Field Notes
by DAVE PAYNE SR.

Public hunting areas are too crowded, I've heard many hunters say. I've even said it myself.
But if you are landless like me, you hunt where you can and that usually means on public land, but there is breathing room in the state's wildlife management areas if you know where to go.
The Woodrum WMA in Jackson County is perhaps one of the region's best kept secrets, as hunters often pass over its craggy terrain for the more popular 2,392-acre Frozen Camp WMA five miles north.
Not a single deer has been reported killed at Woodrum since 1998, though a handful may have been and not reported.
Accessing the Woodrum WMA is difficult as most of the area is accessible only by boat. The area's rough terrain is forested mainly of oak-hickory and oak-pine stands, with a few abandoned farms located throughout.
Another well-kept secret is the 1,000-acre Sand Hill WMA, which is bisected by Route 50 at the Wood/Ritchie County line. Even though the area was established three years ago, it isn't mentioned on the Division of Natural Resources' Web Site or in brochures.  
Hunters, like me, who are used to hunting the area on the north side of Route 50 might be in for an unpleasant surprise if they haven't scouted the area beforehand. Very little of the area on the north side of Route 50 is open for hunting because of an underground limestone mining operation, but the south side is open for hunting, J.R. Hill, Division of Natural Resources biologist, said.
The last time I hunted the south side of Sand Hill, the area was being extensively timbered and accessible only by slogging through red clay mud. Hill did have some good news for Sand Hill hunters-  logging has ceased in the WMA and logging roads have been reseeded with grass, Hill said.
The boundaries of Sand Hill are not well-marked, but it generally follows the ridge line along the county line from Route 50 to Volcano Road. In addition to deer, hunters will find oil boom relics more than a century old. Huge pulleys for cables which once carried power to pump far-flung oil wells and large oak barrels litter the forest floor.
Sand Hill sees only a little more hunting pressure than Woodrum. Only 13 bucks have been reported killed there in the past five years.
At the other extreme, the Jug WMA near Middlebourne in Tyler County, usually sees more deer killed per square mile than any other area in the state. There's a reason for that. It is always crowded, but I have been able to find some elbow room by venturing about a mile from access roads. 
The Jug WMA can be accessed from Route 18 just outside Middlebourne. Middle Island Creek flows west along Route 18, then abruptly turns south at the entrance to the area, flows for seven miles then returns. 
The hunting area is accessible by driving across a low water bridge, but when the creek rises, water flows over the bridge and flows back into the creek at a point which is just a few yards away, but seven miles downstream.
Jug hunters who find themselves Monday morning staring at a raging torrent where a bridge should be, can drive back towards Middlebourne and take Tyler County Road 7 to the south end of the WMA on Klondike Ridge or Foster Run. About a hundred yards from the dirt roads is usually a line of blaze orange running parallel to the road. Few hunters seem to venture far. 
Those who walk about a half-mile from the road might not see another hunter all day, except maybe me. I've never seen another hunter out that far, though three years ago I saw a black bear with two cubs about a half-mile from Klondike Ridge.
Regardless of where they hunt, hunters should enjoy success this year. A low mast yield coupled with cold weather should provide for a banner year.
I believe the statewide buck kill will exceed 100,000 this year for the second time in history, though not by much.
Here are my predictions for the Parkersburg-based District VI and the state buck harvest:
ó Calhoun- 1,848.
ó Doddridge- 2,460.
ó Gilmer- 2,680.
ó Jackson- 3,295.
ó Pleasants- 865.
ó Ritchie- 3,704.
ó Roane- 2,972.
ó Tyler- 2,068.
ó Wirt- 1,891.
ó Wood- 2,529.
ó District VI total- 24,312.
ó Statewide- 100, 932.
Contact Dave Payne Sr. via email at dpayne@newsandsentinel.com.