Quantico 8B
 

I'm going to hunt 8B tomorrow for the first time looking for freezer meat. Things seem unusually slow right now. Any advice where to focus or avoid?

8B is a good area. I havent hunted there in a few years. With the shortage of acorns, Quantico can be a tough area to hunt. I would concentrate in the creek bottoms where things will be green longer and along the edge of fields and clear cuts. They clear but 8B along MCB1 and I would guess there will be deer around that area. Good luck!

Eyedr

Thanks much for the advice. I usually stay in 6C, but with no acorns, I'm not seeing much moving in there. I haven't ever scouted 8A/B, although I've always seen deer crossing back and forth to the FBI Academy. I was planning to go across from there and follow the creek a bit, maybe setup along the edge of the open field bordering with 8A. I'll take a look for the clear cuts.

Sure wish Google Earth was up to date.

Thanks again for the info.

Any luck in 8B that day?

Hey Guys,

I hunt Quantico also religoulsy and I'm also seeing that the woods are very slow I'm having a hard time getting on the Does it seems to deer are not moving much and there are no scrapes or rubs at all I have hunted 6 times and have maybe only seen 2 little rubs...

I sure hope the deer "Bucks" are here becuase right now it seems impossible to even catch a glimpse or a doe hopefully the rut will kick in and the bucks will move during daylight within the next week and half this sure makes for tuff hunting conditions I thought the lack of acorns would have made hunting better more deer moving to find food.

I hunt 8A alot when open but the area is normally closed alot. I hunt Mainside and I normally see 5-10 deer each time and I have seen 2 does in 6 times hunting this year very fustrating but I'm staying postitive that they will start to rut Nov 10th ish through Thanks Giving

Unfortunately, my little one woke me up around 30 times Friday night with a bad cough. I didn't make it out at all.

I'm off this Friday and will get out then, depending on where is open.

So far, most of my time at Quantico has been spent in 6C. I've always seen plenty of "freezer deer" crossing back and forth between FBI and 8A/8B.

Still, with no acorns it's a strange year at Quantico.

Good luck. I will be out at Quantico Wed thru Friday this week. Should be a good week!

Hope the little one feels better.

Well, she's much better. Something about passing an illness off to their parent's makes little ones feel much better.

I need some acorn flavored cough drops.

Good luck to ya!

Going to try getting back into 8B tomorrow morning. Might move to another area if that doesn't work out well. Might try 10B, although I've never been inside there yet. I did bump into a guy that used to do training near there and said he usually say plenty of turkey in that area.

I am headed out to 5C in the morning. Hope to let an arrow fly tomorrow or Saturday. I have both days off and plan on spending them in the woods.

If 5C doesn't work out I may try a different area.

10B is a decent turkey area. Have run into them there on more than 1 occasion.

I have a couple areas I would like to get into, but they haven't been open much at all and not on one of my days off.

Quantico on opening Deer firearms week?
 

Hey guys, I'll apologize in advance for hijacking this thread, but the few of you replying above seem to know the quantico routine.
This year will be my first year hunting at quantico. (I am stationed in DC). I have already done the paperwork, and begun a little scouting.
Here is my question:
What is opening day/ week of firearms Deer season like? I mean, are there spots available for AD, or do all the spots just fill up right away, before the non-base AD get a chance (at 1230)?
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What are the least likely areas to be remaining by the time the 1230 group gets a chance to register? (I'd rather not waste too much time scouting the spots that fill up super quick).
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Your feedback is appreciated.
Thanks.

Well, 8B turned out to be a waste of a perfectly good opportunity to sleep in. By all the MRE trash, looks like there's been quite a few people in there just recently and the large field off the 8A/8B trail has been cut.

07BUCKSHOT,

Okay let me answer tese Questions I know the Quantico rountine very well and the past 4-5 years they have been doing a 9 Day War Games that falls around Opening Day Gun Season it seems every year this year it falls Friday Nov 16th and going through Nov 27th the day before thanksgiving this will effect the entire base mostly all the "Gun Areas" will be closed and "Bow Areas" will remain open such as 7C,5C,6C,5B and Mainside Parking Areas 1-8 the few Gun Areas open will vary but most likely it will be 6B,and 17A or 17B and probably 16G again this is not definte but it seems during the War Games they keep these areas open for hunting becuase they don't fall into the "Shoot Perimeter Area" which makes them safe to hunt.

Nov 16th Firearms Opener is tricky it really all depends on how many areas they have open if you are Active Duty then you will normally allows get in most of the time becuase you get first selection on passes. It goes (1) Green Card (2) Blue Card (3) Card Brown

This year with the Rut being late Gun Season will be packed with guys taking Vacation and Gun Season brings alot more hunters to the woods which means less passed free honestly if you don't mind bow hunting I would stick to the Bow Areas they allow you to have free Does (DMAP) and the bucks are "Sometimes" larger in these areas.

You will learn very fast that there are Areas that stay open most of the hunting season just study the map and notice which areas are open all the time you hunt and scout those becuase they are typicall open the same way every year unless there is some super training going on. Also you will learn that the Holidays "Veterans Day" "Thanksgiving" will open up most of all the Areas that are normally closed and open them base wide such as 14B,12A,11A,8A, these areas are normally only open during Holiday Season or on rare occasional Saturdays but very rare.

Update I hunted Friday and Saturday and I saw 2 does and a 6 pointer I passed just wasn't big enough the bucks seem to be moving alittle bit more during daylight around 8:30 to 10:30 is when I'm seeing alot of deer movement they are defiantly browsing leaves and sat and watched a Doe Saturday for 30 minutes in front of my tree it was about 30 degrees was hoping Big Daddy would walk out but never happened.

That's okay there is some cold weather moving in this week I defiantly think this is the week to see the Big Bucks on Quantico...Good Luck to everyone

There's the part I need to fill in...scheduled training. That will give me a good idea as to where the deer are being pushed during October and November.

I saw a wall-hanger the second day I hunted, but not much since then other than a couple of does and yearlings.

Question for ya. Do they still allow does to be taken during gun season in DMAP areas?

I'll probably hunt tomorrow, although not sure if I'll go up a tree or go in deep to see what I can see.

Good luck!

The Administrator for the QRGC posted on that Forum that it looks like Quantico will be wide open for opening day gun season. Should be a good time!!

Thanks for all the good replies.
I read the regs, and I understand that hunting is prohibited within 200m of paved roads. With all the gravel roads, that makes for many easily accessible areas, just off the gravel.
I have some spots scouted, with plans to bypass the spots if I see a vehicle parked nearby as most spots have a pretty obvious/ natural access point. (I am assuming this is the typical etiquette of MCBQ)
I also saw in the regulation that: Hunters are allowed to "arrive at and enter hunting areas no sooner than 0400".
In practice, how is this regulation applied? Does this mean you can park you truck, but not leave it before 0400?

Buckshot I think your over thinking it. Don't know why the heck you want to be there at 0400 but opening day of gun your more important issue would be to get an area and if possible pickup your pass on Friday so you don't have to deal with it Saturday am. Those who didn't get passes will probably be lining up by 0400. I wouldn't sweat cars parked at obvious entry spots either. Some areas have a limited number of good access points and multiple cars will park there. If you're not the first to the spot you wanted you'll get waved off. Just be courteous and find another spot. I've run into a lot of guys that have been hunting Quantico for years and have even had a couple point me to a decent spot when going to a new area. Get an area, get there early, be polite and have a good time.

Well guys, after what I saw or didn't see yesterday, I think the issue will be finding the does more than avoiding other hunters. Very little fresh sign. I don't mind not seeing deer during the daylight this time of year, but not seeing dear sign is a bit concerning.

I agree the Deer sign is very confusing normally there are rubs and scrapes the Does are hard to find becuase they are all by the roads.

Thanks for the feedback Lebensj; (you are probably correct about me overthinking it.) And no, I don't want to be there at 0400. I am just trying to get a sense of the opening day routine.
I grew up hunting public land in Indiana. Bow season was easy, but the opening day of firearm season was a little of a madhouse. But if you comitted to a 20 or 30 min walk to your stand, you would rarely encounter others. I would apply this same technique at quantico, but with all the road access points, its difficult to get deep.

I spent the day there sunday, and didn't see much either. No scrapes, and a few doe along the road.

Let me ask another question: Do hunters sometimes hunt the clearings (LZs and similar fields) adjacent to the gravel roads?The regulation prohibits hunting 200m from paved roads, but I don't see prohibition on hunting near gravel roads.

Never had any problems hunting near the gravel roads, always just made sure I'm not shooting across it. Good luck!

Thanks again. I asked these questions at the check in station and this is what I found:
hunting is limited 200m from PAVED roads, so (like you just said), hunting closer to gravel roads is fine. And hunting the LZs near the gravel roads is permitted.
Thanks again.
I took a 100lb (field dressed) 3x2 about 0700 saturday at Quantico. It felt nice to be back in the game after being out for so many years.

Awesome, congratulations. I sat all day and saw a bunch of turkeys and 2 does.

I have been in quantico every day this firearms season, except one.
Every sit (but 1), I have seen doe. One night I saw 15-20 doe, and wathced them feed for over an hour; this past friday I had a spike and doe within 10 yards for 30 min.
I don't think I am doing anything "top secret". Just getting in early, and finding places with visibility. Besides the first day, I have not see any chasing bucks.
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What are the rest of you seeing?
What do you think this cold snap will do to the deer?

About the same, I've seen doe's every time out. Only saw 1 buck and not long enough to get a shot. I have seen no rutting activity. Today deer were moving all day in the rain which was great since otherwise it would have been wet and miserable. I've seen a lot of turkeys, they were all over the place today.