# Big Bear Poached



## Joe Brandon (Jan 5, 2021)

Any of yall see that huge 600 +- bear that was poached in Grady County? Huge bear, beautiful healthy male. Unfortunate it was poached.


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## gobbleinwoods (Jan 5, 2021)

Not seen it.


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## DeucesWild (Jan 5, 2021)

Yep. Saw it on DNR's facebook page. It was a nice un!


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## Nicodemus (Jan 5, 2021)

Big one. Not far from my cabin.


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## Joe Brandon (Jan 5, 2021)

Nicodemus said:


> Big one. Not far from my cabin.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Man I hate that. Sad it was taken that way. At least a needing family will get to be fed by it!


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## GSUbackwoods (Jan 5, 2021)

Killed by a FL boy


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## oppthepop (Jan 5, 2021)

Nicodemus said:


> Big one. Not far from my cabin.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Man what a great bear and what a shame it was done in that way.


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## Sautee Ridgerunner (Jan 5, 2021)

The guy tried to call it in thinking he had made a legal kill.


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## twoheartedale (Jan 5, 2021)

Sautee Ridgerunner said:


> The guy tried to call it in thinking he had made a legal kill.



Does it sound an honest mistake?  Was it over bait?  At night? Or did the hunter forget to wear an orange vest?  All punishable by extreme fines and penalties in the Great State of Georgia!  I bet he might even get a slap on the wrist this time.


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## Raylander (Jan 5, 2021)

That’s a big bear, no doubt about it..


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## bilgerat (Jan 5, 2021)

twoheartedale said:


> Does it sound an honest mistake?  Was it over bait?  At night? Or did the hunter forget to wear an orange vest?  All punishable by extreme fines and penalties in the Great State of Georgia!  I bet he might even get a slap on the wrist this time.


I dont think Grady is  a legal county for bear


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## twoheartedale (Jan 5, 2021)

bilgerat said:


> I dont think Grady is  a legal county for bear



Ah.  That would me a big no-no.


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## Nicodemus (Jan 5, 2021)

bilgerat said:


> I dont think Grady is  a legal county for bear




It`s not. None of the Southwest Georgia counties have a bear season.


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## twoheartedale (Jan 5, 2021)

Nicodemus said:


> It`s not. None of the Southwest Georgia counties have a bear season.



Ignorance is no excuse for the law, but I'd be willing to bet if he called to report the kill they might go lenient on him/her.


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## trad bow (Jan 5, 2021)

twoheartedale said:


> Ignorance is no excuse for the law, but I'd be willing to bet if he called to report the kill they might go lenient on him/her.


Doubt it. A guy killed one in Putnam several years ago claiming it attacked him and called it in. DNR investigation proved otherwise. This county not open for bear either. He paid a heavy fine.


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## Ray357 (Jan 5, 2021)

I ain't got no real plans of shooting me a burr. If I did, it would be on my land in a legal county.


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## chrislibby88 (Jan 5, 2021)

trad bow said:


> Doubt it. A guy killed one in Putnam several years ago claiming it attacked him and called it in. DNR investigation proved otherwise. This county not open for bear either. He paid a heavy fine.


There’s a difference in being ignorant of the regulations (attempting to call in and tag a bear) and killing one, lying that it “attacked” you. The whole attack lie shows that he knew it was illegal, and tried to cover his tracks.


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## 280 Man (Jan 5, 2021)

What a shame, regardless of criminal intent or not. That big ol boy had seen many winters.


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## Joe Brandon (Jan 5, 2021)

Anyone have any idea of his age based on his size and teeth in the photo? Also @Nicodemus what do you reckon he was eating over there near you and is there  a decent bear population there or figure he was passing by?


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## Sautee Ridgerunner (Jan 5, 2021)

Im sure it came up out of Florida. Their bear population is enormous.  

Oddly enough, so is their deer population.......


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## Nicodemus (Jan 5, 2021)

Joe Brandon said:


> Anyone have any idea of his age based on his size and teeth in the photo? Also @Nicodemus what do you reckon he was eating over there you and is there a decent bear population there or figure he was passing by?




One of their major food sources down here is swamp palmetto berries. The river swamps usually have good hard mast crops too. 

As the bear population steadily climbs in north Florida and the Panhandle, Southwest Georgia is getting the overflow.


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## Nicodemus (Jan 5, 2021)

twoheartedale said:


> Ignorance is no excuse for the law, but I'd be willing to bet if he called to report the kill they might go lenient on him/her.





I kinda doubt that.


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## Browning Slayer (Jan 5, 2021)

Nicodemus said:


> I kinda doubt that.


Yep. I've come across many of small bucks scouting the following year at BF Grant that were just under the legal marks for the WMA. 

Ground shrinkage at it's finest. 

And I know they didn't all die from natural causes.


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## 280 Man (Jan 5, 2021)

twoheartedale said:


> Ignorance is no excuse for the law, but I'd be willing to bet if he called to report the kill they might go lenient on him/her.



I highly doubt, those LEO's are gonna bow their heads and say, "we thank you for what we are about to receive"


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## lampern (Jan 5, 2021)

Florida doesn't have an enormous bear population.

They had to close it to hunting for years.

Sad this bear was illegally killed


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## Raylander (Jan 5, 2021)

lampern said:


> Florida doesn't have an enormous bear population.
> 
> They had to close it to hunting for years.



They had a season for 2 or 3 years bout 5 years back. Then it came up for renewal, and the antis stormed the proposition. It’s a shame too, they have enough bears and I can guarantee you there are some true HEAVYWEIGHTS in the Ocala NF..


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## Nicodemus (Jan 6, 2021)

lampern said:


> Florida doesn't have an enormous bear population.
> 
> They had to close it to hunting for years.
> 
> Sad this bear was illegally killed




Florida has more bears than Georgia. The reason for no bear hunting there now is pure politics, bunny huggers, and idiots.


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## C.Killmaster (Jan 6, 2021)

Nicodemus said:


> I kinda doubt that.



You probably won't escape a ticket by turning yourself in, but you can sure limit the number of charges by doing so.  They can charge you with this if you knowingly fail to report an accidental illegal kill.

*§ 27-1-31. Unlawful possession or use of wildlife; unlawful concealment*
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to make use of or possess any wildlife or parts thereof which he knows or reasonably should have known have been taken or possessed contrary to any of the wildlife laws, rules, and regulations.
(b) It shall also be unlawful for any person to conceal the taking or possessing of wildlife by himself or any other person, whether by accident or otherwise, if the person concealing the taking or possessing knows or reasonably should have known that the wildlife has been taken or possessed illegally.


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## blood on the ground (Jan 6, 2021)

Nicodemus said:


> Big one. Not far from my cabin.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Is there a season down that way? I know some south GA county's have a short season.


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## Nicodemus (Jan 6, 2021)

blood on the ground said:


> Is there a season down that way? I know some south GA county's have a short season.




Just over east of here around The Swamp and Waycross they do, but there`s no season anywhere here around Southwest Georgia.


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## blood on the ground (Jan 6, 2021)

Nicodemus said:


> Just over east of here around The Swamp and Waycross they do, but there`s no season anywhere here around Southwest Georgia.


You ever see them when you are slipping around? 
In 09 down in Washington co I had one cross a dirt road in front of me early one morning.


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## Nicodemus (Jan 6, 2021)

blood on the ground said:


> You ever see them when you are slipping around?
> In 09 down in Washington co I had one cross a dirt road in front of me early one morning.




I saw one on Silver Lake WMA while I was turkey hunting back about 7 or 9 years a go. Found sign on Lake Seminole WMA about a mile from my cabin several years ago. Two years ago one crossed Highway 98 in front of us at 2:30 in the afternoon. Maybe 4 miles east of Indian Pass Raw Bar.


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## jiminbogart (Jan 7, 2021)

Nicodemus said:


> It`s not. None of the Southwest Georgia counties have a bear season.




What's the bear population like down there?

If it's low, what is it low?

I always read it's exploding in Florida.


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## twoheartedale (Jan 7, 2021)

Nicodemus said:


> I kinda doubt that.



Heard there is past history with this hunter, I am sure they will toss the book at him now.


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## oldways (Jan 7, 2021)

I heard they put it on facebook that's how the warden found out about...


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## oldways (Jan 7, 2021)

there's a few pass by us I know there was one on River Creek WMA a few years back they come up out the National forest land down around Tallassee. I shore hate to see ol big boy like him get killed that way..


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## twoheartedale (Jan 7, 2021)

oldways said:


> I heard they put it on facebook that's how the warden found out about...



Seems to be a common theme lately.


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## Buckman18 (Jan 7, 2021)

I wouldn't want a ticket for an old shaggy, thats potentially a visit to federal court.


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## Thunder Head (Jan 7, 2021)

Posting on fakebook,

 People are constantly posting illegal stuff on fakebook. My brother lived two hoses down from a game warden in Ky. He said the were surfing social media all the time looking for dummies posting stuff. You cant fix stupid.


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## buckpasser (Jan 7, 2021)

FWIW, bears aren’t really a rare occurrence in Decatur, Grady, Thomas, Colquitt, Brooks, or the counties that do allow hunting. IMO there SHOULD be a legal season statewide and if you kill one you kill one.  Wildlife management IS NOT the reason for the season being closed in N FL. 

@C.Killmaster, what’s the point of such segregated and select hunting areas in GA?  Is the state encouraging an increased population or are the regs just reactive to the population where it exists?


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## campboy (Jan 7, 2021)

Nicodemus said:


> I saw one on Silver Lake WMA while I was turkey hunting back about 7 or 9 years a go. Found sign on Lake Seminole WMA about a mile from my cabin several years ago. Two years ago one crossed Highway 98 in front of us at 2:30 in the afternoon. Maybe 4 miles east of Indian Pass Raw Bar.



Nic I saw a good sized bear cross the road on the cape near the military installation late spring 2008. Man I miss that place!!


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## C.Killmaster (Jan 7, 2021)

buckpasser said:


> FWIW, bears aren’t really a rare occurrence in Decatur, Grady, Thomas, Colquitt, Brooks, or the counties that do allow hunting. IMO there SHOULD be a legal season statewide and if you kill one you kill one.  Wildlife management IS NOT the reason for the season being closed in N FL.
> 
> @C.Killmaster, what’s the point of such segregated and select hunting areas in GA?  Is the state encouraging an increased population or are the regs just reactive to the population where it exists?



I'm not the bear biologist, so you'll have to take what I say with a grain of salt.  From what I know, the 3 bear populations (North, Middle, Southeast) are completely independent genetically and each is independently subject to a genetic bottleneck.  Even though some bears roam all over the place, there just isn't enough mixture to keep them from being somewhat inbred.  That basically means that you can't let the population get too low in any one of the 3 or they will have issues with inbreeding, especially the middle GA population.  As to why we don't have bear season in more counties adjacent to good bear populations, I honestly don't know.


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## Sautee Ridgerunner (Jan 7, 2021)

I understand that one on river creek a few years back ate about every bluebird box on the property.  
Yeah florida is stuffed with bears. Im not fresh on the numbers but I think their quota for the hunt a few years ago was like 400 animals. They reached that in like a day. 

Backcountry Hunters and Anglers is actively working to get a bear season back down there.


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## Nicodemus (Jan 7, 2021)

jiminbogart said:


> What's the bear population like down there?
> 
> If it's low, what is it low?
> 
> I always read it's exploding in Florida.





I`m not qualified to answer that. Other than Seminole, Lee, and Early Counties, I`m not on enough other properties any more to know what the bear population is. I do know that the Panhandle has a sizable population of bears, and they have some as big as they grow.


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## cowhornedspike (Jan 7, 2021)

buckpasser said:


> FWIW, bears aren’t really a rare occurrence in Decatur, Grady, Thomas, Colquitt, Brooks, or the counties that do allow hunting. IMO there SHOULD be a legal season statewide and if you kill one you kill one.  Wildlife management IS NOT the reason for the season being closed in N FL.
> 
> @C.Killmaster, what’s the point of such segregated and select hunting areas in GA?  Is the state encouraging an increased population or are the regs just reactive to the population where it exists?



Was told at one of the DNR meetings by John Bowers that it had to do with the long repopulation time and age needed for a bear to breed.  I don't remember the details but it was similar to this that I just googled.
Basically, bears don't recover from low populations quickly and it takes a strong population for them to not be overhunted.

"Females generally *breed* for the first time at 3 to 6 years of *age* and will give birth every other year. *Age* of sexual maturity for both males and females is largely dependent on habitat quality. Females come into estrus as early as late May and as late as August with the peak of *breeding* taking place in July."


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## buckpasser (Jan 7, 2021)

Well, I’m hopeful based on the two state answers here that the long term plan may be more bear hunting in Georgia at some point in the future.


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## buckpasser (Jan 7, 2021)

C.Killmaster said:


> I'm not the bear biologist, so you'll have to take what I say with a grain of salt.  From what I know, the 3 bear populations (North, Middle, Southeast) are completely independent genetically and each is independently subject to a genetic bottleneck.  Even though some bears roam all over the place, there just isn't enough mixture to keep them from being somewhat inbred.  That basically means that you can't let the population get too low in any one of the 3 or they will have issues with inbreeding, especially the middle GA population.  As to why we don't have bear season in more counties adjacent to good bear populations, I honestly don't know.



As usual, your post drips with good information!  The only thing puzzling is that it really seems the NGA and SGA populations would be infinitely supplied by the large populations in the neighboring states.  I guess the central group could need a little more regulation. My original post just comes from frustration. Bears in my area are killed despite the law. They will always be treated this way by people with broken and raided deer feeders and it would probably be beneficial to just go ahead and embrace the hunting of them here too.  I don’t see them being allowed to populate to the point of success anyway.


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## C.Killmaster (Jan 7, 2021)

buckpasser said:


> As usual, your post drips with good information!  The only thing puzzling is that it really seems the NGA and SGA populations would be infinitely supplied by the large populations in the neighboring states.  I guess the central group could need a little more regulation. My original post just comes from frustration. Bears in my area are killed despite the law. They will always be treated this way by people with broken and raided deer feeders and it would probably be beneficial to just go ahead and embrace the hunting of them here too.  I don’t see them being allowed to populate to the point of success anyway.



I think it is that way, the north and south populations span state boundaries.  However, I think that the southeast GA population is a different population from the one in the Florida panhandle and those are what show shows up in SOWEGA.


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## oldways (Jan 8, 2021)

Sautee Ridgerunner said:


> I understand that one on river creek a few years back ate about every bluebird box on the property.
> Yeah florida is stuffed with bears. Im not fresh on the numbers but I think their quota for the hunt a few years ago was like 400 animals. They reached that in like a day.
> 
> Backcountry Hunters and Anglers is actively working to get a bear season back down there.


Yes sir I saw a picture of it and know a fellow that during the archery hunt got the cushion chew up and out of his summit but he was using vanilla extract for cover scent and left his stand in the tree over night surprise the next morning...


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## cracker4112 (Jan 8, 2021)

We got bears all over FL, from north to south.  There is no hunting here simply because of politics. The last bear hunt a few years ago, the week long season was closed after one day since the quota was reached that quickly (meaning we have more bears than they thought IMO).  The next year, the FWC staff/biologists recommended another hunt and the commissioners voted against their own staff recommendations because our governor was running for the senate and didn't want to deal with the antis in an election year (our commisioners are appointed by the governor and are political allies).

I walked up on this one while turkey hunting in Glades County.


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## Para Bellum (Jan 17, 2021)

lampern said:


> Florida doesn't have an enormous bear population.
> 
> They had to close it to hunting for years.
> 
> Sad this bear was illegally killed



Take a hike through Tate’s ****.  Lots of bears.


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## Nicodemus (Jan 17, 2021)

Metro Trout said:


> Take a hike through Tate’s ****.  Lots of bears.




Yessir, there`s a pile of em all through there.


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## Danuwoa (Jan 17, 2021)

Nicodemus said:


> Just over east of here around The Swamp and Waycross they do, but there`s no season anywhere here around Southwest Georgia.


Sometimes I wish enough of them would come up from Florida that we could have a season here.  Then I remember people thinking that about hogs and how that turned out.


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## Danuwoa (Jan 17, 2021)

Found this while I was turkey scouting on Big Lazer Creek WMA about a year ago.  Thought it was just a lighting strike when I first saw it but closer examination proved otherwise.  No bear season there.


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