Hunting Virginia Public Land -- Skunked and Need Advice

Man, this season is rough so far! For the first time in my life, I have to hunt public land (I just moved to the area), and for the first time in my life, I've been skunked after 3.5 hard, full days of hunting. Not skunked as in "I didn't get my dream deer" but skunked as in "I haven't seen a single #$!@!! buck this whole week!" Arghhh!!!!

I've been hunting at C.F. Phelps WMA, which is a great looking property, but I didn't have the ability to scout much of it this year. It's 4500 acres, and I'm a little afraid to put my trail cams out there since it's public land and they don't have good locks. The 2 days I did get out there to scout in early September looked promising -- I saw lots of sign around a couple of ponds/watering holes and the trails leading to it -- but since the rains we've had, I haven't even seen a track there. Plus, now the acorns are EVERYWHERE now and I'm not even sure if the deer need to stand up and move off their beds to eat and drink their fill right now!

So... after that little rant (thanks for listening!)... Do any of you guys have any tips / tricks / tactics for hunting new land or hunting public land? I've used up all of my ideas already.

 

Having the same results on Quantico - right near Phelps. Looking at the harvest log at the Quantico game check, we are not alone. So far hunted Sat/Mon and Tues and have seen 2 does. Only buck I saw was at about 2000 as I was leaving the game check for home. I also have not seen the same volume of deer on the road sides at night, for the past month or two. Not sure if the drought drove them in deeper or what, but its odd to not see tons of deer along the road in Quantico.

I live in Stafford, there are a few of us who hunt around. I am headed over to Izaac Walton today, down 610 a ways. First time so I am scouting/hunting which I hate, but like you did not have a bunch of time to scout this year.

I took three days off work hoping for at least a doe or two and - got squat.

 

Deuce, I will take a look at the CF Phelps map tonight and will help you out.

 

Thanks, brother. It cheers me up to hear I'm not the only one, but I'm also bummed to hear things are down this year. I wish you the best of luck. Do you ever hunt on Phelps?

Have you heard of any guys around here having luck? One guy I kinda know said that he had luck when he left his stand and started stalking/still hunting into the bedding areas... claims that he managed to get a 6 point that way on Saturday. That's a TOUGH way to hunt, though.

I'm wondering if the "Virginia Blizzards" last year and the drought this year may have caused more problems than we realized. It's weird, everyone I know in the suburbs has deer in their backyards and complains about the number, but on the hunting lands I can't find squat...

 

you ever been down there Brett? Its really diverse, lots of rivers and its pretty big and I bet the same lazy bones that hunt Quantico and go in 100 yards hunt there and do the same thing

I meant to turkey hunt there this spring, just never had the time - you can hunt past noon which you can't on Quantico. I learn more turkey hunting then just plain old scouting since I am running and gunning and working the terrain to find the toms.

you gotta come out with me this spring

 

Thanks, guys! I really appreciate any advice / help. Tomorrow is my last day of vacation time (unless I call in sick on Friday...) and I'm planning on hitting it hard again, but dang, it's been demoralizing the last few days...

 

Get your pass for Quantico, I'm always looking for someone to hunt with. This is only my second year of bow and deer hunting so I am trying to catch up and love to see how other folks take on the challenge.

Brett's been great - been out scouting with him and hunting a few times. I'm a pretty quick learner so not quite an anchor to hunt with. I've also been doing wounded warrior hunts and joining the rod and gun club on base to broaden my knowledge of whats available.

I have been seeing more deer in my neighborhood then usual, so its making me wonder about the same things. But seeing all the food sources on quantico, no clue whats going on.

 

You just got to try something different. If it isn't working.... fix it. Find the places the deer go to get away from the masses of hunters. Use the other hunters to your advantage. Stay in your stand longer. When people get tired of sitting they get up and leave for lunch, a walk or whatever. They'll move some deer.

 

Before I start taking a look at the map let me tell you guys something....the deer ARE there, trust me. Do not let days without any sightings demoralize you. You will always have some days/seasons like that, you just have to adjust and kill. Again, TRUST me, the deer are there to be killed, it is just our job to find and take them down. I will start taking a look at the map and will make a suggestion for your last hunt tomorrow.

 

Red=potential stand sites. Some spots to think about tomorrow.

The first pic will be the topo of the area, the second the aerial/map of the same spot.

 

Holy cow, VaShadow... you are the man!!! I REALLY appreciate your help here and taking the time to help out a new Virginia resident! I will take a look at both spots tomorrow (and if I can muster up the courage/craziness to call in sick on Friday, I'll try then, too.)

Also thanks to the for the words of encouragement. This is the first season in my 30+ years of hunting that I haven't been able to hunt on my own land, and it's been a little frustrating... But, somehow I forgot that 2/3 of the fun of deer hunting is figuring it out and outsmarting the critters. Thanks!

One question about the first set of topos/maps... is that the northern tract of land? I hadn't even scouted that area yet and had focused on the larger section.

This is a big help, my friend. I hope we can hunt together sometime! After 20+ bucks in WV and TX, I'd love to be able to get my first Virginia buck this year!

 

good luck!!!!

 

Bumpkis at IWLA today...heard a hen, no deer.

 

I was up in a treestand yesterday (Tuesday) at the first parking lot off the main entrance...the one where you have to drive 100 yards to park. Saw 2 does and 2 bucks. Unfortunately I was halfway up the tree when they came within 35 yards so I made like a tree and didn't move. I didn't see a thing today.

 

Welcome aboard! Seems like were getting a ton of NoVa folks here of late.

Where you at?

 

ALL,
I am also wondering what effect the hard winter and dry summer are going to affect both the deer and turkey population. This Saturday will be the first day that I'll get to hunt for more than a couple hours so I'm stoked! I have been seeing deer around the Fairfax area a lot but I have also noticed an increase in Coyote sightings. This will be an interesting season.

Hey SHADOW, is that mapping application freeware? I'd love to get my hands on a good topo mapper!

We VA boys should keep eachother in the loop this year about the population and health of the deer(turkey) we see and harvest.

I hope you all have luck and stay safe.

 

NovaBasser---yes it is free.

http://mapper.acme.com/

It is a really useful tool.

GUYS, I will say this one more time. The deer are there to kill. Every year is different where it may be harder to get on the deer because of the changes to the food sources/etc., but they are there for our taking.

I remember 2007. I hunted about 35 times. I saw a TOTAL of 15 deer, only three of which were bucks. All three of the bucks I saw were within range. I killed two of those bucks and a doe. So I would rather have a season where I saw less deer but the deer I did see were within range, as opposed to having a season where I saw a lot of deer but killed none.

 

I'm with you Shadow, it's still very early. The deers patterns are changing a lot right now, summer to fall weather, new food sources like acorns, bucks bachelor groups breaking up, etc. Give it some time to level out and keep after em.

I leave today for a 2 day hunt in Dinwiddie, VA and then I'm camping out from Sunday to Wednesday and hunting a nice piece of public land near Appamatox(sp?). I will be strictly focusing on acorns and transition zones. I looked at that Phelps map and you can see a ton of transition zones/edges. Like the looks of the area VS marked up. Having never stepped foot on the place I would likely key in on several areas of interest based on the aerials/topos and if you can hunt it fairly regularily think about some recon stands near those areas and other areas you suspect deer in or have seen some good sign. These are stands that you may not get a shot from but might be able to watch a lot of ground and key in on some deer movement, then you can adjust from there.

Good luck to everybody but especially the VA boys!!!

I'll post some pics up from the land I'm hunting when I get back.

 

Arghhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Spent the day at Phelps and was skunked again. Did see a nice big-bodied doe in the magic hour right before dark, but she was moving quick. Then I heard some dogs on the other side of the ridge, and assume they jumped her and that's why she was moving so fast. Saw a hen turkey about 100 yards away, and lots of squirrels, though... even a solid black one, which was interesting.

Ran into another guy in the parking lot tonight when I was loading up, and he has also been skunked all week. He saw 3 today, all on his way back to the truck at dark, none during hunting hours.

Something has these deer acting differently, I think. None of my pre-season scouting spots have fresh sign. I also scouted the spot on the main tract that Shadow suggested. Looks like a good spot -- nice saddle with a natural funnel coming up both directions to a nice open spot with plenty of acorns... but no scrapes / rubs / fresh tracks or droppings to be found. Hunted it this evening but just saw the doe.

Now I'm thinking REALLY hard about calling in sick for work tomorrow to give it another go... this will probably be my last chance before the gun season due to work (and I don't go anywhere near public land during gun season -- too many trigger happy folks out there.) May have to get my buck during late archery season in December unless I get a couple more days off in the next couple of weeks.

This is SOOOOO frustrating!!! May have to risk putting out my trail cams and hope that no one steals them.

Thanks to everyone on here, though. You guys have been awesome with your suggestions!!!

Let's go Virginia hunters! I want to see some pics of some nice VA whitetails soon!

 

Deuce, Phelps is a heavily hunted WMA area. Those deer are relentlessly harassed from the minute muzzloader season opens until close of season, which is around two solid months. Where are you living these days? I could possibly suggest some other better public land spots to hunt depending on where you live.