For maps of the Mon, stop by the U.S. Forest Service office found at there, or call them at (304) 636-1800. Any state road map can get you broadly situated within the forest. The West Virginia Gazetteer by DeLorme can get you even closer. When you're ready to hunt, you can purchase the USGS topographic maps with detailed Forest Service land holdings at the stated Elkins office.

DECEMBER
Southern Bears
Some sportsmen say you can tell a southern bear from a northern one by its drawl! All kidding aside, no one ever expected the Mountain State's southern bears to do so much talking in the first place. That is, the kind of talk that has made the new millennium's first decade a blockbuster for bear expansion.

That expansion has come with a flood of record kills, which just keep on being set to new standards. We're talking the bow, gun and total harvests. Last year was no exception with the gun kill record coming in at over 1,100 bears for the first time ever.

The DNR folks have labeled it the Southern Bear Project Zone. The new southern epicenter is the likes of a batch of counties formed by Fayette, Raleigh, Boone and Kanawha. Nicholas is kind of like a Mason-Dixon bear county in that both the traditional and non-traditional bear ranges could claim it.

The DNR's staff points to a particularly hot epicenter of bears. This one could use some hunters to help alleviate conflict situations with humans. A rather large area of southern Kanawha and northern Boone counties forms the hotspot.

The Kanawha and Big Coal rivers form this box-shaped area to the north and south, respectively, by U.S. Route 119/Corridor G to the west and the Kanawha/Fayette county line to the east. Much of this vast parcel is in private land and coal company holdings. Posting is most prevalent near active coal-mining complexes.

However, much of it is not posted and access has generally been graciously allowed by long-standing practice. One public land option is available within this epicenter. It's the fringing 9,302-acre Kanawha State Forest, which is well marked around its border with the capitol.

Researchers from the DNR continue to study these fascinating new southern bear haunts. They've determined that the number of cubs per litter is quite high in relation to their upstate cousins. From the many marked and radio-collared study subjects, they've also learned another thing.

The hunter harvest rates are actually quite low to boot. In effect, you have many bears having many cubs with dang few of them being shot off. What more could a bear hunter ask for?

JANUARY
Ritchie Mines WMA
Squirrels
With the big-game seasons ending, the new year offers up its last (but not least) venues like squirrel hunting. The bread-and-butter game species of "all time," West Virginia has lost some of its following to bigger but not necessarily better game.

The experts who muffed at their shot at venison might want to brush up on both their hunting and shooting skills by getting the small caliber rifles out and hitting the woods. Plenty of squirrels should be out to greet you, especially if the weather is a bit fair.

Ah, fair winter weather hunting after that second cup of coffee. Sounds good since there's no need to get up early for January bushytails. With two consecutive years of good mast, squirrels are thriving these days in the Mountain State.

For a public place, how about the Ritchie Mines WMA, the once asphalt-bearing mine haunt in Ritchie County? This is one of the state's west-central District 6 sweethearts. The 2,300-acre WMA has plenty of squirrel-favoring mature timber. It can be accessed from state Route 47 at the town of Macfarlan.

Squirrels are so widespread that several of the experts I queried said they literally didn't know where to begin!