# North East Georgia WMA's Holding Good Hog Populations?



## madisoncounty

Two Questions:



Any suggestions of some NE GA. WMA's that hold a large hog population preferable close to the Madison County area?
Can you hunt Hogs on WMA's when there is no other hunting season open?


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## jbogg

I was told by the field tech that Warwoman has more hogs than the other mountain WMAs,  but there are hogs on all of the WMAs up there. You can only hunt them year round on private land.  Hogs are considered incidental take and may be taken with any weapon that is legal for whatever is in season at the time on WMAs.  So, any weapon that is legal for small game would be allowed for hogs during small game season.


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## madisoncounty

Thanks for that info.


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## GA_SPORSTMAN

At one time Warman had a bear and hog only hunt ,I think it was in Oct ,a few years ago ,not sure about this year.


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## 35 Whelen

GA_SPORSTMAN said:


> At one time Warman had a bear and hog only hunt ,I think it was in Oct ,a few years ago ,not sure about this year.



This year it will be Sep. 30-Oct. 8, 2017.

http://www.georgiawildlife.com/site...ce_Proposed Hunting Regulations 2017-2019.pdf


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## bfriendly

Page 10 seems to indicate the return to allowing Buckshot on WMAs...........lots of Changes. Need to sticky that Link you just posted!!


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## madisoncounty

Got my calendar marked. 

Thanks to all for the helpful info. Maybe this year I will finally nail one of those slabs of pork.


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## Tio Hey Seuss

I was told the same thing as Jbogg about Warwoman. Went to check it out during turkey season and saw WAY MORE hog sign than I've seen on Chattahoochee or Chestatee but both those do have hogs too.


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## NE GA Pappy

I live about 4 miles from Lake Russell WMA.  There aren't as many hogs on Russell as Warwoman, but we have a bunch.  They wander off the WMA onto a friends cow pasture, and he is killing ~ 20 a month in traps he has set on the south side of Currahee Mountain.  Also, another guy showed me a video a year or so back with over 30 hogs around a feeder about 1/4 mile outside the WMA in that same area.  

Please, come and kill them all.


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## madisoncounty

NE GA Pappy said:


> I live about 4 miles from Lake Russell WMA.  There aren't as many hogs on Russell as Warwoman, but we have a bunch.  They wander off the WMA onto a friends cow pasture, and he is killing ~ 20 a month in traps he has set on the south side of Currahee Mountain.  Also, another guy showed me a video a year or so back with over 30 hogs around a feeder about 1/4 mile outside the WMA in that same area.
> 
> Please, come and kill them all.




Lake Russell WMA ... OK. That will be a consideration as well. 

I will try and kill what I can, withing reason. I have never had wild hog before and it is well past time for me to give it a try.


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## Milkman

See PM


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## DaveLB

It looks like warwoman is open for hog during small game season, is that correct? Any quota or special draw required or just roll up and go?


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## Rabun

DaveLB said:


> It looks like warwoman is open for hog during small game season, is that correct? Any quota or special draw required or just roll up and go?



Just roll up and go...Open for hogs during any open hunting season...they are considered incidental take.  Just use whatever weapon is legal for the game that is in season...small game season you you can use rimfire, shotguns with shot size 2 or smaller, muzzle loader, or even an air gun.  I plan on pursuing some pork this year with the muzzle loader.


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## PappyHoel

Please get rid of them before they make to our club.  We know they are about 15 miles away.


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## ripplerider

Plenty of hogs on Blue Ridge, Coopers creek, Swallows creek, Chestatee and Chattahoochee WMAs. Theres just as many on the straight Forest service land adjoining them too. They're hard to pattern once the acorns drop but if you put in enough miles walking you'll find them.


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## Unicoidawg

Please kill them all. And the guys that decided it was a good idea to transplant them up here need a swift kick upside the head.


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## RealCountreeboy68

*North Ga hog hunting*

There's a special hog hunt at Rich mountain WMA Aug. 15th-21st. You can sign in online. As far as I know since its a special hunt, you can use the WMA as you would hunt private land. Meaning, calls and any caliber can be used. I am checking about hunting at night. I live very close to there and have seen alot of fresh sign. Looks like theres plenty of hogs for everyone to bring home the bacon! Yall come on up and getcha some!


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## Killer Kyle

Unicoidawg said:


> Please kill them all. And the guys that decided it was a good idea to transplant them up here need a swift kick upside the head.



There are some criminals on this forum that partake in those acrivities! Careful Unicoi, don't want to step on any toes now!!


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## Unicoidawg

Killer Kyle said:


> There are some criminals on this forum that partake in those acrivities! Careful Unicoi, don't want to step on any toes now!!



Lol...... I could care less about toes or feelings for that matter. Anybody that knows me knows that. The illegal release of hogs in North Georgia has done WAY more damage to the ecosystem than it has done good. But it's too late now, unfortunately they are here to stay.......


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## Rabun

Unicoidawg said:


> Lol...... I could care less about toes or feelings for that matter. Anybody that knows me knows that. The illegal release of hogs in North Georgia has done WAY more damage to the ecosystem than it has done good. But it's too late now, unfortunately they are here to stay.......



So the hogs in N Ga mtns didn't migrate/expand range from other areas of Ga and neighboring states?  I thought that was the case but it wouldn't surprise me at all if some morons released them.


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## ripplerider

There were definitely some (lots) of them caught live in Fla. and transported up here by some connected folks who wanted something to hunt year-round. They used to talk loudly about it in a local restaurant and didnt care who heard them. Nothing happened to them but the rules were changed so they were not able to hunt hogs on National Forest land all year, just when small game, deer and turkey season  was open. Which undoubtably helped the hogs multiply.


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## Rabun

ripplerider said:


> There were definitely some (lots) of them caught live in Fla. and transported up here by some connected folks who wanted something to hunt year-round. They used to talk loudly about it in a local restaurant and didnt care who heard them. Nothing happened to them but the rules were changed so they were not able to hunt hogs on National Forest land all year, just when small game, deer and turkey season  was open. Which undoubtably helped the hogs multiply.



great....hope they don't like zebra mussels...


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## Killer Kyle

Rabun said:


> So the hogs in N Ga mtns didn't migrate/expand range from other areas of Ga and neighboring states?  I thought that was the case but it wouldn't surprise me at all if some morons released them.



Hogs have been in the mtns all across the southeast since the 1800's, just not in extraordinary numbers. They have been the result of free ranged livestock. This was the most common, and in fact, the only way of keeping hogs for a long time. Just free range them and go shoot one when you need it. Finally, their exponential growth rate has caught up with us, and individuals releasing them have further compounded the problem. I'll try to post some photos tonight if I have time. Some pictures of wild hogs in NC and Tennessee in 1910. Tennessee started having official wild hog hunts in the early 1950's which attracted LOTS of out-of-state folks and celebrities. Most hogs were run with dogs. A couple years back, I found an outdoor article stating Old Lake Burton and Colemen River WMA's had good, established hog populations. That article was written in the 90's.


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## ripplerider

I remember when Cohutta, Warwoman, Coleman river and Rich mtn. were pretty much the only WMAs with huntable populations of hogs in North Ga. Now theyre everywhere. Some of it was from natural dispersement but plenty were stocked too.


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## livinoutdoors

Well they did add that may hog / coyote hunt to alot of the wmas it looks like. Maybe they could add a couple slots like that on the regular n.f. prob wont help a whole bunch by now . I try to stay after em during small game season.


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## Unicoidawg

ripplerider said:


> I remember when Cohutta, Warwoman, Coleman river and Rich mtn. were pretty much the only WMAs with huntable populations of hogs in North Ga. Now theyre everywhere. Some of it was from natural dispersement but plenty were stocked too.



This^^^ there has been small pockets, but they stayed in the afore mentioned areas. Now they are EVERYWHERE. A lot of the guys that had clubs in middle Georgia would trap them and then bring them up here and release them. Tray Mtn is a classic case 20yrs ago there were no hogs there, now it's covered up with them.


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## Killer Kyle

Unicoidawg said:


> This^^^ there has been small pockets, but they stayed in the afore mentioned areas. Now they are EVERYWHERE. A lot of the guys that had clubs in middle Georgia would trap them and then bring them up here and release them. Tray Mtn is a classic case 20yrs ago there were no hogs there, now it's covered up with them.



You and RippleRider are right, Unicoi. Look at this excerpt from the book "Wild Pigs in the United States: Their History, Comparative Morphology, and Current Status" by the UGA Press. It says that in the 70's, their range in northeast GA was limited to Towns and Rabun counties, and limited to WMA's within those counties. That pretty much means Old Coleman, Lake Burton, and Warwoman. 







Here is a wild pig distribution map from the University of Mississippi that was produced in 1982. You can see the pig range in northeast GA is exactly like you and ripple had said. The north easternmost corner of the state. 






I think that a lot of people would also be interested to know also that DNR itself has been a great contributing factor to the pig problem. You know how DNR traps and relocates problem bears? They did that with wild pigs in the beginning, and did it often. Sometimes trapping 12 or 20 pigs at a time and releasing them on game lands. It happened very frequently in GA, Tennessee, and NC. Also, a lot of people not only transported them, but we saw a rash in the 70's where guys all over the state were purchasing hogs, and Eurasian and/or Russian boars to release on their own lands and hunting clubs or leases. This happened quite frequently. People just wanted increased opportunity to hunt on their land, and just let hogs go. Ultimately, the hog issue we face today is a trifecta of many different factors occurring over the course of time. The early Spanish settlers. The Appalachian homesteaders. Game preserves. Farmers. Free rangers. Hunting clubs. Dog runners. The common denominator is humans. Hogs are a human created problem here in America.


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## whitetailfreak

Kill em all!


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## Killer Kyle

Whitetailfreak, it's interesting to see that your neck of the woods, according to the map, used to have one of the most widespread and robust populations of hogs in the entire state. Seems like they were in the Toccoa River Drainage early on.


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## ripplerider

Where did you find that book Kyle? I'd like to read it. Interesting that it doesnt mention Cohutta.


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## Killer Kyle

Yep. You can see from that 1982 distribution map that hogs were indeed present in the Cohutta area during that time.

Here is an example of where you can find the book ripple:

https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Pigs-United-States-Comparative/dp/0820331376


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## ripplerider

They think a lot of that book dont they? $530 for a new hardback copy! I think I'll stay with the paperback version or better yet see if the library can get it.


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