fatback
Senior Member
I spent 3 days this week on Chestatee WMA on the early rifle bear hunt and it was a wonderful experience. My story is very similar to the other reports being posted. Lots of chestnut oak acorns and red oak acorns. I did not find any white oak acorns. I was able to find a bunch of torn up logs, some trails and quite a few piles of scat, just no bears. This was my first time ever bear hunting in the north GA mountains and I wanted to share some of the lessons I learned as a newbie for anybody else who is thinking of taking this challenge on in the future.
1. The GON Bear forum is a great place to start researching a trip like this. I had quite a few excellent responses from members when I asked about this type of hunt on here. I was given quite a few tips and ideas and even had a couple of folks point me towards some areas to check for sign and I was able to find sign in some of those areas. I even meet up with a couple of folks up there and those fellas were very helpful and good to be around.
2. Get a good GPS mapping system for your phone, one that will work off line with out cell services, since I never had any cell service where I hunted/scouted. I had good success with OnX Hunt and GAIA GPS Apps. Both were very helpful
3. Learn how to read topo maps.
4. Understand that topo maps do not account for type and density of vegetation/brush or the amount of downed trees and dead-falls. Just because it looks like it might be easy walking on the topo map does not mean that it will be.
5. Be in the best physical shape that you can be in before trying a hunt like this. I am in good shape for my age (47) as I work out daily. I recommend hiking/jogging with a pack on to prepare for this trip. I covered 7-8 miles a day hunting. These are not flat, smooth miles either and you will have your pack with you so it can be very physically demanding. I was able to manage without any issues due to my current workout regimen but if your not in shape these hills will whoop you for sure.
6. For a flat-lander, I found that having a walking stick to be very valuable, especially when coming down hills. I use my shooting sticks and they worked well for me.
7. If you are planning on doing this hunt and have never done it before, plan on a pretty steep learning curve. I am sure it will take me many more trips up to this country to before I feel like I have any idea about what I am doing. There is no short cuts to gaining knowledge and experience in this hills.
8. I gained a tremendous amount of respect for the folks that consistently hunt and kills game in these mountains. Just based on my few days, it does not appear as if this is a game dense area. There is certainly game there but you are definitely going to have to earn your opportunities.
9. I stayed at Vogel State Park in a cabin. The hot shower and bed were nice after long days on the mountain. Vogel is a really nice place and the cabins are top notch. There are plenty of nice camping areas on the WMA if your more inclined to go that route.
10. If you decide to take on this challenge, keep a positive attitude, appreciate how beautiful the country is and don't base the success of your hunt on whether or not you kill a bear. Enjoy yourself and appreciate how special of a place the mountains of Georgia are. I know I will definitely be back to try my hand at bear hunting up there again at some point.
Again, I'd like to thank everybody who offered suggestions and tips prior to my trip. I now have an idea on how hard earned that knowledge is and for y'all to be willing to share some of it with a flat-lander, it is definitely appreciated. Good luck to everybody who is still after them bears up there.
1. The GON Bear forum is a great place to start researching a trip like this. I had quite a few excellent responses from members when I asked about this type of hunt on here. I was given quite a few tips and ideas and even had a couple of folks point me towards some areas to check for sign and I was able to find sign in some of those areas. I even meet up with a couple of folks up there and those fellas were very helpful and good to be around.
2. Get a good GPS mapping system for your phone, one that will work off line with out cell services, since I never had any cell service where I hunted/scouted. I had good success with OnX Hunt and GAIA GPS Apps. Both were very helpful
3. Learn how to read topo maps.
4. Understand that topo maps do not account for type and density of vegetation/brush or the amount of downed trees and dead-falls. Just because it looks like it might be easy walking on the topo map does not mean that it will be.
5. Be in the best physical shape that you can be in before trying a hunt like this. I am in good shape for my age (47) as I work out daily. I recommend hiking/jogging with a pack on to prepare for this trip. I covered 7-8 miles a day hunting. These are not flat, smooth miles either and you will have your pack with you so it can be very physically demanding. I was able to manage without any issues due to my current workout regimen but if your not in shape these hills will whoop you for sure.
6. For a flat-lander, I found that having a walking stick to be very valuable, especially when coming down hills. I use my shooting sticks and they worked well for me.
7. If you are planning on doing this hunt and have never done it before, plan on a pretty steep learning curve. I am sure it will take me many more trips up to this country to before I feel like I have any idea about what I am doing. There is no short cuts to gaining knowledge and experience in this hills.
8. I gained a tremendous amount of respect for the folks that consistently hunt and kills game in these mountains. Just based on my few days, it does not appear as if this is a game dense area. There is certainly game there but you are definitely going to have to earn your opportunities.
9. I stayed at Vogel State Park in a cabin. The hot shower and bed were nice after long days on the mountain. Vogel is a really nice place and the cabins are top notch. There are plenty of nice camping areas on the WMA if your more inclined to go that route.
10. If you decide to take on this challenge, keep a positive attitude, appreciate how beautiful the country is and don't base the success of your hunt on whether or not you kill a bear. Enjoy yourself and appreciate how special of a place the mountains of Georgia are. I know I will definitely be back to try my hand at bear hunting up there again at some point.
Again, I'd like to thank everybody who offered suggestions and tips prior to my trip. I now have an idea on how hard earned that knowledge is and for y'all to be willing to share some of it with a flat-lander, it is definitely appreciated. Good luck to everybody who is still after them bears up there.
