Backpack hunting the east?

[rayporter]

got back from Alaska and 6 days later my horse stepped in a hole and fell on my right leg.

lookin like fall huntin is goin to be from a couch. see doc tomorrow -again.

 

[BeastOfTheTrees]

got back from Alaska and 6 days later my horse stepped in a hole and fell on my right leg.

lookin like fall huntin is goin to be from a couch. see doc tomorrow -again.

Keep on trucking brother Spring huntin it is then

 

[WESTERN VA HUNTER]

George Washington NF and the Mononghalia NF in WV/VA are decent size. I’ve thought about giving that a shot one time.

I live in the Shenandoah Valley, around 200,000 acres of National Forest in my front yard.

 

[WESTERN VA HUNTER]

I live in the Shenandoah Valley, around 200,000 acres of National Forest in my front yard.

Both of these were taken deep in the George Washington NF in VA. First Monday and Tuesday of rifle. Got the big 9 on Monday around noon and a nice 7 on Tuesday around noon, both were killed within 100 yrds of each other. Just different approaches for the wind on each day.

 

[Rifleman86]

I “backpack” hunt for squirrels all the time in the Winter here in Ohio. It’s my favorite post deer season activity...

It’s mostly just backpacking/gear testing with a 22 rifle thrown in for good measure. Best part is nobody is in the woods. No bugs either.

 

[Islanderflyer]

Michigan has a bunch of wilderness areas that you can backpack hunt. This fall I bear hunted in one.

 

[fbhandler]

Spent quite a few years backpacking hunting in Michigan where I’m from... before I knew there was such a thing really and well before I realized this is how folks hunt “out west”. Definitely not a western thing only !!

I started backpack hunting because like a lot of people in Michigan, I didn’t have my own property to hunt. I hunted state land and other publicly accessible land and other then the invite of a buddy or something I hunted on the ground, no bait, no stand, no blind, not because I was a purest or anything, but because I got sick of getting set up somewhere durning archery/rifle whitetail season only to have some guy on a 4 wheeler or a truck come barreling through trying to get to “their” spot, which of course wasn’t theirs but since they’ve had an illegal blind hidden in the woods somewhere for the last 10 yrs they felt like it was. It gets a bit humorus now listening to guys here in Idaho talk about overcrowding like nobody else could understand

It should of been expected with 10 guys trying to hunt a 400 acre block, but it still got frustrating, so I realized along time ago, you don’t hunt a spot, you hunt deer and if the deer move off, or people move in, you need to be able to adjust as well... As far as I’m concerned flexibility is key to hunting public land, east or west and practically speaking, only by having your all your stuff in your pack and being able to pick up and move when necessary, will give you that.

Backpack hunting in the east made it easy to step right into backpack hunting in the west. Personally I’d rather climb a mountain then slog through the cedar swamps any day !!

At least now I can see

 

[svhunter]

Both of these were taken deep in the George Washington NF in VA. First Monday and Tuesday of rifle. Got the big 9 on Monday around noon and a nice 7 on Tuesday around noon, both were killed within 100 yrds of each other. Just different approaches for the wind on each day.

Good Job on the bucks! I'm from East of Harrisonburg and was on National forest land on Fri morn and saw two that actually compared to both of your bucks. Didn't get a shot but prob the best morning stroll I've ever had on our public around here.

 

[RedPaint]

Pm me if you need more in depth info. I'd be happy to help.

I’ve got some questions

 

[blackdog of vt]

Such as?

 

[RedPaint]

Such as?

Why do you suppose the Green Mountain National Forest has such low bear and deer harvest numbers just north of Route 9? Lack of animals or just not too many people hunting there?

 

[blackdog of vt]

No one hunting there. As far as a mountainous states go vt hunters are pretty lazy. Rarely see anyone more than a mile from a road. Backpack hunting or packing meat out is almost unheard of. I'm from a flat state and taught several people how to hunt the mountains here.

 

[RedPaint]

No one hunting there. As far as a mountainous states go vt hunters are pretty lazy. Rarely see anyone more than a mile from a road. Backpack hunting or packing meat out is almost unheard of. I'm from a flat state and taught several people how to hunt the mountains here.

Interesting. Are you able to quarter a bear or deer and bring just the meat to the reporting station or do you need the entire animal?

 

[blackdog of vt]

I've quartered many of them.

 

[RedPaint]

I've quartered many of them.

The bear harvest numbers are impressive given there is no baiting. Think it’s mostly guys deer hunting who see a bear, really good bear hunters, shady baiters, something else?

 

[blackdog of vt]

There is way more bear here than is given credit for, I always see more bear than deer. They are pretty easy to kill during deer season so thats where it comes from. This would be a great state to bait in but it's never going to happen with all the bleeding hearts here. Easier just to hunt bear in nh really. With that said, when you find a berry patch sit around it long enough and you will see bears.

 

[RedPaint]

There is way more bear here than is given credit for, I always see more bear than deer. They are pretty easy to kill during deer season so thats where it comes from. This would be a great state to bait in but it's never going to happen with all the bleeding hearts here. Easier just to hunt bear in nh really. With that said, when you find a berry patch sit around it long enough and you will see bears.

Thank you for taking the time to answer all my questions. Much appreciated.

 

[WESTERN VA HUNTER]

Connected on another Nomad the first day of rifle.

 

[rooster440]

Connected on another Nomad the first day of rifle.
View attachment 367486View attachment 367487

Fantastic buck!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BeastOfTheTrees]

Beautiful Buck