# Newbie headed to cohutta for bear needs advice



## sean777 (Sep 22, 2012)

Im headed up wednesday and thursday just planning on stalking into the wind walking the peaks and hitting the saddles...any other advice from bowhunters that have been there would be greatly appreciated...Thanks in advance


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## gobbleinwoods (Sep 23, 2012)

That might work but finding and setting up over white oaks dropping acorns might also be a way to go.


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## treemanjohn (Sep 23, 2012)

Bring your 4x4 Nikes and you really need the wind in your favor with Bears


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## Lake_and_stream (Sep 23, 2012)

Dont sit , your gonna be moving and listening. There are 5 million oaks dropping acorns right now so hunt bears not trees


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## mpwarrak (Sep 28, 2012)

*I need some cohutta / bear advice too...*

Hi, I'm new to the forum, bear hunting, and Cohutta.  (wow, sounds like I know nothing)  I guess I know plenty about deer, hogs, yotes, etc.... been hunting since age 12... I'm 24 now.  
But I've been wanting a bear for quite some time, and I found cohutta early this year, and I'm planning one bow hunt next week and maybe the gun hunt in two weeks.  I have no clue where in cohutta I'm going.  I've read about all there is to read about cohutta on this forum, and really like the "park downhill, hunt uphill" suggestion.  I don't mind hiking a long way, being my legs are young and I believe in leaving the closer-to-the-road hotspots for some of you older or disabled gentlemen... I know I'll be there one day too.  

So I'm studying topo maps and it looks like most of the wilderness area is in the Conasauga river watershed, or Jack's river.  (meaning if I dragged downhill, that's where I'd wind up)  But I can't tell on the map if there is any parking downriver.  I guess the other option is to get outside the wilderness area.  I guess I'm not asking for your honey hole, just wondering being a Cohutta first-timer, if you could point me to any place where I could park easily and hike in uphill.  Looking at the map I really like the far northeast side, looks mountainous and any drag would be downhill to the FS-22 road.  Don't know if there's many bears there or not...  Thanks for any help!  I hope I'm not asking for too much.


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## oatmeal1 (Sep 28, 2012)

I have never been to Cohutta or at least never hunted there but the best thing to do especially since you still have your youth is just to get out thereand explore and be careful.Good luck to you


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## sean777 (Sep 29, 2012)

I went in off cowpen road picked a smaller canyon with a small creek/stream saw alot of pig sign, 5+ bear scat(older), and about 7+ hrs later(1.5 miles) i saw a bear it was a quick glance I nocked an arrow thinking he was gonna pass in front of me about 40 yards and heard him going the other direction instead. All I can say is I  have no idea how I would have got that bear out it is so thick I couldnt even have got my game cart down there. My thought on  conasauga river shed was there could be a number of hickers on the popular trail pushing any possible bears up the canyon. If you want more info PM me and we can talk on the phone. If not good luck and dont forget to stretch...lol


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## Etoncathunter (Sep 29, 2012)

Just FYI depending on what direction you went off of cowpen, you may have been in the wilderness area. Other than OPEN roads and designated bike trails you can't use any wheeled devices in the wilderness area. That includes game carts. I found that out last year after talking to one of the DNR rangers.


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## sean777 (Sep 30, 2012)

Etoncathunter said:


> Just FYI depending on what direction you went off of cowpen, you may have been in the wilderness area. Other than OPEN roads and designated bike trails you can't use any wheeled devices in the wilderness area. That includes game carts. I found that out last year after talking to one of the DNR rangers.



Your right...I had read that before I went on a post but I was south cowpen and the wilderness area. Either way its STEEP...STEEP....lol


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## mpwarrak (Oct 2, 2012)

*Thanks*

Thanks guys, me and a buddy are going one day this week, have 3 places picked out on the map that we're going to check out.  I've studied the maps for hours literally, it seems like the place is bigger than I can imagine!  I mapquested driving time from a parking spot on the east side, to a parking spot on the west side, and it said two hours!  Mainly because you have to drive like 40 miles of gravel road in a big circle.  The fun part is going to be exploring, actually bringing home an animal will be an extra.  I'll post back and let ya'll know what we see or find!


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## Killer Kyle (Oct 2, 2012)

mpwarrak, you are absolutly right!  Exploring is in my opinion the best part of hunting the mountains.  I scouted/hunted a ridge top today that was so difficult to get to, I literally wonder if it has even been hunted in the last decade.  Its a good feeling knowing that you are climbing mountains and ridges in pure, unadulterated wilderness at 6:30 a.m. in the dark while most people choose to sleep in on their weekends and be lazy.  The spirit of adventure that I get from hunting way nack in remote areas does more for me than just about anything else.  I'm glad to see you hunt for the right reasons.  Not just for big antlers or a nice mount.  Hunting should be so much more than that.  Kudos to you my friend, and best of luck to you on your trip.  If you connect, pictures and a story on the forum must follow!


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## mpwarrak (Oct 5, 2012)

*Went out ysterday....*

Ok, yesterday was the day we went this week.  I'm so glad typing works the arms and fingers, if it used leg power, I wouldn't be able to do it!   We hiked about 12 miles, 10 recorded on the GPS which was off for a small part of it... I'm 24, supposed to be able to handle it, but my goodness my ankles and knees are toast!  It's SO steep out there.  

Anyway, here's what we found: First we went to the far northeast side of cohutta, and hiked the "Benton Macaye" trail for about 3 miles, then took a side ridge down to the east.  Visibility was about 30-40 yds max.  Found plenty of deer, hog, and bear sign.  I had never seen bear sign, the only reason I knew what to look for is because of some cool older posts on this forum, thanks guys!  
I found some white oaks and one other tree (red oak?) with lots of bear claw marks, as well as branches knocked down, but the leaves were all brown, I'm guessing it's been 2-4 weeks since the bear was using them.  Also plenty of scat about the same age.  So I guess I'm a little late for that area.  Not many white oaks dropping any more, maybe 1 or 2 had a few.

Then we drove over to West Cowpen Rd. to check out the conasauga, but on the way we drove up on 4 hogs in the road! We parked and I jumped out with the bow, trying to get 50 yds off the road... I got within about 30 yards of one but I couldnt see it!  I saw the leaves branches moving and heard it walking but there was so much brush in the way I couldn't see for a shot.  Looked like a juicy spot, saw the best white oak acorns there, but only 10 yards of visibility. 

 So, back in the truck and to the conasauga river.  We parked and walked the Hickory Creek trail, it's a great place for a vacation, but horrible for hunting.  Visibility is about 3 yards, unless you're looking down the trail.  The river is very cool, and we sat on some rocks for a while enjoying it, but again, no hunting where we were, just thick mountain laurel.  You need a 5 inch cannon to blow through that brush, if you could use infrared to locate the animal (just kidding).  

So, other than that, it's a beautiful place, views, waterfalls, etc., don't get me wrong, it's steep and thick, but I love it.

So, assuming my legs recover in time, I think I'll be going one day of the gun hunt next week.  Anybody want to pm me and squeal on a place where I might be able to see about 50 yards?  I'm not sure if I want to back to where we were, I think I want to explore a new place again!  If no one wants to, that's fine, I'll just study the map for a few more hours and pick another spot to try.

Thanks again for all the info you guys put on here!!


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## JustUs4All (Oct 5, 2012)

Don't shoot the decoy, but if you do pleas post up the story.

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=424065


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## mpwarrak (Oct 5, 2012)

Wow, just read up on the decoy bear, good to know, and hillarious!!


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## bearhunter39 (Oct 8, 2012)

Don't kill one that weighs 74.5 lbs you will be in trouble.


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