Looking for advice on some of the WMAs in Southeast Georgia area. Wanting to start hunting the WMAs for the 2022 season and would like to find out which ones are worth taking into consideration. I have heard a lot of them are over hunted or have bad road access without a 4x4. Not looking for spots, just advice.
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Southeast Georgia WMAs
- Thread starter aworth117
- Start date
dang
DANG !!!
Depends on your standards of success.
If you’re looking to kill a deer, every WMA in the state that is open to deer hunting has deer. My advice would be to pick one within a reasonable driving distance with some large acreage and then pick out a smaller area within the wma on the map with some good diversity to focus in on. Guys on here will be hesitant to name their favorite WMA’s and in some cases will name the exact opposite…so take the feedback you get with a grain of salt. Turkey season is a great time to get out and explore for next fall
If you’re looking to kill a deer, every WMA in the state that is open to deer hunting has deer. My advice would be to pick one within a reasonable driving distance with some large acreage and then pick out a smaller area within the wma on the map with some good diversity to focus in on. Guys on here will be hesitant to name their favorite WMA’s and in some cases will name the exact opposite…so take the feedback you get with a grain of salt. Turkey season is a great time to get out and explore for next fall
Echo
Gone But Not Forgotten
Good luck. I've hunted most of them at one time or another and found success fairly difficult to come by, outside of the island WMA's of course. Those hunts are a different animal entirely and offer a great chance of success but in most cases require a quota hunt draw to participate.
Griffin Ridge was a quality area to hunt when it first opened but it seems that success rates have fallen considerably from what they used to be there. I'm not sure why that is.
Paulks Pasture and Sansavilla are two large acreage areas that also used to have good deer numbers and success rates. Then the state seemed to abandon good management pratices there and opened the hunts up for many more days per season and also brought in dog hunting.
Dixon Memorial is another one that I've hunted. Huge tract of land. Marginal habitat and deer population at best.
Clayhole WMA has some nice habitat and pretty good numbers the last time I was there but it's been a while now. I'd check it out.
Bullard Creek gets heavily hunted but definitely possesses an upgrade in habitat and deer numbers when compared to those SE GA WMA's to the south and east.
Big Hammock has some decent hog hunting and you might see a deer or two there.
The bottom line on SE GA WMA's is they seem to have a different management philosophy than the rest of the state that emphasizes hunter opportunity rather than optimizing the resource and quality component of said hunting opportunity. It's a poor trade off in my opinion but then it may be a better fit for what hunters in that area are looking for.
Griffin Ridge was a quality area to hunt when it first opened but it seems that success rates have fallen considerably from what they used to be there. I'm not sure why that is.
Paulks Pasture and Sansavilla are two large acreage areas that also used to have good deer numbers and success rates. Then the state seemed to abandon good management pratices there and opened the hunts up for many more days per season and also brought in dog hunting.
Dixon Memorial is another one that I've hunted. Huge tract of land. Marginal habitat and deer population at best.
Clayhole WMA has some nice habitat and pretty good numbers the last time I was there but it's been a while now. I'd check it out.
Bullard Creek gets heavily hunted but definitely possesses an upgrade in habitat and deer numbers when compared to those SE GA WMA's to the south and east.
Big Hammock has some decent hog hunting and you might see a deer or two there.
The bottom line on SE GA WMA's is they seem to have a different management philosophy than the rest of the state that emphasizes hunter opportunity rather than optimizing the resource and quality component of said hunting opportunity. It's a poor trade off in my opinion but then it may be a better fit for what hunters in that area are looking for.
across the river
Senior Member
I would agree with this. Get the WMA maps off of the DNR site and pick a couple near you. Now is a great time to go walk and put some miles on your boots. Old scrapes and rubs give you and idea of where deer were, at least earlier in the season. Current sign can indicate where deer like to hang out late in the year. You can find potential bedding areas and food sources(acorns, clear cut, etc….). Note what you find and it gives you a place to start next year before the season without having to start from scratch.
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dang
DANG !!!
Ill also add that most folks consistently killing big deer are doing it in or in close proximity to thick cover. This can be overwhelming in the south because generally speaking most everything here is thicker than most areas of the country. You won’t find a better time of year to go out and identify those areas. It can be challenging in late spring and summer when everything greens up, but if it’s thick now you can bet your last dollar it’s gonna be thick as crap come September and the deer will hole up there when the pressure gets on. Leaf off is my favorite time to walk some of my best areas.
