Hall lists the Potomac WMA, which was covered in the District II discussion, as the best public-land option in Randolph County. This WMA offers a number of public camping places that the U.S. Forest Service maintains. The Potomac WMA can be reached via U.S. routes 33 and 220 and state routes 28, 29 and 41.

DISTRICT IV
Southern West Virginia
With a bow harvest of 765, Greenbrier easily led the way in District IV, as has traditionally been the case. Richard Hall reports that all counties in this district recorded harvests below the BHO. However, for archers interested in going to a county or counties that harbor good numbers of whitetails, Hall recommends Greenbrier and adjoining Monroe.

Greenbrier is one of my favorite counties in all of West Virginia to hunt and fish in, as this rather large region sports a variety of habitat. In some parts of Greenbrier, unbroken expanses of forested mountain land sprawl across the horizon -- especially in the eastern reaches. In the western portion, farms are fairly common, as is rich bottomland created by the Greenbrier River and many of its tributaries.

Many of the county's farms have relatively small acreage and typically feature cattle operations with 40 or so acres of pasture. Taking a stand on these pasture edges is a marvelous way for archers to kill a doe in the evenings. Look for heavily used trails that lead down from mountain laurel thickets or similar copses.

Hall did not list any public lands for Greenbrier County, in terms of any of them producing a lot of whitetails. Large chunks of the Monongahela National Forest exist in the eastern portion of the county, but none of the WMAs there are known for their high deer numbers.

If big bucks are your primary quarry, the backcountry of the Cranberry WMA (158,147 acres) is a real possibility. Greenbrier shares this public land with Nicholas, Webster and Pocahontas counties. This is another upper elevation public land, as it tops out at 4,600-plus feet. Contiguous, mature forests are the norm here. The Cranberry WMA can be reached via state routes 150, 39, 7, 48 and 46.

DISTRICT V
The Southwest and Northwest Mason is one of those uncommon counties that produce a lot of deer, but also feature a large deer herd. As such, Mason again led District V with 776 deer harvested by bowhunters. That total was good enough for the county to finish fourth in the state.

Richard Hall said that Mason and Putnam are the District V counties that produce big-time numbers of deer, considering their square miles of habitat. He also reveals that the western part of Kanawha County accounts for a lot of deer, as well.

I would wager that few, if any, counties in West Virginia sport as much high-quality deer habitat as Mason does. This District V area is part of the Ohio River drainage and as such contains many miles of rich bottomland. Farms are fairly common in this largely rural county, and where farms don't exist, cattle growing operations dot the landscape. In short, Mason County is one large checkerboard-like paradise of diversified deer habitat.

August is perhaps the best month to cruise the back roads of Mason and visit the farming and cattle-rearing concerns. Offer to help out around the property and promise to be a good sportsman and you might just gain access for the bow season. A corn-fed doe can produce some mighty fine venison.

Just as appealing as the private land option is in Mason County is the fact that this county contains some very impressive public land where deer numbers are high. Indeed, Hall lists two Mason County public lands as being high quality: McClintic WMA (3,655 acres) and Chief Cornstalk WMA (11,772 acres).