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1st time Bear Hunting
- Thread starter vinyardg
- Start date
Clipper
Senior Member
This link will show you all the camp grounds in the wma and their location.
https://naturalatlas.com/management-areas/cohutta-2118340/camping
https://naturalatlas.com/management-areas/cohutta-2118340/camping
Mattval
Senior Member
Let us know how the hunt went Sir.
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.
Thunder Head
Gone but not forgotten
Congrats to you,
Its been a tuff year. You did good.
Its been a tuff year. You did good.
Joe Brandon
Senior Member
Man absolutely awesome way to go!!!
Professor
Senior Member
well done, and well earned.
Doug B.
Senior Member
Nice! Real nice!!!
splatek
UAEC
Congrats
jbogg
Senior Member
Nice bear! Way to get it done in a difficult year.
fatback
Senior Member
That is awesome. Congrats on a fine trophy.
Congrats on a beautiful bear , from the results I’m hearing from the experienced bear hunters you done good ! Thanks for sharing
EyesUp83
Senior Member
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?
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?
blood on the ground
Cross threading is better than two lock washers.
Knocked it over the fence on your first try!
Next time through bring some crawfish and pick me up... I'll go with you!
Next time through bring some crawfish and pick me up... I'll go with you!
I did a lot of walking and scouting for 3 days just looking for sign. I was hoping to find a white oak tree that they were feeding on but I could not find any white oaks with acorns. The freshest sign that i found was bear scat along two different ridges. The ridges also had several trees that had been scared up. The ridge I killed the bear on had muscadines that looked like they were feeding on. The main reason I hunted this ridge was because of the amount of fresh bear scat on the trail. I'm sure I had beginners luck on my side but I really enjoyed scouting and trying to figure them out.
I also did a lot of reading on this site looking for any advise that I could find.
Sounds like a plan.
Rabun
Senior Member
That's outstanding!! Congratulations indeed!
chrislibby88
Senior Member
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.
