GA public county land access??

[ForagerDCRD]

No matter how much googling I do I cant find answers to this elsewhere... Ive been playing around with the OnX Hunt app looking for tracts of woods to hunt in Cobb county, and have come across a few very promising plots that are labelled GA public lands, owned by Cobb County...

They are not parks or recreation areas, are not developed whatsoever. Just unused county land between lands owned by other various people/companies etc. They have public roads going through them. Can i legally hunt them?

I cannot find any public hunting laws or information on the DNR website, county or elsewhere that says anything about land other than WMAs, private land, or federal land. I dont want to hunt in a grey area of the law though... does not finding a no mean yes?

 

[JNeville17]

I'd suggest looking on the tax commissioner website and try to figure who owns the land. Wether it be a company, the county, or a person then reaching out to them for permission.

 

[ForagerDCRD]

I'd suggest looking on the tax commissioner website and try to figure who owns the land. Wether it be a company, the county, or a person then reaching out to them for permission.

I know the county owns the land.. My question then is really are you allowed to hunt county land in GA? Ive only lived here for a year. Where Im from public land is public land. I cant find anything saying thats the case around here.

 

[thumper523]

I live in Cobb and you would have to probably contact the Cobb Land Bureau for info. I myself wouldn't risk hunting it without written permission. A lot of the land is managed by the water department as it is usually storm water right of ways or uninhabitable property, i.e Swamp.

 

[Milkman]

I know the county owns the land.. My question then is really are you allowed to hunt county land in GA? Ive only lived here for a year. Where Im from public land is public land. I cant find anything saying thats the case around here.

The answer is no. Just because the county owns the land does not make it open to the public.

 

[DoberMan]

I have several of these types of parcels near me, both city and county owned. All of my inquiries have gotten absolute no hunting replies. Gwinnett county. Perhaps Cobb will be different, but I doubt it. Good luck.

 

[across the river]

I know the county owns the land.. My question then is really are you allowed to hunt county land in GA? Ive only lived here for a year. Where Im from public land is public land. I cant find anything saying thats the case around here.

In 99.9% of the cases, you cannot hunt county land in Georgia. It isn't like out West where the Federal government owns half of the state. A lot of the federal and state land around can be hunted if you do your homework, but county owned land is essentially private land unless they put a park of something on it.

 

[misterpink]

County land is a dead end.

USACE is probably your best and closest bet but bow only. WMA is next. Gas up and get ready to travel for real WMA opportunities. Either know someone and get permission or get out your check book and join a club.

 

[Throwback]

The answer is no. Just because the county owns the land does not make it open to the public.

correct

 

[Throwback]

My suggestion is to start with the county managers office (or whatever its called in your county) and go from there.

 

[huntersluck]

Most counties in GA will not except the liability of allowing hunting on their property. If you get in good with a county employee you mightt have a chance otherwise you are wasting time

 

[shootemall]

Agree with the WMA comments. You may also want to contact Cobb county parks and recreation dept., ask for John Purcell, he is a great source of info for Cobb county hunters. He also organizes the fishing rodeos at lost mountain park.

 

[ForagerDCRD]

If you are looking for public hunting opportunities, buy a WMA stamp and look up the WMAs closest to you.

This is what I was trying to avoid. Im already familiar with the WMA's Id choose to hunt, but living in Marietta, there are no options that arent either a long drive or for more practical trip planning, more of an overnight hunt type of scenario. Ive got a few weekend trips in the books for just that since all other possibilities dont seem to be working out, but man would it be nice to find a spot within 30mins or so where I can wake up in my own bed on any given and go hunting for a few hours.

 

[The mtn man]

This is why I would never live in the city or burbs. It's nice to hunt in your back yard, or having the option of hundreds of thousands of acres of federal land to hunt on within a few miles away. Sometimes a lower paying job is the only issue, however , anyone with a skilled trade will do just as well in rural areas as long as they can get into those very few good jobs.

 

[ConnaMo]

I thought you didn't have to buy a WMA stamp anymore?

 

[Throwback]

I thought you didn't have to buy a WMA stamp anymore?

dont go getting all technical.

 

[Unicoidawg]

Welcome to Atlanta and North Georgia....... Everybody wants to move to Atlanta and build houses everywhere, good for business, good for the area. Bull malarkey it's ruining a great place and slowly killing a outdoor life style. Hunting land is hard to find and when you do find some there is already someone there. Luckily I grew up where I live and still have options available, but those are disappearing slowly (thank you move ins.....ughhhh) Oh well, it is what it is.....

 

[JackSprat]

Welcome to Atlanta and North Georgia....... Everybody wants to move to Atlanta and build houses everywhere, good for business, good for the area. Bull malarkey it's ruining a great place and slowly killing a outdoor life style. Hunting land is hard to find and when you do find some there is already someone there. Luckily I grew up where I live and still have options available, but those are disappearing slowly (thank you move ins.....ughhhh) Oh well, it is what it is.....

And it's going to get even better if Amazon moves to GA - 50,000 new jobs, which is like 125,000 new people, from the left coast, amazed at the relatively low housing prices here.

 

[Milkman]

I thought you didn't have to buy a WMA stamp anymore?

Do you stick it on your smart phone??

 

[Wayne D Davis]

I feel your pain. I wma hunt all season. I've had club land before and its just a pain. Sometimes like putting up with a bunch a cry babies. Don't do this, cant do that...that's my area. You can be at Paulding Forest or Sheffield within an hour from Marietta. Great hunting