# New WMA - Gaither WMA



## oldfatbubba (Jul 16, 2018)

Perhaps old news, but another new WMA is opening this year.   Gaither WMA in Newton County gives us public land hunters another 2,100 acres or so.   I've yet to find a map.

Link to announcement on Gaither WMA


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## GTHunter (Jul 16, 2018)

Shhhh don't tell anyone about this. It is 10 minutes from my parent's place on Lake Jackson and I want it all to myself. 

But seriously this is great news. Another public property to explore is always exciting, regardless of location. Thanks GADNR!


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## ABBYS DAD (Jul 16, 2018)

I believe it will open for the 2019 season. 
Excited to burn through 9 priority points for it!


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## oldfatbubba (Jul 17, 2018)

ABBYS DAD said:


> I believe it will open for the 2019 season.
> Excited to burn through 9 priority points for it!



Opens 2018


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## ABBYS DAD (Jul 17, 2018)

Oh wow I need to check the quota hunt system.


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## oldfatbubba (Jul 17, 2018)

Does anyone know if there are pigs on the property?


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## ABBYS DAD (Jul 17, 2018)

Don't see it listed as a Quota Hunt for this season on DNR website.


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## oldfatbubba (Jul 17, 2018)

ABBYS DAD said:


> Don't see it listed as a Quota Hunt for this season on DNR website.



I think because it hasn't been finalized.  According to the document posted by the DNR (linked above), the public can comment on the proposal through July 31.  The DNR board will review those comments and vote on the proposal on Aug 22 @ 9AM.   I assume the Gaither hunts will be added to the quota hunt application system after the deal is  approved by the DNR Board.


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## ABBYS DAD (Jul 17, 2018)

TThey would need to put them on there quick then, I believe the deadline is September 15th.


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## oldfatbubba (Jul 17, 2018)

Sept 1 is the deadline.


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## GTHunter (Jul 18, 2018)

I dont think there are any pigs on this property if it is anything like the nearby land on the ONF and they did not list them as a huntable species in the write up


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## BBond (Jul 19, 2018)

I've added a map and the regulations to a previous forum thread in the Deer forum.
See here:

http://forum.gon.com/threads/gaither-wma-notice-and-synopsis-of-proposed-rule-making.922485/


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## deathfromabove83 (Jul 20, 2018)

Music to my ears boys, even closer than Elliot. Hope all goes as planned


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## cj5 (Jul 26, 2018)

I share land with it, hope this goes good.


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## cj5 (Jul 26, 2018)

oldfatbubba said:


> Does anyone know if there are pigs on the property?


never seen any, been here 8 yrs.


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## JSnake (Jul 30, 2018)

oldfatbubba said:


> Does anyone know if there are pigs on the property?



I hunt some family land very close to it with areas that would have pigs if they were there. Haven't ever seen a pig or sign.


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## Hunter922 (Jul 31, 2018)

We also border it .. where u located. Send pm if needed...


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## Christian hughey (Aug 21, 2018)

Not much closer mile or so on the left before you get to clybel on right looking forward to bowhunting it this year talk to regional gw and they will finalize the deal on the 22nd quota may not go into effect until next season though would be pushing it close for this year but keep your eye on the gawildlife website for changes tomorrow or the next day


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## oldfatbubba (Aug 22, 2018)

Has the DNR started work on interior roads or even put up a sign in front of the property?


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## Christian hughey (Aug 22, 2018)

Not much property I expect it will be foot travel from main roads have not pulled down there to check yet


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## BBond (Aug 23, 2018)

Yesterday the Board approved the property and regulations.

It opens on September 22nd for hunting small game. 

We will be working on boundary and roads soon.  We've met with the county about us fixing a couple of roads and hopefully they will be getting worked soon.

You have to understand that until the Board approved this property we could not start work.


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## jgqhall (Aug 23, 2018)

Bow hunting only I am assuming????


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## BBond (Aug 23, 2018)

No its not all bow hunting.
Please see the attachment.
Thanks
Bobby


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## Christian hughey (Aug 23, 2018)

A little under 2000 acres I would imagine there wouldn't be much interior work needed go around the boundary with a bunch of foot travel only and wma signs and we should be good to hunt. Do you know if they have done the game cam survey of the property yet. When a new wma opens dnr performs this survey. COOL GW's share this info


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## Christian hughey (Aug 23, 2018)

Did a drive by land looks terrible no one would wanna hunt there Lol


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## BBond (Aug 23, 2018)

We only do camera surveys on the larger WMAs (Cedar Creek, Oaky Woods, Big Lazer Creek etc.).  This area we have no plans to conduct camera surveys.


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## Christian hughey (Aug 23, 2018)

Lazers my spot. Keep that one quiet


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## Hunter922 (Aug 23, 2018)

Quota 25....


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## Hunter922 (Aug 30, 2018)

We have 4 hunters with 5-6 priority points each. We will see how many get drawn..


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## Jcsblairsville (Aug 30, 2018)

Is it worth using 5 points on?


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## Christian hughey (Aug 30, 2018)

Property is small may be worth it if you get on first year. I have no points so I will have at the bow hunt. Property is getting a good bit of attention hopefully the nice ones don't get kicked out by a bunch of folks scouting it. Rut hunt should be on point though. See how it goes, good luck


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## Hunter922 (Aug 31, 2018)

For us yes. We have a few private hunting properties that  border this WMA.. So we will be able to hunt both..plus i haven't applied for a Quota in 3-4 years..


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## tonyrittenhouse (Sep 3, 2018)

Me and my wife got drawn for the first gun hunt Nov. 2-4 hope this is a good place to hunt. I don't know anything about the area.


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## Hunter922 (Sep 3, 2018)

We got drawn as well. Hope the weather cooperates.


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## Christian hughey (Sep 3, 2018)

I got drawn for the bow hunt lol


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## Full Draw McGraw (Sep 3, 2018)

Question for anyone who got drawn: how many points did you wager on it? I'm just curious because i got rejected.


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## Christian hughey (Sep 3, 2018)

I'm sure 5 +. Hope it's worth it for you guys. Rode by on my way to work just to check out the area, looks decent. Looks to be a patch of county public works land. You guys should do ok the first year. Property has a good deer population and some good ones have been killed in that area. Saw 3 deer riding the road around the wma in the heat of the day.


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## tonyrittenhouse (Sep 3, 2018)

We used 3 points and got drawn


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## Christian hughey (Sep 3, 2018)

Not bad


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## tlee22 (Oct 2, 2018)

My 9 year old is going on the adult child hunt.


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## Christian hughey (Oct 2, 2018)

tlee22 said:


> My 9 year old is going on the adult child hunt.


 Happy to see these young ones bein raised right makes me feel like they might have a chance. Took my boy out to big lazer youth hunt this past week and he took home his first. Nice to see his hard work in the woods and on the range finally pay off. This time of year is an awesome time to take a child and give them an opportunity before everyone blows up the woods and gets the deer on the defense. Just watch for snakes. I always make mine walk right on my heels to prevent him wondering across one.


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## Christian hughey (Oct 2, 2018)

tlee22 said:


> My 9 year old is going on the adult child hunt.





tlee22 said:


> My 9 year old is going on the adult child hunt.


I couldn't believe it!


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## treadwell (Nov 1, 2018)

Good morning folks. I'm pretty sure I overlooked it, spent 20 minutes looking,  but I'm just gonna ask ya'll now. On a sign -in hunt, if I'm fortunate enough to kill a deer, do I need to take it somewhere to have it registered/weighted/whatever, or just mark it on my kill log? Thanks in advance. Hunting the first hunt this weekend.


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## Christian hughey (Nov 1, 2018)

Mark it and call it in. You only need to take them in on check in hunts.


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## treadwell (Nov 1, 2018)

Thanks.


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## mattech (Nov 1, 2018)

Just saw this thread. I got selected for the first hunt starting tomorrow. If anyone is hunting alone feel free to send me a pm and we can swap numbers. Maybe help each other drag or something.


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## Christian hughey (Nov 2, 2018)

I'm interested to hear from someone how the bow hunt went. I missed it. Checked the trail cam on our property and there is a biiiiig buck chilling, and fighting on cam. So I have been a sitting duck this year and haven't done the moving from property to property that I normally do. Gaither is in a good area and if the pressure has been minimal, with good weather I see it being a good year. I have seen a ton of smaller bucks on there feet and a couple that was hard to resist. Good luck out there


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## Jcsblairsville (Nov 2, 2018)

Do deer taken on Gaither quota hunt count against your season limit?


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## Christian hughey (Nov 2, 2018)

If it is a check in hunt no if it is sign in yes


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## BBond (Nov 2, 2018)

All hunts on Gaither are Sign-in hunts and therefore all deer will need to be Game Checked by the hunter.
Good Luck
Bobby


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## Christian hughey (Nov 2, 2018)

Yeah what he said, so the deer will count against your tags


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## mattech (Nov 2, 2018)

Anyone have any luck today. I heard several shots this evening but only saw part of a deer while climbing down.


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## tonyrittenhouse (Nov 4, 2018)

Just got home from the hunt and was really disappointed. First off we were told the closest camping would be Charlie Elliot which is fine it is only a couple of miles away. Since we had never been to Charlie Elliot we road down a week before the hunt and found the camping area. So, we left the day before the hunt on Gaither and arrived before daylight Thursday morning at the campground only to find it was full. There was a hunt going on at Charlie Elliot the same time the Gaither hunt was going on. We did manage to find small enough place to put our tent but man we were tight against other people. I scouted all day Thursday and did find some good rubs but I also found two wooden tree stands that have been there for a while and a metal ladder stand. Also found some bright eyes in different places that looked to be a couple of years old. I talked to a guy that lives across the road from the wma he was out walking his dog just to see if he could give me any ideas were he had seen deer. He told me that until this year after they made it a wma that the property was pretty well open to everybody to hunt. Well, I got my stand up Thursday evening. I came back Friday and set through the rain at 10.30 a.m. I looked to my left and saw a deer move through a small clearing and disappear  . I set in my stand from 6 a.m. till dark. When I came out the game warden was pulled in behind me and checked my license. I told him I appreciated him checking me and doing his job. He said the only deer that he saw that had came off the area that day was a small six point. I came back Saturday and was in my stand at 6 a.m. again at 10:38 a.m. I saw a deer move through the same clearing as the day before. This time I was ready and shot it. It was a big doe she probably dressed 100 pounds. I pulled her close to the road and dressed her. I came back at 2 p.m. and sat till dark. This morning I moved about 100 yards on down the holler I was hunting to another tree that I had picked as my second choice. I hunted till 1 p.m. and came out without seeing anything. My wife and I were packing our tent up at Charlie Elliot when a different warden stopped and talked to us and ask how the hunt went. I told him I did not think Gaither was what they  made out to be. He said he agreed. He said they are deer on the place but not the size and numbers like it had been made out to be. He also said the county had a  affidavit with them years ago to prosecute anybody for trespassing. But county officials would turn around and give some county workers permission to go hunt. I will say this to anyone else that has got drawn. Don't get your expectations up to high. This place has been hunted expect it to be like any other public hunting for the area. If I had known what it was like I would not have wasted my rejection points. I don't plan on going back. But, at least I got to hunt for 3 days instead of work.


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## Christian hughey (Nov 4, 2018)

A bad day in the woods beats a good day at work anytime!!!


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## treadwell (Nov 5, 2018)

Shot a 17" 8 pt Friday evening. Saw 3 other small bucks Sat morning and a doe. To thick to get a shot at the doe. My buddy wanted to move to another spot at noon Sat. He had already passed two small 8 pts. I had a 6 pt walk under me at 2:30, sounded like it got killed 10 minutes later. No shots heard anywhere within hearing after that. He had a buck chase a doe by him at 2;00 pm. I'd go back in a heartbeat.


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## mattech (Nov 6, 2018)

I killed a doe Sunday morning but wasn't really impressed for the amount of points I used


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## BASS1FUN (Nov 6, 2018)

I wasn’t impressed either, I scouted it and had cameras out for 2 weeks unfortunately 2 (Cuddeback) stopped working after a few days but 1 was still going but all the bucks were scrub bucks except 1 decent 6pt so I didn’t bother bow hunting it


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## tbrown913 (Nov 8, 2018)

I hunt family land that borders the wma. The new road they put in really screwed up travel patterns since they just laid trees over and didn't make any piles or cut them up. There were a ton of shots from one group, I would say at least 8 shots from the same rifle(pretty unique sound and was probably 500 yards away from me) between Saturday and Sunday. The roads I normally hunt and see a bunch of deer on I only saw 3 in 3 hunts.


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## cj5 (Nov 1, 2019)

Hunter922 said:


> We also border it .. where u located. Send pm if needed...


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## cj5 (Nov 1, 2019)

On gaithers side, all this property, these people drive past all of it to my boundary, I’m lost, are they scared of the woods?


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## antharper (Nov 23, 2019)

cj5 said:


> On gaithers side, all this property, these people drive past all of it to my boundary, I’m lost, are they scared of the woods?


Everyone knows the property lines are the best place to hunt !


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