It was a 26 Point...I took a PIC of the Braggin Board pic..I'll have to find it

yah thats not the guy that killed the buck in 6B, I saw the pic of the 26 point killed last year on mainside.

Grizzl, Brett if you all do meet up I would really like to join in. I have read alot about topo maps and feel they have been a lot of help. I would like to see how you read them to see if I am right. Its a lot harder to get out there in the off season these days its like they shout the areas down just after spring turkey season. Any time I can talk to someone about base I take the time to listen you never know they may just have the one piece to my hunt that I didnt think of. This is my second season on Base and still did not fill a tag. Should have taken one of those early Bucks/Doe that I past on.

Rick.

Rick, you got it buddy. I actually saw you the other day hop into you vehicle. I couldn't get to you quick enough to say hi. KEEP at it, you are going to be succesful because you work hard and scout. I purchased a gps with topo capabilities this year and I really like it. The topo map study I have done the past couple of years is finally starting to pay off in terms of sightings and opportunities. ld I am free many days due to my work schedule and would gladlt meet up with you to look at the topo maps and help you out. Just let me know when you are free and we can grab a cup of coffee and talk topos in general and in specific about spots on Quantico.

Lets get out there and hunt some days in December. I am hunting this Saturday afternoon. Probably going to meet up with another buddy of mine but you are more than welcome to join us. Let me know.

Brett

Brett Just sent a PM before I saw your post. I am up for Saturday Where are you going ? The weather looks ? .

Rick, I won't be down to the game check until 12:30 or so due to my wife having b-ball practice. If it is snowing, I am definitely going. :) If it is pouring rain, forget it. I have an idea about where to hunt on Sat. I hatched it about a week ago. It is a place I scouted several times last winter and summer. I have not hunted it at all. There is a certain reason I want to hunt it, even though it is a gun area. But if you have other thoughts, I am game to explore and enjoy the afternoon on any area of the base.

Let me know if that time is good for you. I will probably be there around 12:30-12:45pm and if it is snowing I will need to stay on a decent surface as I do not have 4 wheel drive and don't feel like getting my truck stuck. :)

Here is the 6B buck
 

Shot with a gun...he got one the same size in 1995.
Attachment 5794

Grizzl---now that would be a lifetime buck for me. I would probably dance a jig for 30 minutes in the woods if I shot that type of buck!

Yes sir, thats the man... I've seen him for numerous seasons. Awesome buck. There were so many people there standing over it.

any details on if he's seen it before?

Ya...I wouldn't let that one walk away :)

I'm sure he patterned it. He's a longtime Quantico hunter.

I think i need more know how. Who schooled you on this stuff, so I can be schooled! :)

Many Years of hunting with my good friends...still hunting w/shotgun..then bow. "We've" walked almost every foot of Quantico..the Rod & Gun Club at Lunga are a bunch of older hunters who share info..then there are those guys who "hunt" year round..scout the off season until the ticks come out.

Best thing is once you've found a quality spot..its typical it will continue to produce unless something drastic happens like 16G. I took my 2nd best buck in 16G..then the tornado hit it..then they logged it barron..in 5 years that area will be GREAT again..but not now..

You just have to plug in the variables
1) Access / acreage..how accessable is area
2) Cover/Thick refuge type stuff, cutoffs
3) How often the area is open (the 8's, 11's are open only 1 or 2 times..mostly VIP hunting) so the deer get less pressure

3 is a kicker..1 and 2 are a must. They are easy to find...then you gotta outsmart them with tactics, gear and persistance.

Once you find 1 & 2...in one area..find then in EACH area so you can ber versatile and roll with the closings. After a while experience lets you FEEL your way just walking through the woods reading game trains.

Just got the details. I was wrong....My friend emailed me the low down...it was pure luck...he didn't know it was in the area and was hunting with a couple of friends. Shot it in the evening. No disernable signs of a big buck...

My guess it was traveling/ruttin. He just happened to be in the right place right time

Drives ya crazy but more times than not..thats what happens during late November Gun Season..Lots of hunters moving the animals...and the main rut hits

Soooooo....get out there and sit and watch!!! You might be next!

I would have bought a lottery ticket that night!