# Got this mountain hunting all figured out...



## jbogg (Aug 6, 2016)

Just Kidding!  I have realized if it's not steep, it's thick.  If it's not thick, it's far.  And just when you think you've gone far, think again because someone else has already been there.  Can't believe some of the places I have found old flagging and those reflective thumb tacks.  

Some of you may recognize the pic.  Stumbled on it this morning while scouting Chattahoochee a good ways from the road.  Looks like the remains of an old chimney.  Has definitely been there a long time.


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## Unicoidawg (Aug 6, 2016)

Off Richard Russell?


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## Hammer Spank (Aug 6, 2016)

I know exactly where that is.


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## Killer Kyle (Aug 6, 2016)

Heh....me too.  
It's not the one you are thinking Unicoi Dawg!


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## jbogg (Aug 6, 2016)

I knew some of you guys would recognize the photo.  No idea if this was an old home place, or a hunters cabin.  Amazing to think just how remote this site would have been when it was constructed.  It was likely built in the 1800s, or perhaps even earlier.  It reminded me of Horace Kephart's  bear hunt in "Our Southern Highlanders".  Stumbling on these links to our past is a big part of why I love being in the woods.


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## northgeorgiasportsman (Aug 7, 2016)

Jbogg, this thread ought to serve as a reminder to every mountain hunter, that no matter how far you've hiked and how remote you think you are, somebody has already been there.  There are no "secret" places in these hills.


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## Rich Kaminski (Aug 7, 2016)

Wow, I know exactly where that is too. I placed orange markers and white glow tacts there about 30 years ago. NO, just joking. I always remove my markers.


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## livinoutdoors (Aug 7, 2016)

The funny thing thing is, alot of these places that seem so wild now were all clear cut at one time. The old logging roads sure come in handy though. I like how lake russell wma has some markers on the trails bout the old homesteaders who once lived there.


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## humdandy (Aug 7, 2016)

Hammer Spank said:


> I know exactly where that is.



September 10th is going to be crowded this year.


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## JWilson (Aug 7, 2016)

It's not that far. Heck there is an old road bed all the way in there. Two years ago I walked from low gap camp ground to Raven cliffs through the woods. I didn't think I was going to make it but I did.


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## tree cutter 08 (Aug 8, 2016)

Theres old chimneys scattered all over the mountains. Always neat to find them and wander what it was like back then. I will agree, no matter how far you walk or how deep you go, how good of sign you find, someone else has or will find it.


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## jbogg (Aug 8, 2016)

JWilson said:


> It's not that far. Heck there is an old road bed all the way in there. Two years ago I walked from low gap camp ground to Raven cliffs through the woods. I didn't think I was going to make it but I did.



You win JW!  Low Gap campground to Raven Cliffs is a long day bushwacking.  How did you get back to your truck?  I started at the gate up the HW from Raven Cliffs a few weeks ago had all the fun I could stand after wading through waist high buck berries for 2 hrs.  "Far" is a relative term.  When I was in my 30s, things didn't seem nearly as far as they do now.


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## Jeff Phillips (Aug 8, 2016)

1 rule of hunting in the hills to never forget, hunt uphill from the road! I have dragged too many uphill to the vehicle!


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## tallchris83 (Aug 13, 2016)

jbogg said:


> You win JW!  Low Gap campground to Raven Cliffs is a long day bushwacking.  How did you get back to your truck?  I started at the gate up the HW from Raven Cliffs a few weeks ago had all the fun I could stand after wading through waist high buck berries for 2 hrs.  "Far" is a relative term.  When I was in my 30s, things didn't seem nearly as far as they do now.



If he started from the shelter he could easily have gone 15 miles through some very tough terrain. Raven Cliffs falls is right in the middle of the woods, probably doable to bushwhack to the Appalachian Trail. But going from up the AT all the way down to the campground? You could get stuck overnight. I'm still learning bushwhacking and it's the purest exercise of discovering how "The mountains don't care." 

I'm in my 30s now and getting cut up by briers isn't easier, even when you're young. Since I am learning this by myself, a younger me actually would be terrified of that hike, not having grown up doing that kind of thing. The physical endurance is the big challenge, and I relish it. It's great for getting in shape, and you'll flush deer, turkey, fox, crow, and plenty more. Big rule in mountain hiking that I'm learning the hard way is to know my physical limits. My mental determination and endurance, after years of college and grad school is sky high. But my body will fail first. Feet, knees, back, then exhaustion, and then you'll make more careless mistakes and start getting injured a lot more often if you're like me. Be safe guys and bring in plenty of gear.


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## antharper (Aug 14, 2016)

Very cool find , I thought I'd share 1 I found


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## jbogg (Aug 14, 2016)

antharper said:


> Very cool find , I thought I'd share 1 I found



Nice find!  Is it on NF?


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## jbogg (Aug 14, 2016)

tallchris83 said:


> If he started from the shelter he could easily have gone 15 miles through some very tough terrain. Raven Cliffs falls is right in the middle of the woods, probably doable to bushwhack to the Appalachian Trail. But going from up the AT all the way down to the campground? You could get stuck overnight. I'm still learning bushwhacking and it's the purest exercise of discovering how "The mountains don't care."
> 
> I'm in my 30s now and getting cut up by briers isn't easier, even when you're young. Since I am learning this by myself, a younger me actually would be terrified of that hike, not having grown up doing that kind of thing. The physical endurance is the big challenge, and I relish it. It's great for getting in shape, and you'll flush deer, turkey, fox, crow, and plenty more. Big rule in mountain hiking that I'm learning the hard way is to know my physical limits. My mental determination and endurance, after years of college and grad school is sky high. But my body will fail first. Feet, knees, back, then exhaustion, and then you'll make more careless mistakes and start getting injured a lot more often if you're like me. Be safe guys and bring in plenty of gear.



I hear you.  I am having to learn that lesson over and over again.  I left my truck this morning at 8:45AM and didn't make it back until 2PM.  I like to identify a likely spot on the topo map and then go see it in person.  Some of these areas are tough getting to, and even harder getting out of.  Luckily just about every drainage has a spring/stream so I used my Sawyer water filter and kept refilling my 32oz Gatorade bottles.  By the time I made it back to my vehicle this afternoon I had climbed over 1000 ft and decended the same.  I was taking a break in my Millenium tree seat and had a doe and a fawn come by at 20yds.  I have heard how scarce those mountain deer can be so I was thrilled to see them since I was at 3500'.


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