Where's The Deer

• Jul 22, 2008

• #1

HighCotton

Senior Member

I'm considering retiring possibly to the northern half of the state. I have thought that it would be nice to be in or near the mountains-- but I understand the deer populations are low and hunting not that good?

Where would be the best deer hunting-- say anywhere in the state north of I-20?

HC

 

• Jul 22, 2008

• #2

hicktownboy

Senior Member

IMO- You are incorrect in saying the populations being low and the hunting not that good. BUT the hunting is tougher. Ther terrain is different and the deer are most definitely smarter. The food sources are different from what you normally hunt in South GA as well as travel patterns. Bucks in the northern part of the state travel the roughest, highest terrain because they feel comfortable in that area. Some locations do have smaller herds than others.

PM will be sent on a suggested location.

 

• Jul 23, 2008

• #3

debo

Senior Member

Nothing up here but Black Panther;s they eat 3/4 of the deer herd.

 

• Jul 25, 2008

• #4

Retired Army Guy

Senior Member

In the mountains: Some Places 12 deer per square mile. Other places maybe 20. Average is probably some where in between.

A fair buck is 80". A really good buck 100". A monster is 120" and anything above that is a freak of nature. You will find 2.5 year old deer only scoring 80" or so. No food! The forest is too mature no undergrowth for food & cover. After the leaves fall off you can see for miles!, zero undergrowth.

 

• Jul 25, 2008

• #5

ryano

Banned

Retired Army Guy said:

In the mountains: Some Places 12 deer per square mile. Other places maybe 20. Average is probably some where in between.

A fair buck is 80". A really good buck 100". A monster is 120" and anything above that is a freak of nature. You will find 2.5 year old deer only scoring 80" or so. No food! The forest is too mature no undergrowth for food & cover. After the leaves fall off you can see for miles!, zero undergrowth.

Click to expand...

summed up as best as I have ever seen it put.

I have always said that being able to consistantly kill 100 inch bucks up here in the mountains is much akin to consistantly killing 140 - 150 inch deer in mid or south Ga.

Probably even tougher because the numbers arent as great.

 

• Jul 25, 2008

• #6

Milkman

Deer Farmer Moderator

Staff member

Just north of I-20 in Morgan,Greene, Oconee, SE Walton counties. Lots of good deer in those areas
Convienient to larger cities if needed. But still rural in many places.

Buy a large acreage and I will help you control those unruly bucks.

 

• Jul 26, 2008

• #7

merc123

Senior Member

Stay away from mine and ryano's area. I can't kill a deer in our county, I go over to Murray county

 

• Jul 26, 2008

• #8

2-shot

Senior Member

I agree with ryano, but pickens co. is good in places. I've taken and seen good deer in Cherokee, Forsyth, Hall, Dawson and Lumpkin, but these honey holes are hard to come by and harder to keep

 

• Jul 27, 2008

• #9

X

xhunterx

Senior Member

chattooga and floyd are also good, but most private property so gottta be on a lease of have good connections.lots of national forest in chattooga but it isn't as good as the private prop.

 

• Jul 27, 2008

• #10

Chattooga River Hunter

Senior Member

RE: Huntin in the mountains

Well, I live and hunt here in Rabun county, which is as far north in GA as you can get. I pretty much only hunt the Chattahoochee National Forest. There are deer around, but not like the middle or southern part of the state. You are probably just as likely to see a bear or hog as a deer.
It is not uncommon to go 5 or sometimes more days without seeing a deer, but when you do see one, the chances are probably 50:50 of seeing a buck or doe. The bucks are not monsters, but there are certainly some old trophies hiding out in the rough country. I have seen a couple up close! I think the rough country and low deer numbers keeps the hunting presure way down too.

I also sometimes hunt Chattahoochee NF land in Habersham, Stephens and White counties as well. I think these counties probably have more and bigger deer than in Rabun, and also have some pretty mountain scenery as well.

 

• Jul 28, 2008

• #11

Brushcreek

Senior Member

from the looks of this forum (the posts on trail cams and deer hunting), i would say greene county is hottt!

 

• Jul 29, 2008

• #12

W

whitworth

Senior Member

Chattahoochee National Forest

I once read that the forest never had more than 17 deer per square mile in recent decades; that was a good year.

The national forest in North Georgia is wall to wall trees. Deer are dispersed in small groups. Hunting is tough and deer sighting more difficult.

This forest hasn't seen any good timbering, from what I read, for some decades.

Just check the map on the either sex days in the Northern Zone. The fewest antlerless days are those in the far north counties, where the Chattahoochee National Forest is.

Oh and for climbing? The Army Rangers don't do mountain training on the Chattahoochee National forest, because it's a flat land. If it was good flat land for farming, it never would have become a national forest.

 

• Aug 4, 2008

• #13

buckdown

Member

Hey I found a web site that might help you out on the deer densities in the state of Georgia. Here it is: http://www.qdma.com/map/

 

• Aug 4, 2008

• #14

DeltaHalo

Senior Member

merc123 said:

Stay away from mine and ryano's area. I can't kill a deer in our county, I go over to Murray county

Click to expand...

you're hunting in the wrong area merc

 

• Aug 6, 2008

• #15

C

C.Killmaster

Georgia Deer Biologist

buckdown said:

Hey I found a web site that might help you out on the deer densities in the state of Georgia. Here it is: http://www.qdma.com/map/

Click to expand...

Here is a more recent map of deer density.

 

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• Density Map.pdf

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• Aug 13, 2008

• #16

atomicfalcon1

Member

I hunt IN the Chattahoochee NF where the Rangers train. Mountainous terrain training is the purpose of their being here. Anyway, I saw deer nearly 75% of my time in the woods. The terrain definitely effects their transitions from food, water, and bed. Acorns will be extremely abundant in the high elevations when there are none in the low ground and vice versa. Following the food was my focus last year and it was a challenging task. However, it paid off royally. Also, when the WMA's are open, the hunting pressure is horrible. I learned to hunt in Mississippi so learning this mountain warfare on deer was quite a feat. Good lessons were learned and although populations are smaller here I feel this year will be even better. Takes alot of scouting!