Dinforlife
Member
Hey folks!
It's been a while since I've posted over here on GON. I'm a bit of lurker more than a poster but as I'm enquiring into a new form of hunting, I thought it best to pop up on the radar. A little bit about myself: I was born and raised down in middle Georgia but wound up in South Carolina for school. There I met and married a Carolina girl, and never left. I love my adopted state but as a Georgia boy at my core, I must admit that it has no resource even remotely close to the GON forums. I grew up on a small farm but, weirdly enough, neither of my parents were into hunting so it was only something I dabbled in a few times. A decade later and I am now a full blown adult onset hunter and the GON forums have been instrumental in helping me learn how to hunt public land deer (success in my first season) and turkey (0-2, but still trying) here in SC. I am now hoping to tap into some of that wisdom as I entertain the idea of trying for bear in GA this coming fall.
At the risk of sounding like a complete moron, I never truly grasped what "public land" was or even what fell under that category until I decided to explore what hunting opportunities lay within SC and would allow me to hunt closer to home. My world lit up with the discovery of WMAs, Wildlife Refuges, and National Forests, and the different hunting opportunities they afforded. I was able to try for turkey on some NF land here in SC during the spring and went 1-3 (2 feet away from going 2-3, Curse you swirling winds!) on deer in the same area this past fall. With all of that being said, I realized just how much of North Georgia was public land, and the lightbulb went off with the possibility of a new realm of hunting.
Hunting is my #1 hobby (passion?) with backpacking being my second. I've been looking at ways to marry the two but a trip west of the Mississippi was and still is a bit cost prohibitive, so North Georgia public land seemed my next best bet. I had a backpack hunt for hogs planned for next weekend but a last minute work schedule change nixed that. With that hunt out, I'm looking hard at bear for this coming fall.
With all of the above being said, is there a single starting point or source y'all might recommend as to how to begin understanding bears and their habitat and movements? I'm more than willing absorb it by just constantly reading the forums, reading articles, and watching youtube tutorials (these are how I got my start deer and turkey hunting), but if anyone can think of a good single jumping off point, I'm all ears. Thanks in advance!
It's been a while since I've posted over here on GON. I'm a bit of lurker more than a poster but as I'm enquiring into a new form of hunting, I thought it best to pop up on the radar. A little bit about myself: I was born and raised down in middle Georgia but wound up in South Carolina for school. There I met and married a Carolina girl, and never left. I love my adopted state but as a Georgia boy at my core, I must admit that it has no resource even remotely close to the GON forums. I grew up on a small farm but, weirdly enough, neither of my parents were into hunting so it was only something I dabbled in a few times. A decade later and I am now a full blown adult onset hunter and the GON forums have been instrumental in helping me learn how to hunt public land deer (success in my first season) and turkey (0-2, but still trying) here in SC. I am now hoping to tap into some of that wisdom as I entertain the idea of trying for bear in GA this coming fall.
At the risk of sounding like a complete moron, I never truly grasped what "public land" was or even what fell under that category until I decided to explore what hunting opportunities lay within SC and would allow me to hunt closer to home. My world lit up with the discovery of WMAs, Wildlife Refuges, and National Forests, and the different hunting opportunities they afforded. I was able to try for turkey on some NF land here in SC during the spring and went 1-3 (2 feet away from going 2-3, Curse you swirling winds!) on deer in the same area this past fall. With all of that being said, I realized just how much of North Georgia was public land, and the lightbulb went off with the possibility of a new realm of hunting.
Hunting is my #1 hobby (passion?) with backpacking being my second. I've been looking at ways to marry the two but a trip west of the Mississippi was and still is a bit cost prohibitive, so North Georgia public land seemed my next best bet. I had a backpack hunt for hogs planned for next weekend but a last minute work schedule change nixed that. With that hunt out, I'm looking hard at bear for this coming fall.
With all of the above being said, is there a single starting point or source y'all might recommend as to how to begin understanding bears and their habitat and movements? I'm more than willing absorb it by just constantly reading the forums, reading articles, and watching youtube tutorials (these are how I got my start deer and turkey hunting), but if anyone can think of a good single jumping off point, I'm all ears. Thanks in advance!
