# McGraw Ford WMA



## Swampy

Has anybody hunted this? I've read some info (probably) out of date that indicates there are/were hogs on this property in addition to deer, turkey, and small game. I was just curious as to whether anyone had any firsthand info. So far, my WMA experiences have not been pleasant (overcrowding, etc.).


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## mapleman

Swampy said:


> Has anybody hunted this? I've read some info (probably) out of date that indicates there are/were hogs on this property in addition to deer, turkey, and small game. I was just curious as to whether anyone had any firsthand info. So far, my WMA experiences have not been pleasant (overcrowding, etc.).




I have never saw any hogs or evidence of hogs on the the wma, but they could be there with the etowah river running in the wma. It gets hunted alot like most wma's but there are pretty good deer sign there.


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## Scoutman

Lot of illegal 4 wheeler use on the Dodd Lane side and Conn's creek side. Called wardens 4 times last season.


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## pnome

I've seen hog tracks there.  







That was 2 years ago though.

Good deer sign as well.  It's archery only for deer season.  Plenty of people turkey hunt it as well.


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## BassWorm

I saw a bunch of hogs there several years ago while scouting before deer season.
Its archery only during deer season. Does that include small game and turkey also? I've seen alot of shotgun shells lying around on the powerline there.


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## hicktownboy

Need anymore info Swampy send me a PM, I live 5 minutes from there.  I have already put a few folks from here on some deer... (you know who you are)!!


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## Rem270

I have hunted it for 3 years and had one stand stolen costing me a shot at a descent little buck.  I know this b/c I was sitting under the tree my stand was suppose to be on when he came strolling up the ridge I was posted on.  He winded me and took off.  Had I had my stand, I would have had a shot!!!  I haven't seen any hogs in the 3 years I have hunted it, but it does have some BIG bucks on it from what I hear.  It's a nice little piece of property.  The shells are from folks dove shooting.  Be carefull hunting it on the south east side.  It borders a hunting club and I think they are the ones who took my stand!!!


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## blackbear

I dont think it has very good access..Lots of the land you will have to hike several miles to get way back in where no one goes where the big bucks live unless you know someone who will allow you to walk across there property line,it reminds me of rich mountain,surrounded by private land with only a handfull of public access places to access the prime spots you cn forget it,also a turkey hunter was shot over there last year & was in the paper,I wonder if the shooter ever got caught?


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## Ozzie

blackbear said:


> I dont think it has very good access..Lots of the land you will have to hike several miles to get way back in where no one goes where the big bucks live unless you know someone who will allow you to walk across there property line,it reminds me of rich mountain,surrounded by private land with only a handfull of public access places to access the prime spots you cn forget it,also a turkey hunter was shot over there last year & was in the paper,I wonder if the shooter ever got caught?



That is a fact.  I went with a buddy who grew up here locally, and we had a mapping GPS and detailed topo map and every gate we could find was locked.  We spent all day looking to find an open access drive in way and only found 2 or 3 and you could tell they were very heavily hunted.  

Also, there sure are a lot of ATV tracks in there for a WMA that supposedly does not allow them.  I found some buried rebar in the trail that somebody must have thought would poke a hole in an ATV tire, but I hate to think what it would do a horses hoof.


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## hicktownboy

The gates are normally always locked so people do not drive through other peoples' huntin.  I have been huntin there on a powerline and had a jeep drive through my huntin.  I think its a great idea and a great job by dnr.  Keep it up boys!!  McGraw Ford is a great place if we can keep people from riding four wheelers on it and driving through it.


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## Ozzie

hicktownboy said:


> The gates are normally always locked so people do not drive through other peoples' huntin.  I have been huntin there on a powerline and had a jeep drive through my huntin.  I think its a great idea and a great job by dnr.  Keep it up boys!!  McGraw Ford is a great place if we can keep people from riding four wheelers on it and driving through it.



I'm not talking about driving through other peoples hunting, I'm talking about access to the property and trying to do some scouting during preseason.  All of "our" tax dollars go to paying for the states WMA's and they should be open to everybody since we "all" pay for it.  If the gate is on a public road and not on private property then it ought to be open since it's not a private hunting club or lease.  If DNR is not opening them then they are negligent in providing the service that the hunters who buy WMA stamps are paying the state to provide.


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## blackbear

Why do you think they made it archery only,first couple years it was rifle hunting allowed and everyone was hunting on top of each other .....


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## cmghunter

The atvs are bad enough.Without the puddle jumpers tearing the roads up.The dnr and ga forestry decide which gates are to remain locked.
This problem is a hard one to solve for the limited man power.


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## buckshot47

Quote"I'm not talking about driving through other peoples hunting, I'm talking about access to the property and trying to do some scouting during preseason. All of "our" tax dollars go to paying for the states WMA's and they should be open to everybody since we "all" pay for it. If the gate is on a public road and not on private property then it ought to be open since it's not a private hunting club or lease. If DNR is not opening them then they are negligent in providing the service that the hunters who buy WMA stamps are paying the state to provide."

How do you figure, they aren't denying you access. You can park at any gate and walk in anywhere you want to go. I'm glad they keep the gates locked because if they were left open then you would really get all the idiots driving in tearing up the roads and dumping trash. The private hunt club statement doesn't fly because no one else has access to drive on the roads.


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## Swampy

I walked around a bit in a couple of places last weekend. Looked like it gets a fair amount of traffic. Thick stuff in there, especially near the river. I guess "progress" is about to take a bit more away from the WMA as it appears they are widening 372. On the other side, where the kiosk is on 372, does anybody know if that powerline is effectively the boundary or is it on the far side of the line?


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## Ozzie

buckshot47 said:


> Quote"I'm not talking about driving through other peoples hunting, I'm talking about access to the property and trying to do some scouting during preseason. All of "our" tax dollars go to paying for the states WMA's and they should be open to everybody since we "all" pay for it. If the gate is on a public road and not on private property then it ought to be open since it's not a private hunting club or lease. If DNR is not opening them then they are negligent in providing the service that the hunters who buy WMA stamps are paying the state to provide."
> 
> How do you figure, they aren't denying you access. You can park at any gate and walk in anywhere you want to go. I'm glad they keep the gates locked because if they were left open then you would really get all the idiots driving in tearing up the roads and dumping trash. The private hunt club statement doesn't fly because no one else has access to drive on the roads.



Well, let's take a look at this. If you park outside the gate technically you are no longer parking on WMA property but on a public road, and are in many instances parking very near somebodys residence (like on the way to the powerline) and some of the other gates.  Many of the access points are single track and if you parked there in front of the gate you are going to block someone else in, or get blocked in yourself.

How do I walk in anywhere I want to?  How do you do that when the WMA is surrounded by private property, and you would have to tresspass to get on to it by passing through it?  

The real answer is we should have enough DNR presence at McGraw Ford to keep the joy riders out...but that isn't ever going to happen until the state quits raiding all the money we hunters input in to the system and using it for other purposes other then hiring additional DNR agents.


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## Swampy

*today*

I was walking McGraw Ford today and met a couple of guys coming out in the afternoon who had been turkey hunting. They had not seen nor heard anything - one guy mentioned he had tried there for 2-3 years and had yet to have any success. Anybody else had any luck on McG? I saw some deer sign and it looks like a great place for rabbits and maybe squirrels.


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## blackbear

I have seen coyote tracks,saw deer & turkey,& heard a rumer couple years back a big real big old buck... 12 pointer with a 24inch spread... was killed over there......south of the river bridge back towards ballground/canton.........


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## GA DAWG

Swampy said:


> I walked around a bit in a couple of places last weekend. Looked like it gets a fair amount of traffic. Thick stuff in there, especially near the river. I guess "progress" is about to take a bit more away from the WMA as it appears they are widening 372. On the other side, where the kiosk is on 372, does anybody know if that powerline is effectively the boundary or is it on the far side of the line?


You shore that aint where they are digging for artifacts??? It does have hogs pass through it from time to time..I was in a 1400ac hunting club that joined it but lost it due to development It has lots of turkeys on it..They will never ever be able to keep atvs off the property..Should hold a decent deer or 2 somewhere on it..I missed the biggest deer I've ever saw in the wild on the property before it was a wma!


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## Swampy

I'm going to keep scouting. I didn't see a lot to encourage me during the last two trips, but the truth is I only hit the "main drag" - there's still a good bit of thick cover that *something* might be hiding in. It's nice property and LOOKS like it ought to hold some game. I guess it's just over hunted like a lot of WMAs tend to be.


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## blackbear

Swampy,where you scouting at on mcgraw?


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## Swampy

*Scouting*

Well, so far I'm learning that there are narrow strips of land on the Conns Creek Road side (between the road and the river). On the other side of 372 (the "kiosk" side) I'm still getting my bearings, but there are houses and stuff around, so I guess I just need to spend more time walking it. I can see that it wouldn't take too many hunters to get this place crowded fairly quickly. I'm still hoping because of its proximity to where I live and work that I can get down there some evenings after work and/or before work. Within these areas, there are patches of thick cover so it could be those patches and the routes between / through / around them might present some opportunities. Still looks like it gets a lot of human traffic....


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## blackbear

PM sent swampy


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## Rem270

Ozzie said:


> Well, let's take a look at this. If you park outside the gate technically you are no longer parking on WMA property but on a public road, and are in many instances parking very near somebodys residence (like on the way to the powerline) and some of the other gates.  Many of the access points are single track and if you parked there in front of the gate you are going to block someone else in, or get blocked in yourself.
> 
> How do I walk in anywhere I want to?  How do you do that when the WMA is surrounded by private property, and you would have to tresspass to get on to it by passing through it?
> 
> The real answer is we should have enough DNR presence at McGraw Ford to keep the joy riders out...but that isn't ever going to happen until the state quits raiding all the money we hunters input in to the system and using it for other purposes other then hiring additional DNR agents.



If you drive down Dodd Ln towards the power lines you have to veer left through a gate left open into the WMA, the road goes about 1/4 of mile across the power lines to another gate kept closed.  If you park there you are on WMA property and therefor should not have to worry about parking on private or public property outside of the WMA.  That is the best place to park and scout from.


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## blackbear

Swampy,Rem270 just nailed it,Thats the place to go....


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## hicktownboy

Ozzie said:


> I'm not talking about driving through other peoples hunting, I'm talking about access to the property and trying to do some scouting during preseason.  All of "our" tax dollars go to paying for the states WMA's and they should be open to everybody since we "all" pay for it.  If the gate is on a public road and not on private property then it ought to be open since it's not a private hunting club or lease.  If DNR is not opening them then they are negligent in providing the service that the hunters who buy WMA stamps are paying the state to provide.



I do not think its negligent.  I think its SMART!! I commend them for it. 

Just a question for thought... What about the people who ride horses on WMAs who DO NOT have to have a WMA stamp??


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## Rem270

Ozzie said:


> I'm not talking about driving through other peoples hunting, I'm talking about access to the property and trying to do some scouting during preseason.  All of "our" tax dollars go to paying for the states WMA's and they should be open to everybody since we "all" pay for it.  If the gate is on a public road and not on private property then it ought to be open since it's not a private hunting club or lease.  If DNR is not opening them then they are negligent in providing the service that the hunters who buy WMA stamps are paying the state to provide.



While I would tend to agree with you in most cases, this one I do not.  If you have ever been to McGraw Ford then you would know it's not very big nor does it have a lot of wide trails to drive down.  Heck, the one at Dodd Lane doesn't even double back around, it T's off at an intersection where both sections dead end.  It's not a large enough WMA to have a need for people to drive through it, with trucks or ATV's.  I personally don't care for ATV's on hunting land.  They are loud and disturb the wild life and on a WMA where no knows where someone is who would want someone to drive through on an ATV.  The DNR and Ga. Forestry Commission are the one's who determine how to manage the WMA's including which roads stay open.  If they don't want traffic on a certain road then I have to think that it's for a good reason.


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## hicktownboy

Rem270 said:


> While I would tend to agree with you in most cases, this one I do not.  If you have ever been to McGraw Ford then you would know it's not very big nor does it have a lot of wide trails to drive down.  Heck, the one at Dodd Lane doesn't even double back around, it T's off at an intersection where both sections dead end.  It's not a large enough WMA to have a need for people to drive through it, with trucks or ATV's.  I personally don't care for ATV's on hunting land.  They are loud and disturb the wild life and on a WMA where no knows where someone is who would want someone to drive through on an ATV.  The DNR and Ga. Forestry Commission are the one's who determine how to manage the WMA's including which roads stay open.  If they don't want traffic on a certain road then I have to think that it's for a good reason.



Amen Brother!  Very well said!


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## Swampy

*thanks*

Thanks for the info - hope to try again this weekend (assuming I don't disturb any turkey hunters) ....


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## CharrDad

Glad to see this thread. I've been scouting McGraw for about a year now on and off, and wondered about both the hunter and game density. I've seen good sign back in there and rarely do I see others in the woods (although I can always find a car or two parked buy the main gates).  

Rem 270, I'm sorry to hear about your stand being stolen, It's that kind of stuff that keeps me looking for a club instead of getting back in the WMA's to hunt with my son.  I don't want to take my children hunting somewhere that you can't trust enough to leave a stand in a tree. It's a shame...a real shame.

CharrDad


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## Ozzie

Points well taken guys.  Do you know that McGraw Ford WMA has it's own ghost town on the Sperrin road side?  It was called Centerville and was a busy little trading center until the railroad was built.  You can find it with your GPS at 34° 20' 52" North, 84° 18' 38" West.  It's right on the old submerged road bed that runs east to west that still shows on a lot of the topo maps.  I found it while scouting two years ago and it showed up on my GPS topo map as a historical site.  All that is left is a few sets of stone steps, some old pieces of iron on the surface, depressions in the ground, and a perfectly square marble marker piece that someone put there to mark the spot.  I emailed the Cherokee County Historical Society for info about the place, but they never responded.  All I can find on the internet about it is it is circa 1848.


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## pnome

Ozzie said:


> Points well taken guys.  Do you know that McGraw Ford WMA has it's own ghost town on the Sperrin road side?  It was called Centerville and was a busy little trading center until the railroad was built.  You can find it with your GPS at 34° 20' 52" North, 84° 18' 38" West.  It's right on the old submerged road bed that runs east to west that still shows on a lot of the topo maps.  I found it while scouting two years ago and it showed up on my GPS topo map as a historical site.  All that is left is a few sets of stone steps, some old pieces of iron on the surface, depressions in the ground, and a perfectly square marble marker piece that someone put there to mark the spot.  I emailed the Cherokee County Historical Society for info about the place, but they never responded.  All I can find on the internet about it is it is circa 1848.



That's cool.  Thanks for sharing.  Think I'll have to check that place out on my next visit.


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## blackbear

Hey....1848 you say...... I bet those depressions in the ground could be where they buried there gold when shermans troops came threw & burnt everything to the ground as far as the eye can see or maybe they buried it under the marble marker.....??? sounds like a place to shoot/see a ghost /buck! You know the bank would have been the first place those yanks would have gone and looted and money was in gold coin...Hmmmm....No telling whats back in there,I would use a pure silver broadhead for my first arrow for sure...I would like to see that place,pretty neat!!!Thanks for shareing!Cool find!!


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## Ozzie

blackbear said:


> Hey....1848 you say...... I bet those depressions in the ground could be where they buried there gold when shermans troops came threw & burnt everything to the ground as far as the eye can see or maybe they buried it under the marble marker.....??? sounds like a place to shoot/see a ghost /buck! You know the bank would have been the first place those yanks would have gone and looted and money was in gold coin...Hmmmm....No telling whats back in there,I would use a pure silver broadhead for my first arrow for sure...I would like to see that place,pretty neat!!!Thanks for shareing!Cool find!!



It's actually pretty easy to get to, it's only about a half mile from Sperrin Road.  Park by the little jog in the road and cross the creek at the low rock dam and veer off to your right at about your two o'clock position.  You should run into the old sunken road bed in a couple hundred yards and just stay in that until you find the marble marker.  It's some rough walking though, lots of briars in the road bed.  There's a really nice stand of mature white oaks in there also if you are looking for a nice bow hunting spot.


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## blackbear

Hey ozzie,Thanks bigtime for the info,I looked up and saw all the names of the folks that were i guess the first settlers in what was the cherokees land?It looked like pickens,gilmer,bartow,cherokee,and several others were all one cherokee land that was divided up in different settlements,It was listed as being recorded by ms.Geiger,she is a well known historian in this state,I have met her and she is a wonderful lady.I want to go see that place,there was a lot of land lottery going on after the cherokee were driven out on the trail of tears around this area,I stopped one time and went to see the new Echota museum and saw the old cabins andTaverns,it was a real treat,they told of seqouia?& the cherokee were smart and tried to have a newspaperbut we all know what happened then...I think folk lore says the printing press is  in the oostanaula river bottom...Here is a cool pic of what it probley was like to hunt mcgraw ford down by the etowah river in the old days...


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## blackbear

Heres a link...http://www.gastateparks.org/info/echota/


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## Ozzie

Neat pic blackbear.  On the power line side of the WMA, there is a really old abandoned cemetary with a huge stacked stone rock wall built around it.  It's worth seeing if you are interested in stuff like that.  The amount of labor that must have gone into building that wall is really something.  There's several good oaks on the slope behind and below the cemetary if you know where that is.  I jumped a couple of does in there while scouting during the summer once.


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## blackbear

I scouted all that area all the way down the ridge to the fields..Lots of deer tracks and coyote and turkey tracks/saw turkeys and big deer,,,lots of rubs in the cane thicket this side/east of the field near river...Thats a long drag outta there by yourself uphill all the way...if you connected on a big one....I bet theres a hoss back in there to the right side  looking down the power line back towards the south west,but would have to back pack the buck out and bone it and make 2 trips,I would do it for a big one....That cemetary is a old one for sure ...lots of work on that rock wall....Hunters and hikers allways find old places way back in the woods,i know where some neat stone stacked fire places/chimneys are still standing from the cherokee days......way back in some big woods..not far from there....I allways wonder whats the biggest buck running that place looks like...I have seen a huge old buck that allways had only one rack where the other had been snapped off in a fight during the rut,saw him 2 years in a row,both times his rack was gone on one side......go figure...whats the odds of that...


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## Scoutman

Went to check it out this weekend and between the 4 wheelers and other guys with the same idea, I was no where near alone!


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## crackshot37

Be careful when your walking around on the Sperin Rd. side. Our hunting club borders it there and there is an old well at an old home place about 150 yards from the creek when you cross. It was covered with roots and brush (there is a marker stone beside it) where you used to could see. That has been about 7-8 years ago. BE CAREFUL!


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