# Oaky Woods Scouting Report



## dtfeld

Was down to Oaky Woods this past week-end.  First time since early 2015.  Sign was much more sparse this trip, and a lot of was not fresh.  DNR guys were at the check station for a  1 day bear hunt, said hog had been pretty slow lately.

We walked a couple of tracts and used the truck to scout for sign in several areas and was fairly disappointed.  There was logging on the north end, and with the drought, the place was pretty dry.  Big and Little Grocery creek were bone dry.

The bottoms near the river and Big Indian Creek were wet and looked like good pig country.  Plenty of acorns around and had been washed up into nice little piles on the banks by the recent rains.  No recent sign found.

We did happen upon a good size black bear estimate 350 lbs (although protected in this WMA) and jumped a doe while scouting some of the other areas.  No hog spotted.

Could it be the drought, logging, hunting or other erradication methods have thinned the heard?


----------



## Big7

They move a LOT if they are not on well established 
crop land. Pnuts and soy beans are best IMO.

Most of the rest are just passing through.

I hunted close to Oaky Woods a few (more) years
ago. Never seen a pig.

Not that many around in Georgia back then.


----------



## Danny Leigh

Look for them in the thickest places you can find. We didn't see much hog sign at Ocmulgee before Thanksgiving but we did see some hogs. 

We were at OW on the last day of the latest hunt and although we didn't see a hog we were after deer and didn't hunt the thickets. 5-6 year clear cuts with lots of briars are hog favorites.


----------



## retiredkilla

D. N. R. wanted the pigs eradicated from public hunting land and they have done a good job of it. I have been hunting pigs on public land for 20 yrs. this year i quit and started deer hunting. back to eating does.....


----------



## ripplerider

Come to the mountains we have plenty. Theyre hard to get up with though.


----------



## dtfeld

There are hogs in the area, reviewed the sign out sheet and looked like a few small ones and a larger one weretaken over the last few months.

I'm sure they are still there but in smaller numbers and size...for now.


----------



## toolmkr20

I'll be down there week after next for the buck only hunt. Last time I was there it rained the whole time and it was miserable with only one buck and one hog checked out that Saturday morning when we left. We saw plenty of fresh sign just no hogs. I was there a few years ago and saw 8 hogs in one morning and took a nice boar, I'm praying for another hunt like that.


----------



## toolmkr20

Well back from Oaky. It rained first morning with extremely high winds on Thursday and Friday. Saturday was the best day but didn't see any pigs. Plenty of good sign though. I did get to see a black bear and that was neat. They're doing a lot of timber cutting down there.


----------



## bfriendly

toolmkr20 said:


> Well back from Oaky. It rained first morning with extremely high winds on Thursday and Friday. Saturday was the best day but didn't see any pigs. Plenty of good sign though. I did get to see a black bear and that was neat. They're doing a lot of timber cutting down there.



I would call seeing a Black bear a Successful hunt I KNOW that was a rush!! I saw one once at Pinelog and it will be a day I'll Never forget.

I dont think they allow Bear hunting there......go figure. 
Glad you had a great time....keep going. It will be that much more rewarding when you close the deal.


----------



## toolmkr20

bfriendly said:


> I would call seeing a Black bear a Successful hunt I KNOW that was a rush!! I saw one once at Pinelog and it will be a day I'll Never forget.
> 
> I dont think they allow Bear hunting there......go figure.
> Glad you had a great time....keep going. It will be that much more rewarding when you close the deal.



Yep it was pretty neat just to see one in the wild like that for sure. I am going to try and make a couple more trips down during small game to try and stalk some. I always enjoy being down there even when the weather is miserable. Just a pretty place down that way.


----------



## fuelman1

I saw a sow bear and her cubs on Oaky Woods years ago. They came right under my stand and stood there eating acorns. The cubs sounded like puppies whining as they were eating. That was a great hunt. As for the pigs, they get scarce during the deer hunts. They go into the thick stuff. Small game season we go down for a few days at a time. The pigs move a lot so you have to be ready to move around to find them. We don't kill pigs every year we go down there but we usually find them. A lot depends on how much rain there's been and if the river has come out of it's banks recently.


----------



## fuelman1

I'm glad I brushed up on the regs. The last 2 years the regs have allowed use of centerfire rifle for taking coyotes during small game season. We and most everyone else we ran into were hunting with our deer rifles during small game season. They changed the rules back to the way they were and you can now only use the gun for whatever is in season. Glad I checked. We would have headed down with deer rifles again. Have to dust off the muzzleloaders and the .22 mag.


----------



## thumper523

fuelman1 said:


> I'm glad I brushed up on the regs. The last 2 years the regs have allowed use of centerfire rifle for taking coyotes during small game season. We and most everyone else we ran into were hunting with our deer rifles during small game season. They changed the rules back to the way they were and you can now only use the gun for whatever is in season. Glad I checked. We would have headed down with deer rifles again. Have to dust off the muzzleloaders and the .22 mag.



If you are on Oaky Woods and you are hunting "Fox and/or Bobcat" , which is in season until Feb 28th, you can use your deer rifle. Hogs are considered "accidental" take during this hunt. Call the region 4 office to clarify if it makes you more comfortable.


----------



## fuelman1

thumper523 said:


> If you are on Oaky Woods and you are hunting "Fox and/or Bobcat" , which is in season until Feb 28th, you can use your deer rifle. Hogs are considered "accidental" take during this hunt. Call the region 4 office to clarify if it makes you more comfortable.



I see that now. They changed the wording. Last couple of years it had specific reference to coyotes. I've called before and spoke with a gal and she confirmed. I'll have to call again. That's for bringing that up.


----------



## bfriendly

Danny Leigh said:


> Look for them in the thickest places you can find. We didn't see much hog sign at Ocmulgee before Thanksgiving but we did see some hogs.
> 
> We were at OW on the last day of the latest hunt and although we didn't see a hog we were after deer and didn't hunt the thickets. 5-6 year clear cuts with lots of briars are hog favorites.





fuelman1 said:


> I see that now. They changed the wording. Last couple of years it had specific reference to coyotes. I've called before and spoke with a gal and she confirmed. I'll have to call again. That's for bringing that up.



It is the Furbearer Hunting Season Reg that lets you use .17 cal and larger centerfire. Make sure you DONT See a special reg under Oaky Woods that says "No Furbearer Hunting". My WMA Pinelog left that off one year, then put it back. It is pretty much always a No Furbearer Hunting WMA, so I carry the .22 mag.

The Special Coyote Hunt at Most WMAs is "Small game weapons only" and that does NOT Include legal furbearer weapons......Just checked and Oaky Woods does NOT say no furbearer hunting so you should be good to go with the big guns during the furbearer season. BUT Oaky does NOT  Allow HOG HUNTING during the Coyote hunt

It also says No Bear Hunting....this is not Typical and Exactly the reason we all must check each WMA Reg individually


----------



## gma1320

Make you sure you have some sort of call with you that you would use to call UN a forbearing species if you are going to use a centerfire rifle


----------



## thumper523

gma1320 said:


> Make you sure you have some sort of call with you that you would use to call UN a forbearing species if you are going to use a centerfire rifle



I use a mouth call " MEEE    OOOW"


----------



## huntingonthefly

On the Dec. deer hunt at Oaky, my buddy n I seen 7 bears. Def. make the trip worthwhile. As for the sightings decrease, illegal baiting sites during the small game dates between the deer hunts from a certain group, likely the *******s. Scouted for 3 days prior to the deer hunt, checking a couple of hotspots. Had to quickly leave them........


----------

