Sorry...missed y'alls posts...thought this thread had died.

Staby - That's a good tip but the WMA I hunt is pretty much totally enclosed by roads...no funnel in or out.

ButchA - It IS a small world because I am in Richmond too (Midlothian, actually). I did head up to Washington Nat'l Forest once last year and camped overnight. I saw one doe while up there and she was definitely big. I didn't shoot her because I made an agreement with my buddy that we would only shoot a really nice buck because it would have been a massive, massive PITA to carry a deer out of where we were. She was really, really nice though and I wish I would have taken her. She walked right by me...about 20 feet away and had no clue I was there. Funny thing...she walked STRAIGHT up a pretty steep hill. I always read that deer take the path of least resistance. :)

Anyway, Pocahontas isn't too crowded during the week, it's just that the heavy weekend traffic makes me think that the deer are super spooked. I haven't hunted an actual WMA...Pocahontas isn't technically considered one.

I'll send ya a PM...maybe you could point me in the right direction up in WNP. :)

noidurism - Hopefully I'll get into bow next season. Don't have a bow, yet

Small world indeed
 

I hunted the George Washington N.F. on the West Virgina side about 4 years ago. I camped out so it does not cost too much. The area I was in was really rough when you got back in, huge boulders and log jams. There was snow by the third day, so you could tell what was going on, and those deer are educated. I saw a few doe and I have to agree, they were big bodied. There were buck in there, you can tell by the tracks sometimes, but after a year or two they really get smart. I think that if you want to hunt public land the trick is to get to know the area as well as possible. I never went back there(too far)but in a week I found some good spots for the next year. Don't get discouraged if you do not do well at a new place for a year or two. It takes a while to know a new place.