TOPIC: Virginia

Was wondering if anyone that digs in southwest virginia could help me out I was wondering about how far up the mountains y'all find it I have only found it up at the top do y'all find any low or mid way up

Hi vabowhunter, I find more ginseng locally around the 2000' to 2500' mark. Not much on the ridge tops or along the creeks.
Probably due to most of the ridges having a road or trail along the top and pretty much the same along the creeks... we also have more snow, and later frosts above 2500 ft. I watch during the winter and notice where the ice/snow is heavier, then look right below that line in the fall.
The more inaccessable an area is the bigger seng I find... go figure.

Randy

Thank you

how did you know my favorite spots ha love those briars .i dont know how far you are from lee co but the back side of little black mountain across from harlan ky has many of the kind of places frank recommened. good luck

Thank y'all I'm not in far southwest I'm in Pulaski county and I checked the elevation the top here is 3200 and the very bottom in the valley where I live is around 2400

Huntsman53 is right on about the old strip mining areas. They are my favorite spots to hunt in SW PA and WV. Most do not think to hunt in these places due to the look of the habitat. Gaining access to these types of lands is generally easy because they are often left looking undesirable and are typically still owned by a coal company. I also find an absolute ton of large bloodroot (with tops the size of dinner plates) along shale bluffs where cuts were made over 50 years ago. Its pretty neat. No soil to speak of...just finely smashed up light-blue colored shale occurring at about a 70 degree angle.

Huntsman53,

I was doing wetlands delineation up in NE Pa back in 2011 and found a monstrous patch...probably about an acre in size with big cue-ball sized berry pods all over. This land was a reclaimed dump and was about to be plowed over for a big old Marcellus shale natural gas well pad. Such a shame.