The McClintic WMA is well known around the state as boasting the greatest variety of habitat for any of the state's public lands. Archers have the pleasure of positioning a stand near farmlands, brushy fields, wetlands and mixed hardwoods. Sometimes these habitat forms border each other, and when they do, the bowhunting can be phenomenal.

Rustic campsites are available for a small fee, and the community of Point Pleasant is only eight miles away. Access is via state Route 62.

Chief Cornstalk does not offer the habitat diversity that McClintic does; nevertheless, the former WMA features gently rolling to fairly steep hillsides and about 15 percent of the acreage is open. Hardwood forests dominate the rest of the WMA. For a fee, rustic tent or small camping sites are available.

DISTRICT VI
The North-Central Counties
Last year, Jackson County led the way in District VI, as this north-central domain accounted for 626 whitetails. Jackson County is a bow- hunter's paradise for sure, but it is not an exceptional place to hunt in District VI as Richard Hall emphasizes.

"All of the counties in District VI are above the Buck Harvest Objective and produce a lot of deer," he said.

Obviously, bowhunters cannot go wrong if they visit this region of the state, as Hall notes, the whole district sports impressive deer numbers. Jackson is typical of the counties in the region, as pastures, farmlands, small timber cuts and agricultural concerns dominate the countryside. Several times in recent years I have been afield in Jackson and never viewed fewer than a half dozen to a dozen deer on any outing. And one of my accompanying buddies observed even more whitetails than I did.

Hall offers the Hughes River WMA as a quality public land for District VI, but this area lies in Ritchie and Wirt counties. For Jackson County, perhaps the best bet is Frozen Camp WMA (2,735 acres). The terrain at Frozen Camp is typical of the habitat in the region. Expect to encounter hilly, wooded slopes, open bottomland along small streams, and the occasional mountaintop. However, the mountains in the WMA are much less imposing -- and less challenging to ascend -- than the mountains across most of the rest of the state. Camping is not permitted on site. State routes 28 and 33 offer access.

The bow season dates were not set at press time, but Hall anticipates that the opener will come, as tradition dictates, on the Saturday closest to Oct. 15. As fate would have it, Oct. 15 this year is a Saturday. The season is expected to close on Dec. 31, another Saturday. He also guesses that some of the counties may have reduced bag limits. Be sure to check the hunting regulations booklet for complete information.

Last year, my wife and I drove home from Marshall County in the rain and fog, and I forlornly watched deer feeding out in the fields in the morning mist. I kept mumbling to myself how the weather forecasters had played a cruel joke on me, which resulted in an 11-hour round-trip drive for a bowhunt that never took place. Still, if I get the opportunity I wouldn't mind making that entire trip to experience the fabulous bowhunting that exists in the Northern Panhandle. For that matter, some great bowhunting will exist everywhere around the state in October, and chances are that sportsmen won't have to travel far to experience it.