August 1, 2008It's time to apply for Virginia's quota huntsMy Outdoors page in The Roanoke Times today featured a piece on some of Virginia's most interesting quota hunt opporunities. It ran long so I had to cut one of the hunts I wanted to feature. Here's the information on the hunt, which is at Featherfin wildlife management area near Appomattox. More information on Quota hunts is on the DGIF Website, while you can click here for Virginia State Parks information. Also, if anyone else has any quota hunts they would recommend (or discourage), please comment. Featherfin Wildlife Species: Any legal species during designated hunting days Hunt dates: 18 separate hunting periods starting in November and running through early January. Application deadline: Aug. 29 More information: www.dgif.virginia.gov/wmas/
Prior to becoming public property the area was a hunt club that was carefully managed for quality deer, and the DGIF has continued to manage the area under those goals. To be legal, a buck must have at least four points on one side. The lottery will select 14 hunters for each 3-day hunting period during muzzleloader and general firearms seasons. (The first hunting period Nov. 1-5 is four days, not including the non-hunting Sunday.) Each hunter may bring one guest. Knox said the DGIF hasn’t gotten a good handle on how the hunting is going on the property because it’s still early in the state’s management of Featherfin. "It’s so new it’s sort of an unknown," he said. But he said that, anecdotally, the area seems to have great potential. "The people who are working on it are seeing lots of deer," he said. |
About this blog
While growing up in rural Southern Oregon, Mark Taylor developed a passion for the outdoors while he and his younger brother tagged along with their father on fishing, hunting and camping adventures. Graduating from Northwestern University in 1988, Taylor spent four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy based in Norfolk before moving into journalism. After five years writing about the military for a Norfolk-based publishing company, he became the outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times in 1998. He lives in Roanoke with his wife and twin daughters. .....Advertisement.....
|
...Advertisement...
...Advertisement...
Comments
[August 1, 2008 11:34 AM]
MattHey Mark, do you have any information on the hunting odds at these WMA's (specifically Featherfin)?
[August 1, 2008 4:39 PM]
Mark Taylor : →http://blogs.roanoke.com/wildlife/Good question, Matt. I haven't seen WMA-specific stats. Next time I talk to Matt Knox or Nelson Lafon I'll ask. My suspicion is the data are spotty.
Now, they do break down information on private vs. public land. That can give you an idea, especially when a WMA is the only public land in a county. I've got an Excel spreadsheet on that somewhere and will try to look it up when I get a moment.
From talking to Matt Knox, it sounds like Featherfin could be worth a look. But, again, he doesn't have hard data. Since it went into DGIF ownership deer hunting has been carefully managed by lottery. And it was a QDM property beforehand. That's a good combo.
Maybe I'm reading the rules incorrectly -- and I've been known to do that -- but it appears that the lottery hunts at Featherfin are for the muzzleloader and firearms hunts. It appears that bowhunting in October is open to the public. I might swing over there for a look if I happen to be out that way in the next month or two.
Another public area that's worth looking into is the Fairystone Quality Deer Area near Martinsville. There are some big bucks running around down there. It's also the place where I came closest to getting shot. (Kid shot uphill at a doe in a wildlife opening and the bullet whizzed by my treestand. It wasn't really close - maybe 100 feet - but still kind of wigged me out.)
Thanks for reading and for the comment.
mt
[August 3, 2008 9:32 PM]
Alfie HHey Mark,Iwas fishing on the New over the weekend near the ammunition plant,and saw a quick view of a real nice wall hanger.I only saw him for a few seconds but he was a massive 8 pointer in full velvet of course.I am not through with fishing for the year yet,but that buck sure gets my hunting juices flowing. Later. AH
[August 9, 2008 7:47 AM]
PeteHi Mark: Recently (July 1st) you wrote an article about Carvins Cove opening up to a larger fishing audience. Yesterday (Friday) I decided to log some large mouth time and went out for a few hours. As I got there, I was one of about 5 or 6 trailers, and naturally, there were some canoe and kayak folks there too. I put in at 5:30 and noticed as I began to fish the area was getting laced for boats. By the time I pulled out at 8:15 there were 25 trailers in the lot and at least half that number in pickups with smaller craft in them.
The pressure on the lake was noticeable. Far more noise, far less fishing spots without another boat.
I know many of us will continue to watch with interest and tripidation to see how crowded this wonderful spot becomes.
As a note to share with permit holders there, CC is now allowing a one time per season allowance for a permit holder to fish until 1:30 AM.
Thanks for keeping us posted through your writings and blog.