Sleepy Creek tips for first timer.
West Virginia
The women got us a cabin for this weekend, its my birthday and im hunting. Yea she's good to me. Never hunted sleep creek WMA and looking for some help cause i havent been able to scout it. Im on the north west end of the WMA and my closest access point is labled as 8/8 per the map on dnr's website. Anybody have any insite on this area? Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.
Been hunting there for the last 15 years. We usually hunt the southern end near Pee wee point. Or the west side of the lake along the top of the ridge. I am not as familiar with the north west end. But my recommendation would be to go to the east side of that ridge and look for a shelf or saddle where the deer are travelling over the top and then across the east side of that ridge. We do not see a lot of deer, but we usually always see some and get a chance. If this cold front comes through, they may also bed the east side of the ridges to be out of the wind and in the sun.
Good luck
I used to hunt it all the time when in college. Have been thinking about giving it another try. Where did you find the map.?
You can either google maps. And see terrain. Or WVDNR site has the maps for most of the WMA.http://wvdnr.gov/wmamapproj/INDEX.shtm
Hillbilly,
that is near the White's Gap access area. You will need 4-wheel drive to get in there. It is a steep road up to the top of the mountain. I use to hunt that area quite often - had a lot of luck there. Once you get to the top take the road to the left. There are several fields on top the mountain - I have not hunted there for a while but had luck on both sides of the mountain. My favorite side of the mountain was the west side but I had luck on the east side too. I hunted a good bit around the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fields. Good Luck and if you need anymore info just let me know. When are you going to be there?
Jay
I was just looking at the map on the dnr's site. Look at fields 12 and 13 - there use to be some nice deer in there. One of the biggest bucks I have ever seen was right around field 13. I have not hunted there though for 10 years or so. I have seen beer, bobcat, turkey and plenty of deer while hunting there.
I have often thought about bow hunting there some just for kicks. I used to hunt that a lot and killed deer and turkeys there. Never saw a bear. JD. I didn't think you could take a 4 wheeler on it. I used to take my 57 jeep there. It would go anywhere.
babysaph heres the link where i found the maps. http://www.wvdnr.gov/Hunting/WMA_Maps.shtm
CG thanks for the tip, ill look into that.
Jay,
Ill be there Sunday afternoon and hunting Monday and Tuesday morning. How far into the mountain can I drive? I figured I'd be doing alot of walking. Funny you mention those fields because I was already looking at 11 or 12. What works better there, sitting on the field or in the timber right off a field? Thanks for the help, so far I'm feeling alot more confident about this short notice hunt.
It probably depends on what's planted in the fields , and how any acorns are close by. In a year like this where acorns are thick, unless they have something really attractive the deer are probably going be hitting acorns real heavy right now .
Good luck!
We were there last Friday down by the lake and there were a lot of acorns dropping. The fields are pretty much just clear cuts with native grasses and scrub. I would look for some white oaks. There are a couple 2 tracks on the map that you can drive back. But definitely need 4wd in places. Unless something has changed I think 4 wheelers are prohibited.
Hillbilly,
The road that goes out to the left is on the very top of the mountain. Once you get out to the fields - go down off the top and you will run into shelves - on both sides of the mountain. The deer travel those shelves like crazy. If you go down to the east you can go all the way to the bottom and up the next mountain that is all Sleepy Creek. If you go down on the west side - you will run into private property about 250 to 300 yards down.
A buddy and myself use to do short one man drives/pushes to each other. One of us would walk out the road about 600 yards or more and drop down over - then one would sit and the other walk towards the other. We killed a lot of deer that way with the bow and muzzleloader. Heck - I killed about half-dozen while I was the one doing the walking. Would hear deer running on the shelf either above me or below me and I would grunt and called in several nice bucks that way.
Oh and like CG said - the fields are not much.
JR - 4-wheelers are not allowed - I just meant 4 wheel drive truck or SUV. Sorry for the confusion.
Thanks again guys, ill stay out of the fields and try one of the shelves. Ill let yall know what happens.
I would try and find a white oak dropping. The deer will be by the white oaks first. There are a lot of red oaks and it may look good, but the deer will find the white oaks first. Good cold front coming tomorrow.
Good luck and let us know how you do. Oh and be aware there are some rattlesnake around.
There are lots of rattlesnakes there
I think snake repellent runs through my family's blood - my father, uncle or myself have never seen a rattlesnake in Sleepy Creek. I hunted it a ton for 35+ years and I don't think my father and uncle missed to many days during spring gobbler season for a number of years. I am thinking we were lucky! I have heard others talk about seeing them there too....
Hey guys had a great time at sleepy creek, and was able to bring home a buck. Not one i shot but still a very cool find. Too bad the rodents got to him. So i found a spot with some intersecting trials towards the bottom of a sloop after a short outing of scouting. It had some deer sign. Not expecting much just happy to be in the woods, i gave it a shot the next morning. Around first light i had turkey behind me calling for a good 30 minutes. Then about 7:30 a doe came down from above me. Had a shot but decided to pass. I had an evening sit left and was really just looking for a shot at a buck. Got back out that evening only to have high winds and rain coming in. Got down early to avoid the rain and on my way out i walk up on a bear. Surprisingly it was my first encounter with a bear in the woods. It saw me first and was gone before i realized what happened. It was a very memorable experience. Thanks for all your guys help and advice.
Wow . Been going there for 15 years. Hunting, camping, fishing in summer. And I have never seen a bear up there. Seen tracks and scat.
Glad you had a good time and found a nice souvenir
Man I used to hunt that a lot with mr dad when I was young. Brings back memories
I loved hunting that area! It holds a lot of good memories for me! Glad you had a good time there.....
