I live in Dumfries, Virginia, roughly 30 minutes south of Washington DC. I have had huge beliefs for most of my life that there are very big deer in this suburban area along the I-95 corridor. Dominion Power company owns a huge plot of land along the Potomac River that is unhuntable as well as Prince William Forest National Park which is over 15,000 acres of dense hardwoods, pines, and rolling hills that is also protected. Not to mention the massive Marine Corps base just south of PWF that stretches all the way to Stafford. Although Quantico is huntable, I've seen deer in these bordering protected areas that were huge for what is considered the standard for the state of Virginia. Since these deer are only ever seen rather than shot, a lot of people don't realize the size of the deer in these protected areas. Recently in these woods, I've stumbled across several dead deer, 2 bucks and 3 does. Not sure the cause of death for these deer, seeing as the ages were clearly different and they weren't close to a major road. The most recently found was the second buck that will back up my claim of large deer in Northern Virginia. It was found just outside of Quantico Marine Corps base in Dumfries and, WOW, I was impressed. The spread was over 19 inches wide and over 14 inches tall at his tallest point. I've seen deer like this when I'm just out hiking or occasionally 4 wheeling, and they are unhuntable and I never have evidence beside the story. Finally got my hands on the evidence I was looking for. Hope this triggers some interest
Yeah man suburb areas are always great...almost anywhere in the country. I grew up hunting the burbs of philly and it was amazing the difference from there and now where I am in the mountains. My best friend hunts in the city of Pittsburgh and its the same thing. Thanks for sharing for sure...great buck there!
Great buck! I live and hunt around the boston mass area and I definitely agree that people don't realize the potential for big suburban deer. The only catch is trying to find a place to get permission to hunt!
I just started bowhunting. i hunted all season here in town muskogee ok. i had some good luck got 2 buck 1 doe so overall i had a great season.next season im goin deep woods OkieBowHunter
This deer was found on a several acre plot of county land where I've heard of people hunting although I'm not sure that they were doing it legally. My intentions for this post were trigger interest to find some huntable land in my suburban area because there sure is potential. Here's another picture of the rack in a 5 gallon bucket
I live in NoVA as well. There are some monster body's on some of these deer. I have a couple spots to hunt here, and some of the deer actually look fat. The other good thing is they are used to human scent, so its hard to spook them.
