# Public land bear hunting etiquette



## copperheadmike (May 29, 2014)

So, I am thinking about trying my hand at hunting black bear this fall, because I really need another addiction... The problem is, I am not much for still hunting. I am happy to sit down for a bit and watch but you can't get me in a tree stand or ground blind for long before I get restless. 

I really prefer to spot and stalk but wanted to know how this works out in the North Georgia WMAs. Is it frowned upon by other hunters or is it the way to go. Obviously, if I can see another hunter or see where they have parked, I would avoid an area but I hate to come up on someone and mess up their hunt.

Would like to hear how you guys feel on the matter and/or how you go about hunting in this way on public lands.


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## j_seph (May 29, 2014)

I would suggest National Forest land over that of a WMA. Especially with a little research and finding some remote areas. WMA is only open certain dates which translates into hoards of hunters showing up. I have seen many areas of NF lands and hardly if ever see anyone parked or hunting the areas. IMO


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## copperheadmike (May 29, 2014)

Thanks J seph, it might be that the areas I am looking into are national forest and not WMA, I will have to research a bit more to be sure. Some places I see them referred to as WMA and others just as National Forest...


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## tree cutter 08 (May 29, 2014)

I like to walk and walk. I find a long ridge or lead that has saddles and flats on a map and walk. Very seldom walk up on anyone. I will make sure no one's parked in the area I'm going to hunt and set out. Be ready when your walking and go slow, if there's acorns u should see a bear. Try to keep the wind in you face.


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## copperheadmike (May 30, 2014)

That is pretty much what I had wanted to do. Do you set out at daylight and just walk the top of the ridge or is there some other method you like? If you find good sign, do you sit on it for a little while or come back to it later? 

As long as the wind is right and the bear cannot smell you, how easy is it to get in close? Id really like to take one with my recurve but might stick to rifle for a little while til I get a feel for them. Haven't spent much time in areas with bears so I am not real sure what to expect of them.


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## Dana Young (May 30, 2014)

bears don't see very well so it is pretty easy to get close if they don't smell you. you shouldn't have any trouble running into anyone else as lon as noone is parked near by,


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## PappyHoel (May 30, 2014)

Please don't spot and stalk on wma or public land.  Go scout and find a good spot.


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## tree cutter 08 (May 30, 2014)

What's the difference in scouting and spot and stalk? Your burning leather at some time to find sign or hunt. I wouldn't hunt like this on Russel wma or any other crowded wmas but in the mts you can go all season sometimes and not walk up on anybody. When scouting also keep in your mind about where springs and creeks are. Bears will drop down to water and come back up through a saddle sometimes and that can be a good spot. If I found good sign I'd hang a stand and wait. Just my opinion but usually see more bears in the afternoon than morning.


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## Hammer Spank (May 30, 2014)

PappyHoel said:


> Please don't spot and stalk on wma or public land.  Go scout and find a good spot.





You dont hunt the mtns do you?


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## copperheadmike (May 30, 2014)

Afternoons huh... you mean this might be a type of hunting that does not require me waking up at 2 am to get to my spot? Might be that bear hunting and I will get along better than I thought! Thanks for the help guys!


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## j_seph (May 30, 2014)

copperheadmike said:


> Afternoons huh... you mean this might be a type of hunting that does not require me waking up at 2 am to get to my spot? Might be that bear hunting and I will get along better than I thought! Thanks for the help guys!


Yup, means you shoot one and at 3 a.m. you get him back t the truck


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## Dana Young (May 30, 2014)

There is no problem spot and stalk on the mtn wma's about the only person you will see will be a local way back in doing the same thing and I promiss you they won't care if you kill every bear you see. Just ask treecutter 08 hes local and I bet he hates bears as much as the rest of us do.


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## Dana Young (May 30, 2014)

Oh btw the evening hunt is way better for bear as Kyle says


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## copperheadmike (May 30, 2014)

Good to know, I don't mind staying up late and working hard to get a critter out of the woods. Wouldn't mind running into a local or two, might learn something!


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## copperheadmike (May 30, 2014)

Kinda a stupid question but, what do you do with a bear once you do get it out of the woods at 3am? What is the best thing to do with the meat? Are there meat processors that specialize in bear or can anyone who handles deer take bear too? I have done most of my deer butchering myself unless I wanted to have summer sausage or something like that made but hadn't even thought about what I would do with a bear til just now...


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## j_seph (May 30, 2014)

copperheadmike said:


> Kinda a stupid question but, what do you do with a bear once you do get it out of the woods at 3am? What is the best thing to do with the meat? Are there meat processors that specialize in bear or can anyone who handles deer take bear too? I have done most of my deer butchering myself unless I wanted to have summer sausage or something like that made but hadn't even thought about what I would do with a bear til just now...


JJ's deer cooler just above Homer will do them, most around this area will. Best thing to do is drink a cold one when you do get back to truck. I hear they can be a booger to drag out.


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## tree cutter 08 (May 30, 2014)

I usually quarter them like a deer. Make lots of roast for the crock pot. I tried canning some last year. Did 1 batch and turned out good. Think I only have a couple of pints left, and 1 roast. Be sure to get all the fat off also. If you have a tough time getting on a bear just hang it up and deer hunt the mountains. That's when you will start seeing them. I past up 12 before I finally shot one last year and I wasn't bear hunting. And if you have a chance shoot 2.


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## The mtn man (May 30, 2014)

Don't worry about hunting on your feet in the big mtn. wma's or big NF tracts, that's how most of us hunt, Your odds are much better covering more ground, because game in the mtns. do not congregate, like they do in the pine belt, for the mostpart. If you do find really good sign, it can be successful to hang a stand. Like the others said bears seem to be more active in the late afternoon, look for whiteoak acorns, most important if you hunt early look for lapping sign, thats where bears climb oaks and break the limbs out to get to the mast, you will know it when you see it, looks like an ice storm came through. As far as dragging them out, imagine dragging a 50 gallon drum out of the woods filled half way with water. I recommend hauling a good pack with a frame, some big thick trashbags, pack out the meat and the hide and head if you want it, unless your close to the road, oh and if you see more than one please keep shooting. When you finish up in Ga. come across the state line to NC and shoot some here too.


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## Hammer Spank (May 30, 2014)

Their meat is excellent. The afternoons are great but i have done best between dawn and 9am. Right about gobbling light is when I usually hear them popping acorns in trees. Thats early season though and me and my buds only bowhunt them. 

Do not drag anything out of the mtns. Get a big daypack or open backpack, pack several knives, a saw, and some sharpeners and take him out in pieces. Bring something that will cut through serious bone as bears have really thick bones.


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## copperheadmike (Jun 2, 2014)

Thanks again for all the advice and tips everyone, looking forward to trying something new!


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## NorthGaBowhunter (Jun 3, 2014)

I live in dawson and have seen a few bears, but never killed one yet. But I just deer hunt. Just curious why you fellas hate the bears? I will take one if the time is right say on a fri or sat. and can get some help getting it out.


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## Dana Young (Jun 3, 2014)

when bears move in the deer hunting will end very soon because the bears eat all the acorns even before they fall if you are seeing many bears where you deer hunt you better start getting rid of then it's only a matter of time before your deer herd suffers


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## Killinstuff (Jun 3, 2014)

I'd be afraid of those mountain banjos pickin locals you might run into copperhead. All those stories are true! Bears are a lot like hogs. They see as good as us, can smell better then a hound and have OK hearing. Sneaking up on them isn't hard and if you get close and they break, run after them woofing and most times smaller bears tree and bigger ones at least think about it and stand up on a tree to get a look at what is chasing them and if they want fight, climb or run. Shoot before they decide. 

And don't drag them out if you can help it, it's hard on the hair. If you can't carry them or get a quad in, skin and bone out the meat where they die.


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## tree cutter 08 (Jun 3, 2014)

I'd say bears get as many fawns as yotes do in the mountains.


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## PappyHoel (Jun 3, 2014)

Hammer Spank said:


> You dont hunt the mtns do you?



Sure do and I have idiots walk up on me all the time scaring game past me.  In fact, I've been hunting up there since 1993 when I went to north ga college.


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## PappyHoel (Jun 3, 2014)

Dana Young said:


> when bears move in the deer hunting will end very soon because the bears eat all the acorns even before they fall if you are seeing many bears where you deer hunt you better start getting rid of then it's only a matter of time before your deer herd suffers



This ... They are just as bad as coyotes on killing of fawns.


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## NorthGaBowhunter (Jun 4, 2014)

I have seen under white oaks looked like it had been swept with a broom. But we do not have that many bears yet. I might see 3 or 4 a year. funny thing is I have been here since 98 and have never got a pic of a bear yet. I live 8 min. from dawson forest wma. Keep a camera on my food plot year around. I think we are fixin to have a serious hog problem for sure. I seen way to much pig sign last year.


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## Dana Young (Jun 4, 2014)

PappyHoel said:


> Sure do and I have idiots walk up on me all the time scaring game past me.  In fact, I've been hunting up there since 1993 when I went to north ga college.



I for one don't like being called an idiot by a young pup. I've been hunting these mtns for nearly 50 years  and i am pretty sure I know more than someone thats your age.


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## Hammer Spank (Jun 4, 2014)

I saw 29 bears last season son.  Killed a big one with my recurve, guided several friends to bears, and only saw two other hunters in the woods.  They were two old fellas that had decided to park right behind me and walk in on the same trail.  I was walking the entire time.  Never once sat down.  If you are seeing a bunch of other guys, then you're probably sitting pretty close to a road.  Might want to take a few more steps into the woods.


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## PappyHoel (Jun 4, 2014)

Dana Young said:


> I for one don't like being called an idiot by a young pup. I've been hunting these mtns for nearly 50 years  and i am pretty sure I know more than someone thats your age.



Were you the one that walked past me while I was hunting?  If not, then I didn't call you an idiot.


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## Hammer Spank (Jun 4, 2014)

I will also say this:  Bears are waaaaay worse on fawns than some dopey little coyote could ever wish to be.  If you're into bears at all, you should read the Ben Kilham books.  You'll learn more about them in two books than you could ever hope to in the woods.  The only problem is that once you read about how intelligent and social they are, you might not want to kill one.  There is a lot more going on in a bear's head than most would like to think.


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## whitetailfreak (Jun 4, 2014)

This is gettin good


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## j_seph (Jun 5, 2014)

PappyHoel said:


> Were you the one that walked past me while I was hunting?  If not, then I didn't call you an idiot.


If Dana Young walked by you then chances are he didn't stop until he got to the 3 or 4 mile mark, far away from where you were. There is a lot of territory beyond where the average hunter stops at and just because you or anyone else stopped short does not mean you can stop someone else from going well on beyond where you are sitting. I've walked up on one person in mountains and he was 70 year old and had done traveled 3 miles up at warwoman.


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## The mtn man (Jun 5, 2014)

I could count on one hand the number of folks I have seen where I hunt in the past 10 years, I see folks near the road all the time. Most hunters go no further than a couple hundred yards from the road, even if they think their 5 miles deep.


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## BornToHuntAndFish (Jun 5, 2014)

Very interesting hearing about hunting experiences.  Seems like many of the public land hunting experiences reported say it usually does not start getting decent or good until folks are at least 400-yards or more from the roads due to high hunting pressure or regular human activity.  Of course, there probably are exceptions to this on low pressured public hunting lands.  Best of luck to ya'll.


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## The mtn man (Jun 5, 2014)

BornToHuntAndFish said:


> Very interesting hearing about hunting experiences.  Seems like many of the public land hunting experiences reported say it usually does not start getting decent or good until folks are at least 400-yards or more from the roads due to high hunting pressure or regular human activity.  Of course, there probably are exceptions to this on low pressured public hunting lands.  Best of luck to ya'll.



That's not necassarily true, game will cross roads just like they cross a creek, ridge or anything else, the original question was, is it ok to hunt in the big mtn. nf or wmas on foot, and the answer from the locals were pretty much, yea, we all do, just get away from the road and the crowds. I don't understand why there is an argument. I happen to agree with Dana, if you get away from the road you probably won't see anyone or disturb anyone. If your seeing alot of hunters in the woods, your probably close to the road, it may not even be the road you came from. You may not know your close to a road if you don't know the ground you could walk for hours, and never get far from a road.


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## Unicoidawg (Jun 5, 2014)

All right guys enough of the personal stuff there is no need for it.


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## The mtn man (Jun 5, 2014)

Here's a thought, I will bet anything that there are very few places in N ga where you could walk in a straight line for 2 miles and not come out in a road. There are some places with no roads that close, but not many places. I have hunted all over Nga, and Wnc, alot of long trips following bear dogs, the only place that is truly remote that comes to mind is the GSM national park in NC and TN and maybe part of Cohutta. Every person that has spent much time in the mtns. around here know if your on a ridge top, and go downhill, it won't be long until your in a road,it may have a gate on it, but a road just the same.


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## Goat (Jun 7, 2014)

cklem said:


> Here's a thought, I will bet anything that there are very few places in N ga where you could walk in a straight line for 2 miles and not come out in a road. There are some places with no roads that close, but not many places. I have hunted all over Nga, and Wnc, alot of long trips following bear dogs, the only place that is truly remote that comes to mind is the GSM national park in NC and TN and maybe part of Cohutta. Every person that has spent much time in the mtns. around here know if your on a ridge top, and go downhill, it won't be long until your in a road,it may have a gate on it, but a road just the same.



This sums it up. It's not like the north GA mountains are really remote. Your going to run into folks every now and then.


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## Hammer Spank (Jun 8, 2014)

We have seen them sitting up in trees on wma roads before. I just prefer to be in deep so that Im alone.


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