I used to hunt in West Augusta and Ramsey’s Draft a lot back in the 70’s. I was close friends with the Dively family who owned a small farm in West Augusta that backed up to National Forest. It was sandwiched between the Charlie Hunter and Allan Griffin farms. But my favorite place was Ramsey’s Draft. It was big and wild and I loved being up there. I used to stay overnight at Sexton Shelter which was a small cabin managed by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. From there, I’d walk on out to Freezeland Flat and bow hunt around a few old apple trees that were there. Back in that day there were a decent number of deer in there. I have since moved away but was in the area this past March for a funeral and my wife and I walked out to the old cabin foundation. She and I stayed in the cabin a month or so before it was dismantled back in about 1983 or 84. But much to my surprise, we did not see any deer or any deer sign on that entire hike. Anyway, a lot of fond memories being in that area again. We even stopped at the old Whiteway store and bought a loaf of their homemade bread.
I hope that when I retire I can spend more time in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia. Awesome place!
Mackey
