WV Hunter
Active member
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2009
- Messages
- 1,763
The last 3 years have been amazing in my outdoor life thanks to the internet. Thru this site I have met some great people and have hunted antelope and elk in Wyoming. 2013 has already started out good. I posted on a local Facebook page inquiring about public land in WV's bow hunting only counties. I got a message from an individual who had hunted the area for decades and he was willing to talk with me.
There are two WMA's in the four bow hunting only counties and they are stacked with big deer. This area is steep and nasty. The majority of land is old coal company property that is very hard to find entry to. Even the WMA's are very hard to find as most are up very poor hollers that do not have easy access to. My new friend was willing to share quite a bit of info and even went so far to invite me up for a rabbit hunt and to do some scouting.
Some of the most appealing aspects of this area is that it is less than an hour and a half from my front door and on the private tracts of coal property (permission granted) in these counties, Sunday hunting is allowed. WV still has some weird laws on the books in certain counties against Sunday hunting.
I made the journey to southern West Virginia early that morning and met up with Jerry at his cabin. He showed me around and handed me several big sheds he has collected the last couple of years. I wish I would have snapped a few pictures but I had a mix of excitement and sleepyness going and wasn't thinking clearly. I do have this picture of the inside of his cabin though.
After chit chatting for a few we headed out to meet up with his rabbit hunting crew. They had permission to rabbit hunt on the Twisted Gun Golf Course http://www.twistedgungc.com This was the first time I have had the opportunity to hunt rabbits. Let me tell you, this was just as exciting as any other form of hunting I've had the pleasure of participating in. The beagles were great looking dogs and could absolutely bellow out a beautiful sound. The weather was amazingly hot (72) for January in southern WV. The action was good first thing in the morning and I was lucky enough to blast two rabbits before it slowed to a crawl.
After grabbing a bite for lunch Jerry and I were going to do some scouting. This guy is probably the most serious whitetail hunter I've met. He puts in tons of work and runs about 20 cameras and has at least a dozen stands set up. He knows the ins and outs of where the deer go and when they go there. This country is very rugged and steep but from the looks of his sheds and cameras all the hard work pays off. I haven't met to many guys that will even let you know what county they are hunting let alone offer to let you stay at their cabin, hunt in their stands and be apart of what they have worked so hard to maintain. We checked several cameras and changed batteries and I got a feel for the land. Jerry has given me the opportunity to hunt with him this fall and have my pick of any stand. Most people I know think I'm crazy to meet up with people on the internet to go hunting but I've met some great friends thanks to the web and had some really great adventures because of it. I've hunted with Scott (mixedbag) and Danny (drthornton) thanks to this site and now because of the web I've got another hunting friend.
You suppose he would get mad if I shot this deer, considering he's been chasing it for 2 years.
There are two WMA's in the four bow hunting only counties and they are stacked with big deer. This area is steep and nasty. The majority of land is old coal company property that is very hard to find entry to. Even the WMA's are very hard to find as most are up very poor hollers that do not have easy access to. My new friend was willing to share quite a bit of info and even went so far to invite me up for a rabbit hunt and to do some scouting.
Some of the most appealing aspects of this area is that it is less than an hour and a half from my front door and on the private tracts of coal property (permission granted) in these counties, Sunday hunting is allowed. WV still has some weird laws on the books in certain counties against Sunday hunting.
I made the journey to southern West Virginia early that morning and met up with Jerry at his cabin. He showed me around and handed me several big sheds he has collected the last couple of years. I wish I would have snapped a few pictures but I had a mix of excitement and sleepyness going and wasn't thinking clearly. I do have this picture of the inside of his cabin though.
After chit chatting for a few we headed out to meet up with his rabbit hunting crew. They had permission to rabbit hunt on the Twisted Gun Golf Course http://www.twistedgungc.com This was the first time I have had the opportunity to hunt rabbits. Let me tell you, this was just as exciting as any other form of hunting I've had the pleasure of participating in. The beagles were great looking dogs and could absolutely bellow out a beautiful sound. The weather was amazingly hot (72) for January in southern WV. The action was good first thing in the morning and I was lucky enough to blast two rabbits before it slowed to a crawl.
After grabbing a bite for lunch Jerry and I were going to do some scouting. This guy is probably the most serious whitetail hunter I've met. He puts in tons of work and runs about 20 cameras and has at least a dozen stands set up. He knows the ins and outs of where the deer go and when they go there. This country is very rugged and steep but from the looks of his sheds and cameras all the hard work pays off. I haven't met to many guys that will even let you know what county they are hunting let alone offer to let you stay at their cabin, hunt in their stands and be apart of what they have worked so hard to maintain. We checked several cameras and changed batteries and I got a feel for the land. Jerry has given me the opportunity to hunt with him this fall and have my pick of any stand. Most people I know think I'm crazy to meet up with people on the internet to go hunting but I've met some great friends thanks to the web and had some really great adventures because of it. I've hunted with Scott (mixedbag) and Danny (drthornton) thanks to this site and now because of the web I've got another hunting friend.
You suppose he would get mad if I shot this deer, considering he's been chasing it for 2 years.
