Has anybody ever hunted in Wayne National Forest on the Ohio West Virginia border? It's only about two and a half hours away and close enough to take my pop up and hunt for the weekends. Just wondering if it would be a good place to scout out this winter.
THANKS
GLENN

It is a great place to hunt. You will have to deal with a few hunters, but it is worth it. I have hunted real close to it on P.P. But I know some guys who hunt it, and they like it.

www.fs.fed.us/r9/wayne/    Click on recreation then hunting their is a little info. Plus you can download maps.

I live right in the middle of it, there are some good bucks and a lot of deer, with some homework you can find small overlooked spots that are good.

I have made trips there for about 5 years, sometimes twice a year. On our first trip there we killed 9 deer (5 hunters), it has gone down ever since. They experienced a kill off , black tongue, about 4 years ago. We talked to the rangers and wardens about it. One ranger said they found over 20 dead deer along one creek. I still like to hunt there, but finding deer is not as easy now as it was. The last 3 years we have killed one buck.
There is a fair amount of hunting pressure in the early season, pressure picks up a lot near the rut.
The part we hunt, south of Jackson is very hilly and steep. It is near impossible for an old guy like me to drag one up out of the bottoms should I kill one.
The biggest issue now is the 4 wheelers running everywhere. They have ruined a few spots for me. It is not legal to run them there, but guys do it anyway. I had some guys from N.Carolina tell me they did not care what the law said, they pay taxes and they will ride anywhere they want.
Wayne use to be a super location for me, now it is just an fair place to go. Maybe in a few more years the deer population will be back and the rangers will stop the 4 wheelers. But until that time, there are probably better places to go.

"Shade River National Forest" in Meigs Co. It's right on the river and just down the road from Reedsville Ohio. You can stay at "Forked Run State Park", which is just next door. You can rent cabins that are always available during Bow season. I stay away from the Jackson area ,it attracts alot of hunters. There are plenty of deer and I have seen several big bucks there. Go into the general store in Reedsville and take alook at some of the mounts and pics.

Thanks guys for the information! Looking forward too scouting some of these areas out.
GLENN