Found 2018 harvest report

[Christian hughey]

Harvest looked to be good overall. Wma's were a bit slow which was surprising.

 

[CowetaLonghorn]

Harvest looked to be good overall. Wma's were a bit slow which was surprising.

Surprised about Coopers Creek. 2?

 

[ddd-shooter]

Harvest looked to be good overall. Wma's were a bit slow which was surprising.

Some bad weather, low hunter participation, and many hunts are later in the season, when bears are moving less.
That may explain some? Also, a lot of bears were closer to private land due to corn I’m sure.

 

[strothershwacker]

Yay! Now everyone can flock to cohutta wma & lumpkin county NF and get their free and easy bear!

 

[Christian hughey]

Cohutta did do very well but if you consider the vast amount of land and high number of people that hunt it already seems like they had another average to good season. Reguardless I will still be sitting on a ridge I located last season a little late but with a little luck the ? and ? will be in there and I will be all alone again. Good luck out there this season.

 

[northgeorgiasportsman]

Look at the drastic drop in harvest back in 2014. That was a bumper crop of acorns in the mountains. When they don't have to travel far to feed, fewer get killed. It may be like that again this year.

 

[Christian hughey]

Look at the drastic drop in harvest back in 2014. That was a bumper crop of acorns in the mountains. When they don't have to travel far to feed, fewer get killed. It may be like that again this year.

The ones that work for it will get em.

 

[northgeorgiasportsman]

The ones that work for it will get em.

Yes, but your average hunter isn't willing to put in the work to find them, so I wouldn't be surprised if harvest numbers decline this year.

 

[Tio Hey Seuss]

Look at the drastic drop in harvest back in 2014. That was a bumper crop of acorns in the mountains. When they don't have to travel far to feed, fewer get killed. It may be like that again this year.

2014 was my best year to date! I tend to do better on the years when everyone else is struggling and I struggle when everyone else is having a good season. 2015 was my worst season to date if I remember right. I pray for a heavy acorn crop haha. My theory is because I'm always on the move while most people ambush hunt closer to access points.

 

[35 Whelen]

Outside of WMA's - Males-230, Females-189

WMA's - Males-29, Females-67

I wonder why the ratio is so different?

 

[Christian hughey]

Good question? I'm still learning, hopefully a vet with a few more bear seasons under his belt can weigh in on that one. I thought there would have been more total bears killed last year. Even though it looked to be a good year.

 

[Buckman18]

Outside of WMA's - Males-230, Females-189

WMA's - Males-29, Females-67

I wonder why the ratio is so different?

My guess is because the acorns didn’t hit strong at the elevation of the mountain WMA’s. Dawson Forest, on average, has a lower elevation and the harvest was higher. Warwoman, Swallow Creek, Coopers, all higher elevations but lower harvest. Chattahoochee had a good harvest but I’m betting that’s because of the early rifle hunt, when there were still a few acorns. On lower elevation private land, there are farms, corn fields, dog food, etc... my mother in law had one raiding her trash near Clarkesville last December. But, I don’t know, just a thought.

 

[northgeorgiasportsman]

I'm gonna venture a guess on the disparity between males and females outside WMA land. I have no numbers on age to back me up, so somebody with accurate information could show up and wreck my theory, but here goes:

Young males who have been weaned from momma bear are more apt to roam in search of new territory and/or an easy meal. Most of your trashcan and bird feeder thieves are young males. Their roaming brings them into contact with hunters and they get killed.

Just a theory.

 

[jbogg]

I'm gonna venture a guess on the disparity between males and females outside WMA land. I have no numbers on age to back me up, so somebody with accurate information could show up and wreck my theory, but here goes:

Young males who have been weaned from momma bear are more apt to roam in search of new territory and/or an easy meal. Most of your trashcan and bird feeder thieves are young males. Their roaming brings them into contact with hunters and they get killed.

Just a theory.

This makes as much sense as anything. I would be interested to hear how many of those bear taken outside of WMAs were taken on National Forest versus private ground. The major mast failure we had last year coinciding with baiting for deer being legal in the northern zone for the first time surely accounted for some higher than average numbers on private ground. This year should be really good based on what I’ve seen so far. White oaks acorns are heavy in some areas and absent in others. Should consolidate the Bears to some extent.

 

[Christian hughey]

This makes as much sense as anything. I would be interested to hear how many of those bear taken outside of WMAs were taken on National Forest versus private ground. The major mast failure we had last year coinciding with baiting for deer being legal in the northern zone for the first time surely accounted for some higher than average numbers on private ground. This year should be really good based on what I’ve seen so far. White oaks acorns are heavy in some areas and absent in others. Should consolidate the Bears to some extent.

Shot one I couldn't find on the wma, then later harvested one on nf land so can't say I didn't see them on the wmas. lost harvest do not count but as much blood as I did find I would say you could mark him off too.

 

[Buckman18]

My guess is because the acorns didn’t hit strong at the elevation of the mountain WMA’s. Dawson Forest, on average, has a lower elevation and the harvest was higher. Warwoman, Swallow Creek, Coopers, all higher elevations but lower harvest. Chattahoochee had a good harvest but I’m betting that’s because of the early rifle hunt, when there were still a few acorns. On lower elevation private land, there are farms, corn fields, dog food, etc... my mother in law had one raiding her trash near Clarkesville last December. But, I don’t know, just a thought.

I didn’t read the question correctly, I read it as why was the total % so much higher on private vs public. I agree with northgeorgiasportsman.

Probably a good thing my smoking hot wife didn’t marry me for my brains.

 

[mayoung]

Believe your spot on jbogg, I’d say a pile of them were killed in the valleys by deer hunters early on last fall

 

[bany]

Also last year or so seemed to have a bear hunter boom. The population way up and deer way down where the bears are. Some folks suddenly got the bear hunting fever! I’m sure too the young boars were looking for territory and food. Nothing like a feeder and a guy who’s not scared of bears anymore!

 

[guesswho]

Even though Cohutta had way more killed, I am still going to try a smaller less hunted WMA over the one everyone goes to. The number killed was high, but that doesn't include the success rate of the hunters. It had to be a lot of hunters for that many to be killed.

I hope to at least have an opportunity for me or my wife to shoot one. This will be my first trip without someone familiar with the area.