# dawson forest



## srss (Nov 9, 2004)

did anybody hunt dawson forest last weekend. me and my son went sat. evening and all day sunday we saw 3 does.  the guy who went with us saw 3 does and a spike


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## Bowhunterga (Nov 10, 2004)

I am sure you probably already saw my post in North GA Hunting reports but just in case you missed it. I connected with this nice buck Saturday afternoon. Was hunting off of Shoal Creek Road.


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## srss (Nov 10, 2004)

bowhunterga  i didnt see your post till after i posted here thats a nice one. i was hunting in the cutover  on the right about a half mile after you turn off 53. are you going next to next weeks hunt.


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## Bowhunterga (Nov 11, 2004)

Yes, I am planning to hunt Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Unless I get REALLY lucky!!!! I doubt I will be on the Atlanta track this hunt though. I will most likely be hunting up on Wildcat or Burnt Mountain Tracts next week. I have not decided yet. I plan on ditching work a bit early on Wednesday, hiking in to one of 2 or 3 spots I have picked out and getting my stand and everything ready for Thursday morning. From the looks of things last week the rut should be in full swing by mid week. Although it is possible that it will be on the down turn on the norther tracts. Time will tell I guess.

What about you, are you planning on hunting DF next week?


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## GA DAWG (Nov 11, 2004)

I will be there.Hunted the atlanta track last night for coon.Saw some great buck sign and it was new and fresh.Its Wayyyyyyyyyyy! back off the rd.I went in this place last spring and found lots of old sign.I guess he made it through the winter.I dont know if I'm gonna hunt it or not.I dont think I could get one out of the place alone.


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## srss (Nov 11, 2004)

i am going to hunt wed and sat but i dont know where at yet. what tract do you think is best for bear


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## Bowhunterga (Nov 11, 2004)

Wildcat and/or Burnt Mountain would be the best bets for bear. While Burnt Mountain has not been in the QDM area as long and might not be the best tract for a good buck, there are no doubt some on the tract. Wildcat would probably be the best bet for either a good buck or a bear. Keep in mind though that both of these tracts are MUCH more ruged than the Atlanta tract and have little vehicle access. If you are going to get very far away from the road it can be extremely tough going. Also, do not dismiss ANY of the DF tracts with regards to bears. There was a bear killed this season somewhere on the Atlanta tract according to one of the DNR officers that was working the last hunt. I forget if it was Robert or Barry that told me about the bear but it was not the first I have heard of killed on the Atlanta tract. I have seen the most bear sign on the northern most tracts though and plan on hunting up there myself next week. 

Worst part about the upper tracts is there are almost no maps available for them. If you would like me to I can create an apporximate topo map for you and e-mail it to you sometime this weekend. It won't be perfect with regards to boundaries but I can get it pretty close. By next season I hope to have burnt mountain charted on my GPS pretty well but I have not spent much time up there to this point.


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## srss (Nov 11, 2004)

if you have some kind of topo map for wildcat that would be great. i dont know much about any of it because last weekend was my first time hunting dawson as far as the rugged part goes i used to hunt cohutta a lot so it couldnt be much worse.thanks alot


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## Bowhunterga (Nov 11, 2004)

I can create one for you from my topo software and save it as an image file or as a file you can open with wordpad and print from there. I will try and do that by the weekend. Won't take that long but sometimes my CRS disease interferes with my thought patterns!!!!!


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## GA DAWG (Nov 11, 2004)

I would also try and get me a cart to take to wildcat.I killed a 139lbs 8pt on it last year.Took me 4 hours to get him to the truck.Also I will agree its the best place for bears.I have a few trail cam pics of one this year.He will go around 300lbs.Also a few hogs running around up there.


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## Bowhunterga (Nov 11, 2004)

Dawg, have you hunted the Burnt Mountain tract any? I have heard it was good for Bear also. As is the smallish tract between WC and Burnt Mountain. The Turner Estate Tract I think it's called. Just curious.


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## srss (Nov 11, 2004)

have either of you ever killed a bear  i would love to. i shot at one two years ago while bowhunting cohutta i missed. i would like to get a hog to.


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## Bowhunterga (Nov 12, 2004)

I have not as of yet. I have been lucky enough to see a few but they were either small or with cubs. I am holding out hope that this will be the year though!!!


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## GA DAWG (Nov 12, 2004)

I have not hunted off burnt mt.I have hunted around the turner place,but I go in off steve tate rd.Lots of land back in there.Not many deer,but if you see one their is a good chance it will be a shooter.I road up burnt mt rd the saturday of the last hunt they were lots more people hunting it than I figured would be.I believe I'll let them have that part its STEEP.I have not killed a bear,but my buddy did years ago on dawson forest atlanta tract.It seems to me that most of the real good bucks in recent years have been killed on the amicaloa tract.Thats the only place I dont have a decent spot to hunt!


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## GA DAWG (Nov 13, 2004)

Lots of buck sign showing up this week at the forest.Should be a great hunt come wednesday!


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## srss (Nov 13, 2004)

cant wait


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## Bowhunterga (Nov 13, 2004)

I wish I could hunt Wednesday but I have to work. I do have Thursday and friday off though. I have still not decided where I am going to hunt. I think I will be hunting Wildcat. Across the creek at the end of the road behind the church off of Steve Tate. If I do I will be about 2 miles from the gate at the stream. GD, you gonna be hunting WC or Amicalola Tract? I have a couple of decent spots on Ami tract but one I only see does and the other seems to be popular with others that float down the stream and get out near the same area. Are you seeing rutting sign? Mind sharing which tract you saw the sign? PM if you would prefer. If you are gonna be hunting anywhere near me, maybe we can share a few stories before/after a hunt.

GL to all hunting DF this coming week.


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## GA DAWG (Nov 13, 2004)

I just got back from DF coon hunting.Saw a 6pt and alittle up the rd a nice little 8pt.All the sign I've seen is on the atlanta track on shoal creek and its ruff in there and thick with blowdowns.It took 2.5 hrs the other night to go .59 miles in to the dogs and .59 miles out dern near killed me!Wildcat is to steep for me to turn these crazy coon hounds out so I cant say much about it,but I do know they are laying down good sign up there too.I will probably be hunting wildcat.Have not made my mind up yet.I believe you killed your deer close to my #1 spot I'll PM you and see.


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## GA DAWG (Nov 19, 2004)

I killed a nice 4.5yr old mature 8pt on DF this morning.They are chasing does HARD were I was at.I saw bucks everyday harasing does.Then this morning it was on around my stand.Saw 10 deer by 7:20am.Before daylight they were running and grunting everywhere.


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## srss (Nov 19, 2004)

good job. i`m planing on going back tomorrow i hope i get lucky. wed i saw a small 4 pt. and that was it.


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## Craig Knight (Nov 19, 2004)

*Ga Dawg*

Glad to hear you had some good luck .


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## Stealthman (Nov 20, 2004)

*Dawson Forest*

I went yesterday and didn't hear one shot .I did see three Tom's though.


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## Bowhunterga (Nov 21, 2004)

Well, my total viewed for the 17th thru the 20th came to 2 bucks, a fork-horn and a basket 8 that will be a lot better next year than he was this season. Also saw a total of 9 does over the 3 and a half days I hunted. I decided to leave the wildcat tract yesterday afternoon and went back to the Atlanta tract. I did have 2 spots off of Clark Road that I had been wanting to try out so I headed over there and was set up in a tree ready to go by 12 noon. Within 20 minutes I could hear a buck running a doe in a thick stand of pines behind me. Grunting and thrashing all around but never saw the culprits. Then at about 4:30 I had the rest of my hunt spoiled. I know WMA land is public and I expect to be intruded upon from time to time but it never ceases to amaze me how totally un-ethical some people can be.   

This appeared to be a father and son team, they were moving along the edge of a clearcut about 100 yards away from my position. I tried to get their attention and finaly the son (I think he was anyway) noticed me and stepped back out of the woods and tried to explain to the other party that I was where I was. He was told to go back and sit down. Now the other hunter circles around so that he is about 150 yards directly in front of me and starts bleating. Now the wind is blowing DIRECTLY at their backs and right into the only direction that a deer could possibly come into their view. Both of these individuals were completely unobscured from my line of sight and there is NO way they could not see me. I finally just gave up and left, admittdly rather noisely. I started to wait on them and give the father a piece of my mind but decided that it was best to just leave and not let my anger get the better of me. Plus I would never want to say the things I would have said to this guy with his son present.

Now anyone that knows me knows I will go out of my way to help anyone hunting dawson forest as I know the entire area very well. I would even love to take the younger of these two hunting and teach him how to treat other hunters and show him how to hunt. Truly was not his fault as I watched him TRY to do the right thing. Now, there was no one else parked within a mile of my vehicle on either side or on either side of the road, I checked!!   So it was a simple matter of not being polite enough to just move to the other side of the clearcut (Which would have been better for them anyway considering the wind direction.)

Sorry for venting but I needed to get this of my chest. Hope someone had some decent luck at DF this week. I heard there was a MONSTER taken but I have not confirmed this or seen any photos.


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## srss (Nov 22, 2004)

sorry to hear you had some bad luck almost the same thing happened to me. i sat down for my evening hunt about one o`clock well about three i seen an orange vest coming down the hollow and they where about thirty yds. away when they noticed me i waved they and waved back and sat down against a tree. i would have said something but he was about twelve or thirteen and i figured his dad told him not to get out of that hollow. well anyway he sat till about 30 minutes before dark and left. but i didn`t see anything.


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## Bowhunterga (Nov 22, 2004)

Did you ever hunt any up at the Wildcat tract? If so what were your results?


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## GA DAWG (Nov 22, 2004)

Had a buddy hunted wildcat he saw a few deer nothing even close to a shooter.After I killed my 8pt he relocated to the atlanta tract.I did see a good deer killed on wildcat 5.5 year old.He was pretty nice.I thought they would have killed more deer,but mine made 9 as of friday morning.I could not believe it.I saw chasing and heard grunting everyday.It seemed to me that not many folks hunted after thursday morning.I heard alot of shooting wed and thur mornings.They were not getting checked.Must have been alot of ground checking going on. :


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## srss (Nov 22, 2004)

i never made it back to wildcat but before the next hunt i will try and scout it a little bit.


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## Bowhunterga (Nov 22, 2004)

I hope not Dawg. I am sure it happens but I would like to think people could be more mature than that. I think I am gonna do a bit of Scouting Wednesday. I still have a few spots that I have not hunted that could be productive. With the next hunt there should still be a few late does coming in, trick will be to get in some thick stuff and wait one out. I saw one basket 8 up on WC. Was not what I expected really. I think before next season I am gonna get way back in there and see what sign I can find. There has got to be some mature deer back in there. Trouble will be getting him out if you find him.


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## GA DAWG (Nov 22, 2004)

I know there are some big mature deer on WC.I have proof of that by trail cam pics.I just cant find them during daylight hours.The one I killed up there last year was just pure blind luck!I guess I'll hunt my favorite spot on the atlanta track on the next hunt.It paid off the other day and I saw another buck but could not stop him to count his horns.I've never hunted it on the last hunt,but who knows maybe another shooter will show up.


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