Let us know how the hunt went Sir.Louisiana boy going to the Cohutta hill 1st week of October on my 1st ever bear hunt. Hopefully I can manage those hills for 5 days. Any suggestions on where I should camp? Thinking of camping at Jack's river camp site but would like something a little closer to the the WMA.
I spent a week in Cohutta on my first ever bear hunt. Since I've only hunted flat lands this was an experience to hunt these mountains. The first 3 days was spent walking, scouting and just tried to figure out what good sign looked like. I did find a good bit of fresh bear scat on two different ridges. On the 4th day I hunted the ridge with the most sign and God blessed me with my first ever bear. I have to say that I really enjoyed walking those hills trying to figure out what fresh bear sign is and I'm looking forward to hunting there again.
C
Congrats on your bear!! I'm heading up in December in hopes of my first bear as well. What did you find that you determined was the best sign to hunt over? Any other big lessons learned you can share with us/ me?
Sounds like a plan.Knocked it over the fence on your first try!
Next time through bring some crawfish and pick me up... I'll go with you!
Some of the more experienced bear hunters can probably weigh in, but my understanding is that after late Oct/mid Nov the hunting gets tough. They start to den up, lay around a few days, then get up and feed sporadically, but they don’t cover ground like they do early season. You still have a chance of getting one though, but the sign is going to be very sparse, guess if you find fresh sign late season there will probably be a bear nearby. I would expect them to be more active later into the season this year with all the reds and mountain oaks, so it could be a good year for late season bears. The good news is the bucks should be moving good in December. They have a later rut up there, so if you can’t find a bear maybe a good buck will give you a shot. Be ready for anything, the action happens fast in the hills and sometimes you only have a few seconds to see game, and get a shot off before the topography or tricky winds end your hunt.C
Congrats on your bear!! I'm heading up in December in hopes of my first bear as well. What did you find that you determined was the best sign to hunt over? Any other big lessons learned you can share with us/ me?