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Out of State help

2K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  Loggy 
#1 ·
Hello all,
Looking for a little help from my fellow Pa hunters who travel out of state for deer. Specifically, if you have ever hunted the following areas and seasons:

Bow season- (Virginia) at C.F. Phelps WMA and Thompson WMA.


Rifle season- (Virginia) at Turkeycock Mt. WMA and White Oak Mountain WMA

(North Carolina) at Caswell State Game Lands

If anyone has hunted any of these particular areas, I'm looking for a little feedback on the conditions you observed. Overhunted, hardly hunted, remote and difficult areas to reach, easily accessible in most areas, for Caswell how's the hog hunting?

I've begun scouting each of these areas via topo and aerial maps. I've also spoken to land managers and Biologists. Overall, my hunting time will be limited. Just trying to get all the intel I can before heading down later this fall.
 
#2 ·
I have killed several turkeys in Caswell when I lived in NC. I have a friend that I hunted turkeys with in NC and he was from Dubois Pa. I moved back to Pa., but he still lives about an hour and half west of Caswell. We never hunted hogs at that time but I will get ahold of him and find out what the hog hunting is like. You should see some of the bucks some of my NC friends are killing know especially in Rockingham County where I used to live.
 
#3 ·
I hunted both Phelps and Thompson in rifle season and some other WMA's in VA for rabbits and can tell you their public land gets hit hard. that's been about 10 years ago. bow season I don't know.
 
#4 ·
buckman-

I saw your post on the Virginia forum as well where I have a different screen name. I live near Thompson and have scouted and hiked it, but never hunted. PM me if you have any questions.
 
#6 ·
Pa.Bone,
I have seen some of the bucks their killing down there! Some real good ones and yes, Rockingham is well represented. I have family south of Caswell SGL. I'll be hunting the game lands there, a piece of private ground in Alamance Co. and if things aren't working out try Turkeycock or White Oak in southern Va..

blackpowder,
Thanks for the info.


VaPa hunter,

Thanks, PM sent.


Again, thanks for the replies.
 
#7 ·
North Carolina deer kicked my A$$!! (LOL)

Just didn't seem like I had enough time to put things together while I was down there hunting. First of all we had a death in the family which delayed my departure by a day. Secondly, although I was there to hunt I was also visiting my dad. I've been on out-of-state hunts before but they were HUNTS. I don't think one realizes when mixing in family time on a hunt, it really cuts into the learning process. Don't get me wrong by any means, I could have hunted more if I wanted but visiting my dad and being around family was more important.

Hunt breakdown:
Day #1(Sat. before Thanksgiving)= I arrived the evening prior about 10pm. Awake at 0400 and at the parking lot in Caswell Game Lands at 5:15. No one around, forecasted rain at 10am. Based on map study I positioned myself 40 yards from a stream intersection pretty deep on this piece. Additionally, there were (3) ridge points that dumped into the stream bottom. This is a pretty common feature on this game land. I knew from scouting in March and general hunting knowledge the bedding and buck sign was on the ridge points. At 8:30am I heard splashing in the main stream and waited for deer. None appeared. While watching that way a doe came screaming off a ridge point and through the stream. Shortly thereafter a dog came chasing down the ridge and did donuts around my stand location for a time. I checked the main stream and found out why I didn't see the deer. The bank had a 10 foot drop!! Anyway, I would put my brother in this spot on Monday and he couldn't get a shot on (4) doe he saw. Its a spot to remember and use in the future. I spent the remainder of the rainy day still hunt/scouting and watching dogs run around me, in front of me, all over the place. That was quite the experience.

Day #2 (Sun.)= Set stands and bait on land my brother owns in Alamance County.
Day #3 (Mon.)= Caswell Game Lands in the morning. Absolutely no one else seen or parked at the lots. Brother saw the (4) doe. In the afternoon we hunted the private land. My brother saw (3) doe and I saw (1). No shooting for either one of us.
Day #4 (Tue.)= Hunted the private land in the afternoon and neither of us saw anything. Took our stands down.
Day #5 (Wed.)= Calling for rain so I still hunted the private land trying to catch one on the bait piles we had set up. Nothing doing but I did learn quite a bit about the lay of the land and how the deer are using the property.

The remainder of the time was spent with family. So, when you break it down I spent (3) days hunting. Time enough to kill something for sure but not near enough time to really give locations a chance to produce. The rain was a good and bad thing. It freed me up to do more scouting in season and although it didn't produce a chance to kill a deer it did allow for me to eliminate a lot of area and focus on others in the future. The dog hunting was similar to a deer drive here. What I learned from that is I was pretty lucky to find at least one promising escape route. When they run dogs the hunters appeared to line up on logging roads or walking paths. I didn't see one hunter in the woods the entire time I hunted down there.
 
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