| Author |
Message |
Turk_man
| | Posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 12:04 pm: | |
I`m from Ontario and am considering hunting National Forest land in Virginia, how hard are the birds hunted and what area would you recommend. Mountains don`t matter as I`m prepared to climb and hike long distances for good hunting. Thanks. |
Piedmont Gobbler
| | Posted on Sunday, February 02, 2003 - 1:58 pm: | |
I hunt the Nat'l forest in Virginia a fair amount and there is alot of pressure on the birds no matter where you go. You have to get down here early or my experience is they get tight lipped pretty quickly after everybody who ever when to Walmart gets yackin at them.
There are turkeys there but my experience thus far has been they call like crazy from the roost and then zipper up on the ground.
Get some orange for the tree above you cuz you'll need it! And for God sakes, DONT GOBBLE unless you are feeling lonely.
PG |
Big Bird
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 12:29 pm: | |
Like everywhere else, I suppose, it depends on where you choose to hunt and how hard you want to work to be alone. 1.6 million acres is a lot of terrain. I definitely agree with PG that safety needs to be a top priority. There are places close to cities and towns that get hit pretty hard, particularly on the first few weekends. During the week is a lot better. I have been hunting on several sections of the National Forest the last couple of years and I have only had one instance of "interference" from another hunter. Find a remote section and get hiking early and you should be okay. Birds are pretty well dispersed throughout. I will admit they are a little better educated than the average private land bird though. No matter what, it's beautiful here and you will have a great time. Good luck and keep us posted on your adventure, Eh! |
TScottW99
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 1:48 pm: | |
I've never hunted the George W. but have hunted in the Jefferson National all my life. There are areas if your willing, that doesn't see a lot of pressure. The areas I hunt now, which are closer to Roanoke, do see pressure, especially during the first two weeks/weekends. About the second week, the weekdays are getting slower. Alot of the hunters that do hunt are sunrise to 9:30 hunters. |
Turk_man
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 8:36 pm: | |
Thanks for the advice guys, I`m used to hunting pressured birds( i cut my teeth hunting the only public turkey land in Ontario-1 hour from a city of 2 million) I only wish that half the public land we got was for turkeys and not moose. |
mudfork
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 11:05 pm: | |
Go ahead and shoot every moose you see down here. I echo Big Bird, they are out there and boot leather is the key. I don't know what part of the state you will be hunting, but it's not hard to get away from crowds on the Nat. Forest lands west of the New River. My experience is most folks down here have turkeys within 15 min. of the house and few will drive more than 45 min. to hunt public land. Southwest Virginia is still rural enough that even most folks in towns are not more than a generation or two from the farm, therefore they maintain private land contacts. The point I'm trying to make is that most turkey hunters have access to good private land, and the public lands can be a good place to hunt. |
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