VA Hunters, How is Blackpowder Season Going?
#11
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Virginia
Posts: 705
Had one buck chasing a doe in late October. Killed a small buck a few days later (30th). Haven't seen many daylight deer since. Things have been really slow. There are new scrapes along the field line almost every day, but those are being made at some point during the night.
#12
Slow in Loudoun Cty at my vineyard. Not really a shortage of deer since they scatter when we drive in, but they are not acting the way they normally do this time of year. Not moving as much. Less acorns, and the leaves are still on most of the trees. Perhaps the rut has not taken off as yet. Seen plenty of scrapes and rubs. I think we need a good freeze along with some nasty weather to get things moving.
#17
Saw a ton of dead does on the side of the road the last two days. That's usually an indicator of things heating up at night. Several people I know in my area have been getting skunked (seeing zero deer) for several days in a row. I'm not sure what the heck is going on, but what I can say is that they are definitely hitting the only food sources available. All of our bucks were killed in secluded ag fields or in the vicinity to one. Any Ag field is absolutely HOT right now. I'm fortunate that we have several clover plots, soybeans, and corn fields specifically planted for hunting on my properties. Usually, this isn't the case in Virginia as it is in other states this time of year, but all the deer are hitting the only food sources available. I can't emphasize enough that hunting the food sources in the evenings is a must right now. Odds are, if you're sitting in an oak flat in the evenings right now you're not going to see much activity….
#20
Spike
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Southwest Virginia
Posts: 4
I've had a VERY slow season so far in southwest Virginia. I've hunted 8 days and have only seen 3 does total. I mainly hunt big woods, private, state, and federal land.
My normal secluded spot on state land has NO sign whatsoever. There are an enormous amount of red oak acorns at this spot that are huge in size but I am not seeing much sign that they are eating them. The acorns appear to abundant at elevations above 3600 feet.
I might have to change tactics and hunt some of the over-hunted field areas down low and hope for a dumb buck to not get shot and walk past me.
My normal secluded spot on state land has NO sign whatsoever. There are an enormous amount of red oak acorns at this spot that are huge in size but I am not seeing much sign that they are eating them. The acorns appear to abundant at elevations above 3600 feet.
I might have to change tactics and hunt some of the over-hunted field areas down low and hope for a dumb buck to not get shot and walk past me.