Hey Neighbor in Shenandoah County....

[kabrevcus]

mb915

Yes indeed we nearly are hunting the same deer....I do 95% of my hunting on the opposite side of Zepp Road (North Mountain side)..but if you are chasing 14 pointers around I might have to wander a bit...
...Out of curiousity does the NF extend into Frederick County off of Fairmont?
Off topic.....I was hunting my land in (Zepp) late muzzleloader this year and these boys wouldn't stop yapping on the radio about how they had "treed" a bear with the dogs they were running over there where you hunt....adacent to Three High Heads, and the something they kept calling the "double spur"  - I thought that might be the The Half Moon - (do you know these landmarks). I thought it was interesting as deer hunting AND bear hunting with dogs is illegal in our part.
Finally, have you had any access to private property in this area?
 

[mb915]

I have thought about exploring that side a bit on the NF, just so many acres can never get all the scouting accomplished that i want to. 
 
Fairmont stays in Shenandoah County, but if you walk through the woods to the top of the mountain it becomes frederick county.
 
I am familiar with those landmarks, well have never heard of the "double spur" but know the others.  I think you are mistaken about them being able to hunt with dogs.  It is against the law to  hunt deer with the dogs, but once the general firearms season for deer is over, they are allowed to run the dogs for bear, which coincides with the late muzzleloader season for deer.

[kabrevcus]

Mb915
You are right! - but you knew that.
Thanks for correcting me.... I just re-read the game laws and I had to read them a couple times to get it right....kind of tricky for my pea brain.....I wonder what else I've mis-read....
Not that I have dogs to hunt Bear with...but that is really interesting...and actually makes me feel alot better about the fellas I thought were perhaps breaking the game laws...
 
We have some Bears on our side of the mountain, had one tear up my game camera....and father in law jumped one on the way to his stand on the first monday of the past season - but bear season wasnt in until the next week.
 
The way I read the game laws, is that you cant hunt Deer at all with Dogs west of the blue ridge. It seems like when you hunt Bear with dogs, and uh, you might be carrying a muzzleloader, you kind of back door your way into hunting deer with dogs....I guess you just have to walk the "high road".....
 
So back to the topic of the NF over there off Fairmont/Van Buren....You set up camp there...or do you do day trips?

[mb915]

Well you might get a chance to get out to gun hunt bears in september this upcoming year.  If you check the recommended amendments by the DGIF there are some other interesting changes that might happen as well.  Especially the reduction of doe days on the NF in shenandoh county.
 
I do day trips back and forth, have to get up early though.  Would like to camp for a week up there and do some hunting, maybe this year will be the year.

[kabrevcus]

Are the proposed amendments on the DGIF website? That is interesting, I will have to look them over.
Not sure how I feel about fewer Doe days in the NF....I suppose as a safety issue its perhaps the right direction for the NF- but not sure what the other reasons would be.
 
I'm still in awe about the 14 point your father in law took - thats awesome. Any chance you have pics?

[mb915]

They are posted at the DGIF website. 
 
They say the reason for fewer doe days on the NF is due to the fact that the number of deer are decreasing on the NF.  They want the doe harvest on the NF in that area to decrease by 50%.  I mean more deer is always nicer if the area can hold more deer.  With it all being mature hardwoods, when there is no mast crop up on the mtn, there is not a whole lot of food excet browse.
 
 

[mb915]

Above is the pic of the buck my dad shot on the NF, took me a little to figure out how to post it.  Was a main frame 11 pointer, then had a two inch drop tine on its left side, and a 1 1/2 sticker on each of the G2's.  Was a shame the bucks left G2 was broken in half.  Only had a 15 inch spread.

[kabrevcus]

Man thats awesome. It gives me alot of encouragement, and in a couple ways....1)naturally that your dad got it in the NF, and secondly looks like he took it on 11/28, which is the end of the gun season. Pretty cool.....the deer almost made it through the whole gun season, but not quite!
I'd assume thats your father in the photo?

[mb915]

The ten pointer I shot in 2006 came the day after thanksgiving just like my fathers buck. 
 
Well there has to be at least one close to his size that made it through the season.  He had some busted points, and when we were butchering him, on that back of his neck he had a puncture wound, which appears came from another buck when they were fighting.