I posted a message looking for advice hunting turkey in Virginia. With 68 views and only one response it matches our experiences coming to Virginia turkey hunting. My wife and I enjoy turkey hunting and spend our vacation time traveling to other states in pursuit of wild turkey. We are not professional hunters, but everyday folks who like to hunt turkeys. I am officer in my local NWTF chapter and donate time and money to the NWTF. My problem with Virginia is that it is the only state we travel to that we run into negative behavior FROM TURKEY HUNTERS. We contacted the local NWTF chapter before our first visit and got no reply. Then we called and were told Virginia has enough turkey hunters already. The hunters we have met in the woods have not been very friendly. This is the opposite attitude we experienced in other states. We have always been welcome by NWTF chapters and local hunters have been more than helpful in other states like West Virginia, New York, Ohio, Texas, Florida and other states. In West Virginia one landowner actually offered us a place to hunt when we struck out on public land. Only in Virginia have we been disappointed with our fellow turkey hunters. Pennsylvania may have a lot of hunters, but we are always happy to meet someone from out-of-state hunting PA for the first time. Are we wrong about Virginia's attitude or is this the way you people treat fellow turkey hunters? I'll gladly change my attitude-please let me know.

I have several things to say here.
#1 I am "guilty" of not reading every post in this forum (it's a time thing) and went back to find yours and low and behold I see where I was named in the one response by WVboy. Maybe I should read every post in the future.

#2 Not a real good place to come and badmouth a bunch of really nice guys and gals if you're looking for help. The old saying of you get more flies with sugar than you do with sh#@ comes to mind. A second posting asking again for info/advice may have been the better path to take. I don't think I would go to PA and blast them on a second post on a strange board, etc. Not sure how long you've lurked around the board, but we do have several members from PA.

#3 With that said, and hopefully I've offedned no-one so far, I would respectfully disagree with your above statement. Virginia hunters are no better or worse than hunters in any other state - been to a few over the years. Not sure why the low response to our post other than most of us are out hunting right now and checking out pics and stories of all our buddies. As a matter of fact, the gentleman that runs this board is one of the finest people I've met and when I came to the annual picnic for the first time, it felt more like a family reunion than a picnic with strangers.

Now off my stump.....
Bath County/Warm Springs area. Where are you staying? I'm more familiar with the Millboro springs area - over the mountain and down Rt 39 several miles. Several decent places I would recommend are down Rt 39 towards Millboro Springs, and take a right on Rt 629 (Douthat Park Rd). From tht road, The Limekill Rd and Wilson Creek Rd are both national forest roads (right hand turns from 629) and get you access to thousands of acres of prime land. This will put you on the back side of Warm Springs Mountain and somewhat rough country, but turkeys are certainly there.

I may be in the area Friday evening and Saturday depending on family and work. If I have a way to contact you, I can try (even though I've been slightly offended here) and maybe change your opinion of us Virginians. Can't gaurentee I'll be there, but if I am, I can call you.
Hope this will help - if not - hope I haven't offended any one.

Thanks Rhino... Great comments! This time of year it's hard for me to read, and especially reply, to all the threads. Between hunting a lot and trying to stay on top of work it's hard to find time.

pahuntr... this time of year the board is really active and threads can disappear quickly. I'm sure a lot of the 68 views were people that looked at the thread, realized they didn't know anything about that area, and moved on to the next thread. Perhaps a subject line of : "Hunting Warm Springs- Advice needed" would have drawn the attention of others that could have helped. I had no valuable information to provide you or I would have posted.

In your earlier post you said...



and then you say...



Just a little confused about those comments.

Anyway, good luck on your trip to VA and hope you run into more "Rhino's" than you do slobs.

Sorry about being quick to jump to conclusions. My reaction wasn't really based on the forum, which I have found to be excellent. I wish more states had a turkey hunting forum as good as yours.
We just had a couple of bad experiences associated with past hunts and I'll admit, I reacted too fast here. Please accept my apology. I will start all over again with an open mind. We are staying just north of Warm Springs, I don't remember the motel's name. (I'm at work right now, and the paperwork is at home) We planned to hunt the Gathright because that's the area we know a little bit about. I certainly appreciate your help and will listen to any advise you can give me. One of the problems with hunting 7 hours from home is the lack of proper scouting. Last year, we looked at the Millboro area on the map, but had trouble locating the public hunting lands once we arrived. How are public lands marked? Is it ever worth asking permission to hunt from landowners? One year we spend our three days hunting the mountaintops and ridges only to find out after our hunt the birds were in the valleys. Any advice as to starting high or low? Are hens a problem? Decoys-yes or no? Thanks and once again please accept my apology.

Freddy, you got me. Actually, the Virginia people met in stores, restaurants and places we visited were perfect hosts. We were always met with smiles and helpful advise. In addition, the food was always excellent and like I said the scenery just can't be beat. On the other hand, the hunters we encountered were not very friendly, especially when they saw our out-of-state license plates. However, we are not going to judge anyone based on past experiences, we will start fresh. We may have just been unlucky the past few years. In most of our travels we have found turkey hunters quick to accept other turkey hunters as part of a large fraternity, quick to offer advise and share their hunting spots. We may have picked an area that already has too much hunting pressure. The hunting was tough and birds very difficult to fool. Actually, we didn't kill a Virginia gobbler yet, but we are still coming back so we must like something. Believe me, Pennsylvania may have a lot of birds, but we sell over a million hunting licenses- birds get tough to hunt just from the pressure of scouting. Killing a PA bird means being able to compete for the bird's attention. Thanks Freddy. Have a great season. Struttin' birds and tight patterns to you.

I host PA hunters all the time. I have two Pa Hunters coming down this week-end as a matter of fact and they are going to hunt through Tuesday. You should not let a low response rate to your inquiry make you feel negative toward us Virginians. We define southern hospitality. I personally find it difficult to give out to much advice on where to hunt to individuals I have never met. I will give general areas but no specifics.

Pahuntr, I to am from pa - I've been around this site for a couple years now ( I generally don't have much to say, hence the reason I just registered) I think you probably just ran into a small group that does not represent the majority. I have hunted the Warm Springs area, have had success and found the people there to be wonderful. Matter of fact 2 years ago when I was there the big joke of the hunt was when we were driving around in the afternoons seeing the sights you could not wave to a vehicle coming at you faster than they were waving to you.

I think some of the problem may be, there area you speak of gets a lot of out of state pressure and fellow turkey hunters with information are as tight lipped as an old gobbler with hens.

My advice; National Forest, good topo maps, plenty of shoe leather and enjoy yourself bird or no bird.

I was one of the 60+ viewers who didn't respond. The reason...well, I know absolutely nothing about that area and I figured I'd leave it up to those that did to say something. You want to get to know REAL turkey hunters in VA, mark your calendar for the VATURKEY.com picnic and make a point to show up. Good food, good friends, good impressions. You will not leave that event with a bad experience! Might even make a few contacts that lead to your first VA bird.

Same here.. I do know a couple honey holes on Patty's Knob in Bath County.. but I'm not gonna tell anyone that doesn't go a do there homework.. no offense I know you don't have the time to scout.. but the birds like you said are scarce and hard to kill anyway, so I'm keeping my honey holes to myself and close friends.. I wish you the best of luck though..

One thing I've said on here before though.. Best week for that elevation is the first week in May..

Since you are hunting it next week then I would start low in the valleys.. the mountain bird's don't get really going for a couple more weeks.. doesn't hurt to ask for permission either .. as most of the valley areas will be private land.. they can only say no..

PAHuntr,

I am also one of the 60 that read your post and did not respond. Like Dale above, I have never hunted Bath County. If you had asked about SW Virginia (the area I hunt ) I would have helped you as much as possible.

Sorry about your Virginia experiences. I know a good many hunters here in this state and they are some of the best people in this country. However like any state we do have some sour apples, I usally meet one or two a year myself

Don't give up on Virginia just yet. Have you tried calling the local ranger station in Bath County? They may give you some information. Don't hold it against us if they don't though Dale can e-mail our local station and get several responses, I e-mail and get none

Here is their webpage... http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/jamesriver/

Phone:
(540) 962-2214

Good luck to you this spring!

Thanks to Rhino, Freddy, Linebacker97, Kinzua Beards, Dale, WVBoy and TScottW99. I appreciate the responses. I am getting excited about next week's hunt. TScottW99 -Great quote-Teddy Roosevelt is one of my favorites.
Thanks all!

PAHuntr

I have hunted Gathright several times over the last 8-9 years. I have seen many birds to not hearing a darn thing. I was told by some locals up there two spings ago that the previous year drought caused a bad mast crop and most of the turkeys had moved on. There was a 3 year period between this trip I just referred to and the previous trip. I was very curious as to where all the birds had gone. I have seen flocks of 15-20 birds on top of Bolar Mt, just up from the boat ramp in during deer season, in years past. Even if you don't find the birds that is some of the most beautiful country that Virginia has to offer.

If I could recommend a spot to you, it would be High Top Tower Rd. As you drive towards Lake Moomaw on Rt 600 it will be on your right side. I don't know how the road is this year but in the past it has been fine to travel on. Drive up the mountain quite a ways and you will find little pull offs along the way.

I would recommend going up there one afternoon 3-4pm and sit quietly and listen. Try an owl hoot a few times at dusk and see if you can find one getting ready to roost. I have heard a few birds up there in the past. I had two coyotes end the hunt for me one morning and a fox another. There is a lot of beautiful wildlife in that neck of the woods.

I will be unable to get out that way this year( Live in Chesapeake) so I don't have a problem giving you some hints. I am mostly a public land hunter and I appreciate when others can give me some info as well. For me to scout that area and do my homework is not possible before the season. It is a 5 1/2 hour drive for me and I usually spend 4-5 days while there and unfortunately that is when I have to do my homework.

I have had some great experiences with Virginia hunters and some really bad ones as well. I wish you the best of luck! I have not set foot in the woods yet this year due to Navy commitments but plan on going in the morning.

I just joined the forum yesterday and still trying to figure things out, I wanted to respond yesterday but ran out of time.
A happy and safe season for all!

PA Hunter, I read your post as well I am originally from PA so if I could have helped you I would have. I do not know much about that area so I did not post anyhting. This board is awesome and has some great folks on it. I am glad you came back and re-evaluated your comments. I dont think you will find a group of more educated and easy going folks anywhere. Also it may be helpful in the future to ask folks to e-mail you personally. As WVBoy said I dont think folks will put their honey hole out there for anyone but they may be willing to help an inquiring mind. Stick around, you will like this place.

My two cents - contact The Homestead (www.thehomestead.com) and/or The Greenbrier (www.greenbrier.com) Hotels. They have full service outfitter services for all of the Warm Springs area - $$$.

A suggestion for future hunts to Virginia or any other state - try allowing more lead time for requests for information and planning in general. You will make better contacts and dramatically increase your prospects for a fruitful trip. Freddy's signature quote encapsulates this perfectly. Also consider contacting the state biologists with the VA Dept of Game and Inland Fisheries (www.dgif.state.va.us) or with other states dnr's. They will share much more area-specific information than you may receive from competing hunters.

Good luck.

I'm sorry I did'nt see your post, I live in Alleghany Co. it joins Bath Co. I have been hearing gobblers every time I go fishing on lake Moomaw. Alleghany Co. has thousands of acres of National Forest land you can hunt! Send me a pm with a phone # and I'll try to help you out.
Keep em Gobblin!
Struttinbird