No Deer At First-Ever Hunts On River Creek WMA

Blame it on the south Georgia heat and bugs, blame it on how tough bowhunting can be, or, like some of those who attended the hunts, blame it on a simple lack of deer.

The first two bowhunts on River Creek, Georgia’s newest WMA, produced zero deer. Both had quotas of 30 — 20 bowhunters showed up for the first hunt, while the number who attended the second hunt wasn’t available.

Deer were scarce, but River Creek WMA sure is pretty. The main road is a sandy path through mature, Spanish-moss draped live oaks.

The new WMA, officially named River Creek, the Rolf and Alexandra Kauka Wildlife Management Area, has long been operated as a private Thomas County plantation, and the past two decades it has been quality-managed for deer.

GON editor Daryl Kirby used a double-rejection and got drawn for the first bowhunt September 29 – October 1.

During three morning hunts and two evening hunts, Daryl saw only three deer. However, two were bucks that met the 4-points-on-a-side minimum. Another bowhunter reported seeing only one deer, but it was a nice buck.

Three more deer hunts are scheduled for River Creek this season, all with quotas of 30 hunters: primitive weapons October 27-29; firearms December 8-10; and adult/child firearms December 29-31.

Longleaf pines are abundant in various ages, some thinned and burned like this stand, and other stands are young and thick. The 2,437-acre WMA also has about eight miles of bottomland, flood-plain hardwood along two borders.