Warwoman Bear Firearm Opener AAR: I've got questions

[GSPEED]

Interesting. I wonder why. Seems like a great habitat. Seems like there is plenty of water, food, shelter, and human density seems low.

Rabun was 16,Habersham was 118 and Hall was over 300. Rabun is mostly public land between Forest service and Georgia power, probably around 80%, so the farther from public land the more game. Warwoman was a great place to hunt but between coyotes, bears, habitat and all the doe days years ago it’s done. Bad part is it’s still one of the better WMAs in North Georgia if you look at the harvest records.

 

[ddd-shooter]

Interesting. I wonder why. Seems like a great habitat. Seems like there is plenty of water, food, shelter, and human density seems low.

Strike out the food and shelter part.
Old growth hardwood stands provide little of either, except acorns part of the year.
Nothing on the forest floor for browse or cover. This leads to tough years when the acorn crop is weak, and bad fawn recruitment all the time because there is poor fawning cover.

 

[GSPEED]

Strike out the food and shelter part.
Old growth hardwood stands provide little of either, except acorns part of the year.
Nothing on the forest floor for browse or cover. This leads to tough years when the acorn crop is weak, and bad fawn recruitment all the time because there is poor fawning cover.

Sorry but you’ve been listening to the DNR. Deer are herbivores and can eat a lot of different vegetation and no we don’t have habitat like we did 25-30 years ago because of no clear cutting but it’s not all habitat. If it’s habitat and predators like they say then why do we still have 4 months of deer season and 12 tags on public land. Stopping doe days after we’ve killed everything isn’t going to do anything. We have ivy and larual thickets along where it’s been burn for several years for cover. Fawn survival study was 20% so if there’s 10 deer that’s 2 but if we had 10,000 that’s 2000 so maybe we should have stopped doe days a long time ago. I live here and can see deer in subdivisions or golf courses that’s private land but the farther you get away from them the less you’ll see. Go on Game check and look at northern county’s and look at the difference between public and private as 30 deer has been checked in Rabun with 12 on public and 18 on private with public being about 80% of the county. Towns county has 63 with only 3 on public and Union has 254 with only 10 on public. See a trend?

 

[ddd-shooter]

Sorry but you’ve been listening to the DNR. Deer are herbivores and can eat a lot of different vegetation and no we don’t have habitat like we did 25-30 years ago because of no clear cutting but it’s not all habitat. If it’s habitat and predators like they say then why do we still have 4 months of deer season and 12 tags on public land. Stopping doe days after we’ve killed everything isn’t going to do anything. We have ivy and larual thickets along where it’s been burn for several years for cover. Fawn survival study was 20% so if there’s 10 deer that’s 2 but if we had 10,000 that’s 2000 so maybe we should have stopped doe days a long time ago. I live here and can see deer in subdivisions or golf courses that’s private land but the farther you get away from them the less you’ll see. Go on Game check and look at northern county’s and look at the difference between public and private as 30 deer has been checked in Rabun with 12 on public and 18 on private with public being about 80% of the county. Towns county has 63 with only 3 on public and Union has 254 with only 10 on public. See a trend?

I’m pretty sure we agree. Except I am glad we’ve stopped doe days. It will help. It was too late. I don’t think that’s arguable.

 

[GSPEED]

Went to Warwoman today and walked around for a few hours started thinking about open canopy in North Georgia that everyone has mentioned so here’s some pics of where I went. Yes there’s open hardwoods but ride down any Forest service road and pick a spot and try walking for one mile in a straight line and see if you still think it’s open hardwoods. When we had fires up here a few years ago talked with some of the fire fighters that was from out west and they said this was the toughest country they had ever worked. We’ve got fawning cover just nothing to use it.

 

[tree cutter 08]

Went to Warwoman today and walked around for a few hours started thinking about open canopy in North Georgia that everyone has mentioned so here’s some pics of where I went. Yes there’s open hardwoods but ride down any Forest service road and pick a spot and try walking for one mile in a straight line and see if you still think it’s open hardwoods. When we had fires up here a few years ago talked with some of the fire fighters that was from out west and they said this was the toughest country they had ever worked. We’ve got fawning cover just nothing to use it.

Thousands upon thousands of acres of hot fires in northeast ga has created prime whitetail habitat across the board. Fawning cover and browse everywhere. Does were just killed out to the point where they can't return on there own because of the bears and yotes. If we could get some brought in just to try. If it worked one time it would work again. We need a ranger woody to take action and get something done. We've got the best habitat we've had in years. No it's not like that everywhere but the places it is take advantage of the opportunity at hand to try.

 

[mallardsx2]

I hunted Chestatee last year and found it to be pretty much void of game. I did see a several year old "Rub line" that would have potentially been worth sitting but it was on a side hill and the wind what swirling everywhere (Which was probably why the deer were using it...)

 

[jrmcc]

.

 

[ChidJ]

thats fair. Certainly seems to be plenty of the type of habitat you are describing in that region haha

That being said, I'm still going back next year. Its too cool of an area not to go up and get an extra week of early gun hunting in

 

[GSPEED]

Great habitat can be deceiving. what you picture as prime habit may be mature oaks, laurel thickets, and waterfalls.

What the deer/bear up here see as great habitat is a subdivision full of out of state retirees that let them pick in their gardens, flowers, back yards, and get fed year round while be fully protected by 20 sets of eyes and posted signs.

Hard to turn down a corn feeder, bird feeder, cut grass, and briars/brambles associated with land clearing and maintnance for a ridge top that may or may not have a good acorn crop.

Iv seen plenty of deer that would rather pick acorns up off a paved driveway as apposed to running the ridge tops. I think sometimes they even feel safer from predators when they stay in close to the houses.

First I agree with everything you said. But WMAs have signs on them same as posted signs, what we don’t have is eyes on them anymore. Warwoman hasn’t had a doe day in 10 years and there’s fewer now than 10 years ago because of all the doe days years ago as tree cutter said. Looks like only 1 deer was checked on last weeks rifle hunt. If you could hunt in those subdivisions same as public land or WMAs there wouldn’t be any there either. No we don’t have great habitat but it’s not like it’s a desert either.

 

[Doug B.]

I told the game warden that was over Warwoman when they started the doe days that having the doe days was going to wipe out our deer herd. He said "no, it won't hurt the population at all". I grew up on Warwoman. I've never seen the deer population as low as it is right now and I blame it on the doe days. I know there are other factors, but, if you kill does you won't have bucks!

 

[deermaster13]

Very interesting thread. We used to stay at Sarahs creek almost every other weekend back in the mid 90's. Always seen deer in there. It got to be too crowded so it's been almost 10 years since I've been in there.

 

[chrislibby88]

I hunted Chestatee last year and found it to be pretty much void of game. I did see a several year old "Rub line" that would have potentially been worth sitting but it was on a side hill and the wind what swirling everywhere (Which was probably why the deer were using it...)

90% of Chestatee or any mountain WMA is void of game 90% of the time. There’s those 10% pockets that hold deer though. I see deer or bump deer every time I’m up there, but it took me several years and dozens of steep miles to figure out where they were. I think between my brother and I we saw 6 does and 2 bucks last year on the December hunt. The does I saw were all mature. My brother saw a nanny and yearling though. I’ve seen 4 bucks in 4 years hunting up there. 3 were 3.5 or way older, and only one spike. The mountains are awesome if you wanna watch squirrels and maybe get a brief opportunity at a very old deer, the mountains are terrible if you wanna see lots of deer doing deer stuff.

 

[mallardsx2]

I hunt the Chattahoochee a lot. I am well aware. lol

Its pretty. Pretty void of game. lol Lots of hogs though.

 

[Robust Redhorse]

Warwoman is better for deer than hogs or bears. Much better WMA's if your goal is bear.

 

[Doug B.]

Warwoman is better for deer than hogs or bears. Much better WMA's if your goal is bear.

Warwoman is better for hogs than deer or bear!