StuartHunts

I'm in DC for a while, maybe a year or more.

Anyone know any places nearby that I could go for a hunt on? Work is getting stressful and I need to relax. I like providing for myself and spending some me time in the woods with some white tails would be great.

younggun308

Hey there! I am in DC, too (well, Hyattsville, MD, but I ride the metro to work/school at GW). Are you living in the district, or in VA/MD? Will you become a resident?

For deer, I hunt VA. I don't know if you prefer archery hunts or firearm, but most public land within an hour's drive from the district in either state, really tends to be archery-only, and where firearms are allowed, these are restricted to shotguns. You've just about got to drive all the way west to Front Royal before rifle hunting is a possibility.

Full disclosure, I haven't hunted public land, yet, as I'm blessed to have landowning relatives further in the south of the state. They are, however, about 3.5 hours away, and with gun season opening as late in the semester as it does, I really only have one chance to get out there. So I'm slowly eyeing options closer to home for next year. I have put in for a spring turkey quota hunt about an hour away. We'll see if that pans out (low likelihood, really).

My goal for next year, in addition to hunting where I will be again this year, is to become capable with archery. Right now I'm eyeing Ft. Belvoir---they require an IBEP certificate as well as hunter's safety, but they do provide classes for free. I think they also require pre-registration and a target-shooting test at 30 and 40 yards.
http://belvoir.armymwr.com/us/belvoi...ishing-archery

Here's a good tool to familiarize yourself with other public land that Virginia's DGF has analyzed to provide general guidelines regarding the populations of certain species. Pretty handy for finding places close to DC for big game, waterfowl, and small game:
http://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/find...=8&layers=game

younggun308

On another note, you might ask a moderator to move this post either to the whitetail forum or to the "South" regional forum. That way you may get some more input from people who don't frequent this "Off-season" section; the whitetails forum probably gets more hits than the regional ones.

StuartHunts

I'd like to give archery hunting a shot. Why not! Thank you for the information, I am going to read the Belvoir site now.

I don't think I am going to settle down in DC, it is much too hectic for my liking.

CalHunter

Since it seems like you're both going to be talking about deer hunting, I moved this topic to the White Tail forum as it will get much more exposure and likely responses. Good suggestion younggun308.
CalHunter
Moderator

StuartHunts

Thank you thank you!

CalHunter

You're welcome. This is one of the most popular forums on our website so you should see a pretty good increase in suggestions and posts.

younggun308

You mean you haven't moved here, yet, or having newly moved here, it's rubbing you the wrong way/giving you culture shock? I can relate (moved here, just over a year ago), but don't count the city out; if you go exploring some, it'll grow on you!

Plus, there are some incredibly over-populated deer herds in suburban areas---the map I posted earlier helps you find a lot of them. I didn't mention it earlier, but one that also looks promising is any one of the three hunting areas near/on the Quantico base. Not sure if they're all quota hunts you have to put in for each year (I barely missed the deadline to apply for the deer hunts nearby, this year :/). If you became a VA resident, it would certainly save you enough money in tags to put toward quota hunt applications.

StuartHunts

Having temporarily moved here. I am only here on contract, so it is difficult for me to feel like I will be putting roots down if you know what I mean. I wasn't able to choose where I live either, or else I may have put in for VA.

I get the feeling the quantico hunts fill up fast! I'll try for them though.

younggun308

Nice thing about Quantico (at least the part that is west of I-95, I think) is there are shotgun/muzzleloader areas.
As for it filling up, perhaps I'm mistaken, but I genuinely believed that you could only reserve a hunt the day prior to actually going. Did you find somewhere a definitive cap on the number of licenses they issue?