You are correct. I’ve bought points and I’m not lucky or nothing like that.You’ll likely retire before you draw an elk here in PA. Unless your insanely lucky…… or game commission….. but that’s none of my business️
Hey Bakpaker. My son and I are planning a deer hunting trip this year to the bow only areas. Looking at Tomblin WMA in Logan county. Any tips or suggestions. We are planning a scouting trip for the middle of March.I moved from Idaho to West Virginia several years ago. Of course, West Virginia is nothing like Idaho but I imagine it is way better than Texas. There are several wilderness areas here. I do, however, have to acknowledge that it is difficult to get a wilderness experience in the Dolly Sods Wilderness due to its proximity to urban areas of DC/northern VA/MD. As @Poser alluded, it is quite an experience to cross a laurel or rhododendron thicket.
There is quite a bit of deer and bear hunting that starts as early as late August and goes through mid January. People get some really nice deer in the bow hunting only counties each year but some of the other counties give up some good bucks each year, too. Squirrel hunting is also pretty fun. There is a boar season in the southern part of the state, and while I have gone a couple of times, I have yet to see one. Turkey hunting is a big thing with lots of hunters (but not for me).
The cost of living in some parts of West Virginia is quite a bit lower than a lot of other places (Martinsburg is not one of the lower cost of living areas in WV). Feel free to pm me if you want more info (no honey holes though).
Sent you a pm.
Good luck with the move, I've lived in WV most of my life, Martinsburg isn't what I'd consider quintessential WV, drugs are rough through the 81 corridor, (and everywhere else I know) Hagerstown MD is one of the biggest heroin trafficking points on the east coast as it comes in from the port of Baltimore and gets distributed and split from there a majority of that splits at the I 70-81 interchange. So I'd stay away from the city area of Martinsburg. The politics of that area are also changing, could be good or bad depending on your views just keep in mind a lot of Marylanders are fleeing into WV that area specifically..
I pm’d you.
I wish I had better news for you. I love VA, but I’ve pretty much thrown in the towel on hunting out here. I invest my time elsewhere and get much better results by hunting outside VA.
Which part of Virginia to you move too
Winchester
Oh you’re in the mountains. Those Appalachian mountain chain deer are another beast. If you sit down and try to figure them out it’s quite addicting just not like hunting other places. Less deer density harder terrain and an animal that doesn’t act like a normal deer does
If im not mistaken it’s mountains. I thought the Appalachian trail went close to there.
Perhaps…. But the east coast is pretty big, so his area may be better than mine. Duck hunting in particular seems to be bad out here. In VA, salt water ducks are completely controlled by private duck blinds and the regs are very unfavorable to public water duck hunters. I didn’t know this until I started to research it. Basically you can’t duck hunt within 400 yards of a private duck blinds and guess what - the coast is lined with private duck blinds spaced 400 yards apart, so unless you pay for a blind, you are SOL. There are only a few lakes out where I am, and several of them don’t allow duck hunting. There are probably river ducks, if you can find a place to put in/take out and just float the river. Geese are everywhere on private land, but so far I haven’t been able to get private access. I am getting a Lab pup this winter and I’m trying to find a place to work him, so far unsuccessfully. My next step is to start showing up a Ducks Unlimited events and just ask guys for advice. So far my internet searches have come up empty.
It is in and around the mountains. The AT crosses about 20 miles to the east of where I live.
