# Looking for info from a local



## Hunter454 (Jul 18, 2013)

My stepdad and I are planning to try and hunt Cohutta during bow season, I've been reading a lot on here and studying a topo map of the WMA, am I reading it right that theres basically no roads in the northeast part of the WMA? I see a lot of "trails" up there, are these foot travel only? if that is the case this looks like prime real estate appears to be fairly high and off the beaten path, any info would be appreciated since we won't be able to make a trip up there to do pre-season scouting this time


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## trial&error (Jul 20, 2013)

Not local but been through that area.  Yes foot travel only.  Rough steep country 1 mile feels like 10 miles.


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## NC Scout (Jul 20, 2013)

*Relentless Country*

The Cohuttas will find every hole in your hunting game and make you earn a bear/deer/hog.  Be thoroughly prepared for a wild, backwoods hunting adventure in the worst possible conditions.  1 mile = 10.... in good weather.  There's no doubt you'll come home with some great hunting stories.  Good luck!


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## Hunter454 (Jul 20, 2013)

Thanks guys, we hit chattahoochee two years ago and we were definitely not prepared, we're from middle and south Georgia and did not have enough clothes or know how for the trip, we think we know what to look for now, we can't wait to get back up there and hopefully let the air out of something with our bows hope to see some of y'all out there, y'all holler if you need help dragging one out (I know I will lol)
Good luck and happy hunting


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## tree cutter 08 (Jul 21, 2013)

Start walking now to get conditioned. No hills down south so you may want to run, with a pack. If you go deep you'll have easy 50 lb of gear on your back at minimum. Also a good pair of boots


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## Hunter454 (Jul 21, 2013)

I'm gonna start running some hills here in Macon, I have a little bit of an advantage over my step dad since I work for the police department I'm used to toting 40+extra pounds every where I go so hopefully I won't have too much trouble with it, the biggest problem we had last time was lack of knowledge, I've been keeping up with this forum since and think I'm ready this time


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## ProphesyMountainHunter (Jul 21, 2013)

There are a lot of bears in Cohutta. Also, the toughest hunting there is. There is 90,000 acres, as you know I know. It's huge. So much land to try to take in, in a short amount of time. It is a good thing that you have narrowed down an area. My advice would be to walk a foot only trail, or even a old logging road until you started seeing some sign: dropping, tracks, tore up logs. Then, go and find a high (above laurels) saddle, small strip of land where two mountain meet. Then, just sit on that or even do some still hunting around. But be sure to move very slow. The animals are very skittish, they will bolt at the first wiff or sight of something out of the norm.  Good luck!


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## Marlin_444 (Jul 21, 2013)

Comfy Boots, GPS; Weapon and Pack a Lunch...  

Stay all day, enjoy! 

Ron


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## Hunter454 (Jul 22, 2013)

We had a "scouting session" on the phone last night, we each looked at our maps and compared notes, as Marlin 444 said we decided to pack a camelback bag with a lunch  and spend the day out there, planning to park at one of the parking areas and take one of the trails out into what appears to be the middle of nowhere and hopefully find something that most are too lazy to get to lol, thanks for all the great info guys hopefully we'll be successful this year


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## brandonsc (Jul 22, 2013)

its either up or down theres not much flat land there and make sure your boots are broke in good before going


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## andlan17 (Jul 23, 2013)

prepare for rain because it will rain in cohutta...it always rains in cohutta


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## Unicoidawg (Jul 23, 2013)

andlan17 said:


> prepare for rain because it will rain in cohutta...it always rains in cohutta



Not really........ sometimes that rain is in the form of snow.


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## Russdaddy (Jul 23, 2013)

Have a back up plan.. always a chance that where you plan to start will have 3, 4, or 8 trucks parked  there. always good to have a plan a, b, or c.


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## Russdaddy (Jul 23, 2013)

Oh yeah and watch out for mountain bikers and other city folk. They like to go for nature walks during hunting season with no orange on..


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## NC Scout (Jul 23, 2013)

*Contingencies*

Make contingency plans.  Unless you drop him, chances of his death bolt being in the direction of your vehicle rather than towards high, steep cliffs only that bear knew existed is about as good as your chance of winning lottery. Deer cart can be mighty handy getting big bear out of rugged terrain. Manpower is good, horsepower is better.  

Between the slope and long shadows, shots, like bears, will take on misleading optical qualities in the Cohuttas. Shots in steep sloping terrain require massive trajectory corrections.


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## Russdaddy (Jul 23, 2013)

NC Scout said:


> Make contingency plans.  Unless you drop him, chances of his death bolt being in the direction of your vehicle rather than towards high, steep cliffs only that bear knew existed is about as good as your chance of winning lottery. Deer cart can be mighty handy getting big bear out of rugged terrain. Manpower is good, horsepower is better.
> 
> Between the slope and long shadows, shots, like bears, will take on misleading optical qualities in the Cohuttas. Shots in steep sloping terrain require massive trajectory corrections.



Good info but be carefull w/ the cart. No carts allowed in the wilderness area.


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## NC Scout (Jul 23, 2013)

*Really?*

Thought it read no motorized vehicles?

Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do....


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## NC Scout (Jul 23, 2013)

*GA DNR says*

yes, you can take a non-motorized deer cart into Wilderness to retrieve your kill.  770-535-5499  is their # for anyone wanting to verify


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## Russdaddy (Jul 23, 2013)

take the cart at your own risk  if it has wheels it aint allowed according to local game wardens..If you can get them to give you a by, I would recomend bringing one, but this bridge has been crossed before

I called the # posted also, conversation went like this:

Me: I was hoping you could help settle some confusion concerning a regulation, specificly can a non motorized game cart be used in the wilderness area of Cohutta WMA.

Lady who answered: I actually had a call about this today, and I am pretty sure you can, I asked my SGT.

Me: Great, can I have your Sgts name just in case I am questioned on the use of this item.

Lady who answered: Umm hold just a second....couple minutes later ...Sir Let me transfer you to Game Management they can provide more in formation...followed by lots of rings and no answer.....


The point of all this is that I can assure this is a rule that is open to alot of discretion and that area is patroled heavily. I would not bring the cart. I am no expert, but I know this has been brought up nearly every year and they will write a ticket for it.


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## Hunter454 (Jul 23, 2013)

Hopefully the cart deal will work out, we actually just bought one, we might have to do the ole tarp trick if the cart is outlawed, if they allow bicycles then I would think a cart would be fine??? Just my .02, I know all to well how animals like to run away from the truck, if there's a hill or gulley near by I look there first for my deer lol, thanks for all the knowledge guys it's been super helpful, keep it coming I'm dreaming about climbing hills already lol


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## Etoncathunter (Jul 23, 2013)

I spoke to them about this last year. I spoke to DNR officer Jones up here on Cohutta. The rule is NO wheeled items in the wilderness period. *Unless it is on a designated mountain bike trail.* That is motorized or human powered. He did say a drag like a dead sled or the like is legal. To be honest I'd rather have one of those anyways unless I get lucky and kill something right on a trail.


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## NC Scout (Jul 23, 2013)

*If in Doubt...*

drag him out...

Regardless of the cart debate, having a contingency plan for extracting your bear is the most important thing next to killing him in the 1st place.  If he's hanging off the side of the cliff, lots of sharp knives will whittle him down to size.


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## 24on48hunting (Jul 23, 2013)

Pack him out. Debone the meat. I asked a game warden about the 75 pound issue and he said if you kill him way back in Cohutta and you pack him out deboned, just make sure you still have the skull intact. He said they can tell if a bear would be mature or not by the skull. He said if its marginal like he has seen before, you would be making another trip back in to retrieve whats left of the greasy feller!


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## Hunter454 (Jul 23, 2013)

Ok I'll get a good plan to drag one out and if that doesn't work we'll have 4 sharp knives between us that should get him whittled down to a manageable size/weight


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## triton196 (Jul 24, 2013)

plenty of bears on chestatee and Chattahoochee wma especially on the raven cliff falls area you don't have to walk to far to kill em either they are in the campsites and trashcans nightly. just watch your scent and get on a trail or around some food and hold on they are every where.


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## Woodman@work (Jul 24, 2013)

24on48hunting said:


> Pack him out. Debone the meat. I asked a game warden about the 75 pound issue and he said if you kill him way back in Cohutta and you pack him out deboned, just make sure you still have the skull intact. He said they can tell if a bear would be mature or not by the skull. He said if its marginal like he has seen before, you would be making another trip back in to retrieve whats left of the greasy feller!



It seems that there is a lot of ambiguity regarding bear hunting in GA. The DNR officer to whom I spoke informed me that the packed out bear parts had to weigh 75 pounds. If the entire load does not weigh 75 pounds, there is more hiking in your future.


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## Hunter454 (Jul 24, 2013)

I heard that from a DNR officer when we were at chatahoochee two years ago as well


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## Ajohnson0587 (Jul 24, 2013)

I hunted cohutta last yr and and killed my bear the evening of opening day. Here is the thread, my post is #12.
http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=711569
It was my first yr and man it was a hard 4 day hunt, but I still had a good time and have already started planning thus yrs trip. I'm waiting for them to put up the dates for th bear hunt to I can request the days off from work lol. I work in Macon and commute from Henry county (Tanger outlet exit) and just the drive alone was exhausting to get to cohutta but it was worth it. Hopefully this year will be a different story for this past.


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## Etoncathunter (Jul 24, 2013)

Ajohnson0587 said:


> I'm waiting for them to put up the dates for th bear hunt to I can request the days off from work lol. I work in Macon and commute from Henry county (Tanger outlet exit) and just the drive alone was exhausting to get to cohutta but it was worth it.




Oct 10-13 , Dec 4-8

http://www.georgiawildlife.com/site.../hunting/pdf/regulations/13GAHD-FINAL-LR3.pdf


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## Ajohnson0587 (Jul 24, 2013)

Big thank you, my boss is gonna be mad tomorrow lol


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## Etoncathunter (Jul 24, 2013)

Looks like I'm gonna have to miss the 1st hunt. It's on my long schedule week, and we already have 2 people requesting off that weekend for a wedding.


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## gobbleinwoods (Jul 25, 2013)

What method are you using to hunt and where cohutta or henry county?  The dates are dependent on those facts.


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## Ajohnson0587 (Jul 25, 2013)

No bears in Henry county that I've seen or heard of lol, I was talking about cohutta. No special method, just a lot of walking and looking for bear sign. I set up on a food plot that had a lot a bear sign with in a 500 yard radius, you name it and it was there, Fresh scat, prints, trees that were down had been destroyed, and even the smell in one area where it climbed up a 6' dirt ledge. All of this sign was right on or off the logging road we were using to travel.


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## NC Scout (Jul 25, 2013)

*Bears R Lazy Beast*

They will travel the path of least resistance.  They love logging roads.  If you see turf scars on a tree along a primary trail/road, similar to this;







it will almost always be where a secondary, more obscure trail intersects.

As far as deer carts and poundage.  My experience is that if a game officer sees that you are making a bona-fide effort to comply with the spirit of the law, its highly unlikely he's going to give you a ton of grief.


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