Georgia Deer Hunting Reports: Warm, Dry… But Good Hunting

While we continue to pray and work to help our friends, families and all affected by Hurricane Helene… from Valdosta to Hazlehurst, Dublin,  Sylvania, Augusta… throw in a little prayer for rain.

Most of Georgia hasn’t seen a drop since that awful night of Sept. 27 when the storm roared through. Rain will come, and in the meantime acorns are falling and the bucks are laying down sign.

It’s the best of times in the deer woods.

The GON team of Hunt Advisors are spread out across the state and provide information specific to their deer woods. Here are their reports after the first two weekends of gun season, along with a look at buck sign and rutting activity.

NORTH GEORGIA

Chattahoochee National Forest: Tim Dangar, of Ball Ground, reports, “We are entering one of my favorite times of season, the pre-rut. October can be trying on one’s patience because of deer movement and finding that special tree that is dropping nuts. But as we move into November, bucks tend to spend more time on foot in daylight hours looking for love.

“The mast crop is more spotty than first thought, which means more scouting is necessary to identify that magic food source. The ridges are better than the creek bottoms for overall acorn production. Seems like in the last few days the scrapes and rubs are more noticeable.

“I was able to hunt the first day of the Cooper’s Creek WMA primitive-weapons hunt. The acorns are still hanging on the trees more so than normal this late in October. I would say about 60% are on the ground now, and game is finding them pretty fast. On my way home from Cooper’s Creek, I saw a ton of deer in green fields on back roads through the mountains. I know the frost we have already had killed the normal green browse, and maybe that’s why they are in the fields early. If you hunt a food plot, be sure and stay till BOO dark. The bucks will come in to check does after legal shooting time, but if you get a point of entry, you can move back off the plot 50 to 75 yards and get a shot before shooting hours are over.

“I hope to hunt Blue Ridge WMA next week, maybe I will have more to report next month. As always, stay calm and hunt on!”

Fulton County: Justin Mizell, of Cumming, reports, “October was the month of acorns and staging. The woods are covered with scrapes and rubs. The bucks aren’t frequenting corn piles and other artificial food sources like they were in the early season. The bucks have mostly left their summer spots and are roaming their rut areas. I’ve always referred to this as ‘staging.’ The bucks set up scrapes, check on does and rub trees in their rut areas. They also move in and start fighting any other bucks they see as competition. Rattling and grunt-snort-wheezing works great this time of year. I find that rattling and grunting works much better in pre-rut than in the heat of the rut, that is just my experience.

“There are a few does that have gone into heat early just like every other year. I have seen some bucks chasing, but the full rut has yet to come. The advice I give for this time of year is to forget about what your camera is showing, and get out there and hunt! The cams are great in the early and late season, but they miss too much action to be completely relied upon this time of year. Put in some stand time. You might be surprised by the amount of action your cameras are missing.

“I plan to focus on the flood plains and travel corridors for the month of November. I also like to stay mobile in November, and I don’t make too many plans. Things can change in an instance this month, so I want to make sure I can change my game plan on a dime. I use a climber a lot this time of year because I am able to set up quickly and relatively quietly.

“Mock scrapes work great this time of year, as well. I have a few going, and bucks are consistently hitting them.  The deer are still hammering the acorns, so focusing on white oaks, or even better pin oaks, is a good play. I still have bucks hitting corn piles, but not nearly as consistently as they were earlier this season. Good luck and hunt safe!”

Madison County: Keith Ingram, of Comer, reports, “I guess you could say that the weather has been cooperative in small doses. We have had some cool mornings, and opening morning of firearms season was the coolest I’ve seen in several seasons. That being said, the lack of rain has been really tough, and our food plots are pretty much finished.”

“I think Hurricane Helene took most of the acorns off the trees early, and between the hogs, deer and every other critter that loves them, they are gone, also. So the only thing left is to feed. It’s costly, but our herd is going to struggle come mid to late winter, if it’s a hard one.

“Bow season was a lot of fun. I saw tons of deer, pretty much every sit, and my son got a really nice 8-pointer on Oct. 13 in Jackson County, where we have access to a small tract of land.

“As gun season rolled around, things were starting to change, as far as the bucks. They were busting up from their bachelor groups and starting to butt heads a good bit. Got pics of some fights and bucks with busted racks. They were also starting to harass some does, but the does are not having any part of it, as they all still have their fawns with them.

“The rut looks to be playing out as usual and should be in full swing mid November through Thanksgiving. My strategy for this period is to stay close to the water and food sources, which this season is pretty much what I’m providing in the feeders. That’s were the does will be, so there’s no reason why the bucks should not be there, also.”

MIDDLE GEORGIA

Fayette & Meriwether Counties: Jeff Scurry, of Peachtree City, reports, “Lots of scrapes were seen in both Fayette and Meriwether counties, especially on field edges and fence row. Lots of deer were seen the opening two weeks of gun season. Most of the deer are slowing down on supplemental feeding spots and focusing on food plots and fields. I have noticed the bucks are definitely not visiting feeders as much. They are now starting to focus on does.

“I have seen some pre-rut activity with bucks bumping does and getting cranked up a bit. Right now at this time, the does are still coming into food sources, mainly food plots. I haven’t seen many mature bucks yet. I have seen a few new younger bucks that are starting to move out of their home ranges. The hot weather has slowed down the pre-rut activity a bit, but I think to bag a nice buck the next few weeks, you should concentrate on hunting the food sources and bottleneck areas where the deer travel between food and bedding areas. Making some mock scrapes will also increase your odds in bringing a buck within range. I have made several and already have bucks visiting them on trail camera.”

Jasper County: Tim Zech, of Monticello, reports, “The deer hunting has been good in Jasper County. My dad Mike Zech continued his successful opening day of firearms tradition by taking a nice buck on his own land. I hope I am still out there hunting like Dad when I reach my 81st birthday. We sent the whole crew in to drag the buck up the ‘Big Oak Ridge.’ It was a special day. Spots like my dad was hunting that have acorns have been productive. It does not seem like a bumper year for acorns, but if you find them falling, you will find the deer.”

“The long warm dry spell seems to have more deer moving late in the evenings right before dark. Morning hunts are showing a few deer right after daylight… but we’re averaging more deer sightings and activity in evenings.

“Despite unreasonably dry weather since the hurricane, the food plots are up and trying to survive. You can see on just about all plots that the shaded areas are doing much better. The plots will bounce if we can get a rain.

“The rut is about to happen here… and in fact we have seen a little rut activity. On the evening of Oct. 25, my wife and I witnessed a basket-rack 8-point bumping a doe around… obvious pre-rut stuff. Then the next evening of the 26th my twin brother Cary had two large shooter bucks dog a doe all around his stand right at dark. Full blown chase with grunting and tearing after the doe. He was in thick woods, so with low light and moving targets, he decided not to shoot.

“The last few days of October are usually some of the best days to hunt Jasper County in my opinion—pre rut.

“Several large bucks have been taken by friends. Get out there and get one for yourself! Hunt safe out there.”

Monroe County: Greg Grimes, of Ball Ground, reports, “I was finally able to get in the woods for the first time all year as the last week of October got going. Although I missed all September, it sure doesn’t feel like it. It was 86 today. This heat has made for better hunting in the morning up until 10:30 a.m. versus the evening hunts. The camera is showing deer moving later in the night. Deer appear to be hitting the scrapes near the acorns. They have almost left the corn feeders entirely these last couple of weeks.

“Despite the heat, the pre-rut seeking will still happen right now as November starts. I’m gonna continue to hit the mornings and late mornings this first half of November. Maybe some rain and breaks from the heat will be here in a few weeks, but the extended forecast doesn’t show much break from the dry conditions. I’m gonna bank on drilling some rye for when the rains do come, and maybe if it does I can still get some young growth rye for late November attraction. If I can pull the does out to a plot, then I’ll hunt a couple of pinch points leading between bedding and the plot. If the plots still don’t come up, it will mean I’ll hit downwind of doe bedding thickets hoping for a buck trolling with his nose.

“It’s the time of the year to have some fun. Despite the heat, the does will get bred mid month like they do every year. Get out there and enjoy it.”

SOUTH GEORGIA

Cook County: Josh Blackston, of Adel, reports, “October blew by with momentum and speed in the wake of Hurricane Helene. It left trees and stands down everywhere! Me and The Boy managed to hunt twice on youth opener—Wyatt is becoming quite the little hunter. Two bullets yielded him a fat doe and a buck. We hunted gun opener and the following Sunday Eve and saw deer both sits.”

“I’ve had a few bucks start to stretch their legs a little and show up in places they haven’t been all year, and as November arrives my anticipation is high. As the best part of the season is on the horizon, I plan on getting in some spots where we can see a good ways and wait for that buck that’s looking for love in all the wrong places!

“But most of all, we will make memories, share sunrises and sunsets, and have deer stand prayers! Y’all have fun, this is supposed to be FUN.”

Crisp County: Jodi Manders, of Cordele, reports, “I hope everyone is having a great hunting season so far. October was a slow start for us. The deer movement has not been good at all. We typically see deer feeding early mornings, but not lately. We haven’t seen much of anything. They must be like me and not liking this warm weather.

“There are lots of scrapes and rubs being worked regularly. I did see a 2-year-old 4-point aggravating a couple of does one morning. Trail cameras are getting them in the food plots all during the night. Hopefully that will change when November rolls around. There are still plenty of persimmons for them to eat and a few acorns. Some of our food plots have been hit pretty hard—hopefully there’s enough left to last through the rest of the season. We are ready to see some rut action. That will definitely get them moving, and we’re hoping the weather cools down.

“Either way we’re going to be in the woods. Y’all get out there and hunt safe. God bless!”

Harris County: Jimmy Harper, of Hamilton, reports, “In a normal year, October deer hunting on my properties in Harris County usually gets better toward the end of the month—but not this year. Because of the unseasonable cold snap that occurred during the muzzleloader/youth week, that was actually our best week for daytime deer movement of any time period during October this year. We had a light frost in some areas of Harris County on the morning of Oct. 18, which is crazy early, but that got the bucks’ testosterone flowing. Good deer movement, which is usually concentrated in the afternoons in mid-October, really cranked up in the mornings, and bucks filled the woods up with scrapes. Increased deer sightings continued through opening weekend of firearms season in Harris County, but started to decrease the following week as temperatures increased. This decreased deer movement continued through the latter part of October. Of course, now that we’re into early November, breeding desires will get the bucks moving again, even with warm weather continuing.

“We need rain in Harris County—badly. The only significant rain we’ve had in almost three months came courtesy of Hurricane Helene, and there was not nearly as much wet stuff that fell during that storm in my county as did in some other parts of our state. As of the end of October, we’ve only planted about a third of our cool season food plots, and none of those have even sprouted. At this point, it’s very unlikely that we’ll even try to plant the remainder of our food plots this year. That’s really unfortunate, both for us and for the deer, but it’s becoming more the norm than the exception here lately.

“White oak acorns have also been spotty this year, but deer sightings have been very good in the locations where these nuts were actually falling in good numbers. I have more hope for the red oak acorn crop this season, but they fall a little later in the year, so time will tell.

“My suggestion, as always, is to continue your in-season scouting and hunt the current, hot food sources as soon as you find them, because they may not—probably will not—last long.

“As for my deer hunting strategy for November, I believe in two things. Well, actually three. The first is fairly obvious to most of us—find the does and you’ll find the bucks, especially during the first half of the month. I like to hunt in the afternoons where doe family groups spend the majority of their time—feeding areas, bedding area edges, etc.—because bucks will travel there to check them on a fairly regular basis.

“Second, I spend a significant amount of my November stand time, especially in the mornings, sitting over buck travel corridors like creek bottoms, saddles and tree rows left standing into clearcuts. Basically any terrain feature that contains pinch points which will funnel buck movement toward me.

“And third, I spend as many hours as I can in a deer stand throughout this entire month. I do my best to control my scent, and not to spook any deer on my stand entry and exit. But, if I’m seeing significant deer movement from a given stand, I have no problem sitting in that stand on multiple days in a row during November. Cruising bucks may only travel through an area every few days, and I want to be there when one of my target bucks makes what will, hopefully, be a fatal mistake for him.

“Happy Thanksgiving!”

Macon County: David Keene, of Oglethorpe, reports, “So far we have taken three does and one hog on our lease. I think that every oak tree on our 800 acres is dropping acorns. White oaks have just started dropping. Food plots are getting dry. We have had no rain since the end of September.

“We have been seeing only young bucks in the daylight. Mature bucks are only showing up on camera until around 5 a.m. on my 16 cameras. Scrapes are starting to pop up all around, so I think that the rut will be starting up in the next week or so. Have not seen any chasing yet.. Soon.”                                                        

“Good luck and y’all be safe.”

Taylor County: Greg Grimes reports, “With the dry weather, I have abandoned any hopes for a food plot. The feeders only seem to be working for nighttime pictures for the most part. Scrapes are quite numerous and allow me better pictures of bucks versus feeders. In fact new bucks show up almost daily. I’m still trying to figure out this property and where the does bed. The last couple of years, I have really had my best success seeing mature bucks in November hunting downwind of bedding. I’ll be looking for edge between two forest types. I like a stand of mature timber against thicker pines or a recent clear cut or burn area.

“Many still think the weather dictates the rut times. I think the peak breeding is always the same as shown on GON rut map. However, the weather dictates the amount of daytime movement. Bucks for sure move more during the seeking phase, but I just think it takes place at night when above average temps as it has been the last part of October and as predicted first week of November.

“We wish it was cooler, but just pack the Thermacell in early November and get out there. It’s the time of the year where you just don’t know what might come by. Find some food sources or find the bedding cover, and spend some time in the stand close by is my best advice. Oh, and speaking from experience, try to stay alert because it can happen at anytime this next month.

“I predict if it ever does cool off and we get some rain, deer will be on their feet like crazy.”

Twiggs County: Richie Green, of Jeffersonville, reports, “Wow, we look forward to deer season coming in and all of a sudden it’s speeding by. But not before the breeding cycle gets here, and it’s getting close. Bucks are laying down sign and marking territory right now. It seems a bit late this year, by a week maybe, but it could bust wide open and fool me. They are usually chasing around here on Halloween, but the signs say they need a date first and nobody’s answering. This hot weather probably has something to do with it.

“Of course, people still kill giant deer when everyone else is wondering where the deer have gone. Kevin Shepard killed a giant again. He’s gonna own GON’s top 10 archery records for the county if he keeps it up. They do work hard on management for the deer, and it sure pays off. I’m sure it will be in the magazine—he usually sends a picture in.

 “My focus is always going to be on the does. Wherever they are is where I want to be. After the rut food will be back on the list of places to hunt,  but a hot doe can’t be beat.

 “Maybe next month I’ll have some pics of one I killed, or one of yours if you send them to me with the info. Either way I like to see them and find out how you got them, so it might help me get one.

“The big deer I had in August have either gotten camera shy or left town,  but you never know when someone else’s deer will come by you, so go hunting every  chance you get. I sure do. Good luck.”