Middle Georgia Bears

gobbleinwoods

Keeper of the Magic Word
Yeah no bear Season in bleckley, so he’ll keep getting bigger. I haven’t figured out how he crosses fences, but he does.

Don't believe he is jumping over them.
 

fiddlinduke

Member
But if you are baiting you can't kill them, right? So what's the point in adding more days/limits? Do y'all foresee the DNR allowing baiting for bear?
 

CornStalker

Senior Member
Like buckman said, just wait another 10 years. You'll have more bears than deer.

I realize a lot of hunters share this same belief, but I would disagree. The black bear was in every area of Georgia (and the rest of the country for that matter) when the colonist settled. There were plenty of deer too. I don't disagree that bears predate on fawns, but that's not the limiting factor in deer population numbers. It's habitat. Old growth, closed canopy forest (Appalachians) don't support large quantity of deer. More managing timber cutting and/or control burns, and you can change that.

Just as a case study, look at eastern North Carolina. Great population of black bear there. Also good numbers of deer and other game species. They have diverse habitat.

It's funny how so many people are against having the native black bear populations recover in middle Georgia (and elsewhere) because of fear of limiting deer populations. I'd be a lot more concerned about the feral hog catastrophe and the damage they have done to the native flora and fauna.

Not a chance in the world that black bears "take over middle Georgia" and outnumber deer. ..
 

Rich Kaminski

Senior Member
This is my 3rd year hunting Twiggs county. If you put out corn like my last club did the bear will be on it by the next day. My current club does not allow baiting but does plant food plots (which is a good thing). I have seen tracks but no visual sightings of bear on this property and these two clubs are adjacent to one another.
 

Buckman18

Senior Member
I realize a lot of hunters share this same belief, but I would disagree. The black bear was in every area of Georgia (and the rest of the country for that matter) when the colonist settled. There were plenty of deer too. I don't disagree that bears predate on fawns, but that's not the limiting factor in deer population numbers. It's habitat. Old growth, closed canopy forest (Appalachians) don't support large quantity of deer. More managing timber cutting and/or control burns, and you can change that.

Just as a case study, look at eastern North Carolina. Great population of black bear there. Also good numbers of deer and other game species. They have diverse habitat.

It's funny how so many people are against having the native black bear populations recover in middle Georgia (and elsewhere) because of fear of limiting deer populations. I'd be a lot more concerned about the feral hog catastrophe and the damage they have done to the native flora and fauna.

Not a chance in the world that black bears "take over middle Georgia" and outnumber deer. ..

What is the address to your hunting property? I've got some friends who work for DNR and they can release the nuisance bears they trap on your land. Call me in 10 years and give me a deer hunting update! :ROFLMAO:
 

GAbullHunter

Senior Member
Id much rather enjoy eating bear then deer meat. Middle ga has a vast population of deer. Be a increase in bear would be nice as a hunter to have the opportunity to be able to hunt them more. Its only one day a season in middle ga. At least get it to one week a season or a full 3 day weekend. Id rather live around bear then people any day.. Maybe it would help keep all these darn city folks in the city an out of the country building subdivisions an widing roads. I for one like riding behind tractors with tracffic backed up cause usually in the country its only one to two cars backed up behind it an I'm one of them doing hehe lucky me. But my point beinging the bear increase in middle ga would be greatly hunted there for it would not be over popluted if; here is the kicker the DNR allows it to be done. An here is another upper, would cut down on the outter townies from stomping of some folks speacial spots in the mountains. Maybe.. Hum thoughts of the decades..
 

Christian hughey

Senior Member
Id much rather enjoy eating bear then deer meat. Middle ga has a vast population of deer. Be a increase in bear would be nice as a hunter to have the opportunity to be able to hunt them more. Its only one day a season in middle ga. At least get it to one week a season or a full 3 day weekend. Id rather live around bear then people any day.. Maybe it would help keep all these darn city folks in the city an out of the country building subdivisions an widing roads. I for one like riding behind tractors with tracffic backed up cause usually in the country its only one to two cars backed up behind it an I'm one of them doing hehe lucky me. But my point beinging the bear increase in middle ga would be greatly hunted there for it would not be over popluted if; here is the kicker the DNR allows it to be done. An here is another upper, would cut down on the outter townies from stomping of some folks speacial spots in the mountains. Maybe.. Hum thoughts of the decades..
The set up for middle ga is a joke if your gonna allow hunting of bears, issue the number of tags you hope to harvest out to private land owners and issue a lottery for a certain amount of tags for general public to hunt on public land so the hunts can run concurrent with the deer hunts on certain wma's. Like north ga. Also making it fair for others whom dont seem to be lucky enough to have private land in twiggs, bibb ,and Houston co. I would like to see more opportunity for the bears that are already there. Not asking for more bears by any means.
 

splinter17

Senior Member
This is my 3rd year hunting Twiggs county. If you put out corn like my last club did the bear will be on it by the next day. My current club does not allow baiting but does plant food plots (which is a good thing). I have seen tracks but no visual sightings of bear on this property and these two clubs are adjacent to one another.

I have hunted Twiggs for the last 18 years. This is the first year I have NOT seen a bear or 3. For the last 5 years, I have seen at least 3 different ones each year. I see them all the time, until it's bear day. Then nothing.
 

The mtn man

Senior Member
I realize a lot of hunters share this same belief, but I would disagree. The black bear was in every area of Georgia (and the rest of the country for that matter) when the colonist settled. There were plenty of deer too. I don't disagree that bears predate on fawns, but that's not the limiting factor in deer population numbers. It's habitat. Old growth, closed canopy forest (Appalachians) don't support large quantity of deer. More managing timber cutting and/or control burns, and you can change that.

Just as a case study, look at eastern North Carolina. Great population of black bear there. Also good numbers of deer and other game species. They have diverse habitat.

It's funny how so many people are against having the native black bear populations recover in middle Georgia (and elsewhere) because of fear of limiting deer populations. I'd be a lot more concerned about the feral hog catastrophe and the damage they have done to the native flora and fauna.

Not a chance in the world that black bears "take over middle Georgia" and outnumber deer. ..
You have some good points, bears don't eat as many fawns when their not starving. But I can guarantee you that during the summer in the mountains , if a bear gets a whiff of a fawn it will eat it, you know why? It's because it doesn't have anything else to eat except yellow jacket nests and grubs. Sure there were bears and deer 200 years ago, there were also American chestnut trees all over the southern mountains. Due to when they bloom, chestnuts produced every year. Bears did not go hungry like they do now.
 

Christian hughey

Senior Member
You have some good points, bears don't eat as many fawns when their not starving. But I can guarantee you that during the summer in the mountains , if a bear gets a whiff of a fawn it will eat it, you know why? It's because it doesn't have anything else to eat except yellow jacket nests and grubs. Sure there were bears and deer 200 years ago, there were also American chestnut trees all over the southern mountains. Due to when they bloom, chestnuts produced every year. Bears did not go hungry like they do now.
Natures savage and this is an arguement only God will answer in due time. In the mean time keep knocking em down. Can't wait for next bow season.
 

Raylander

I’m Billy’s Useles Uncle.
Deer love the kind of residential development you see across GA. It creates perfect edge habitat that produces loads of natural browse, and then you throw in all the fertizled goods..

On a different topic. Do pigs eat fawns? Some of them boars I've seen are big, nasty, and prolly eat anything that the touches the ground..
 
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