Cedar Creek WMA Deer Hunt Starts Slow

Nine-year-old Braden Crane, of Dawsonville, shot this fine buck during the first day of the Cedar Creek WMA deer hunt.

Cedar Creek WMA’s first firearms deer hunt of the season always attracts hundreds of deer hunters who are excited to break out their firearms prior to the state’s regular season firearms opener. This year’s hunt was no different as it kicked off yesterday morning Oct. 15 with 550 eager deer hunters in the woods.

It takes a hard-working crew of WRD folks to work a busy WMA check station. Here’s the folks who helped collect deer data on the first morning of the Cedar Creek WMA hunt.

As scattered shots rang out from all directions, trucks loaded with deer began to roll in at the check station. The Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) team checked about 30 deer during the first morning of the hunt. Of these, one of the largest deer was an 8-point buck killed by 9-year-old Braden Crane, of Dawsonville. This is Braden’s second year hunting Cedar Creek WMA alongside his dad, who also killed a buck during the morning hunt.

Andrea Pitman and Terry Hale brought in two of the largest deer of the first morning. Both were 8-pointers.

Rick Crumbley, of Monticello, a veteran hunter of the first Cedar Creek WMA deer hunt, kicked off the first day with this nice 7-pointer. Rick has been hunting the WMA since he was 17 years old.

“I want to take him and do a skull mount,” said Braden happily as WRD checked out his prize.

Steven Page, of Chatsworth, shot and killed this 7-point buck.

Michael Davidson, of Bethlehem, shot this 6-pointer early Thursday morning.

Bobby Bond, a biologist with WRD, said, “As compared to past years, this morning has been relatively slow in regards to the number of deer checked in. However, the weather is great, and I am optimistic about the rest of the weekend.”

Patrick Sosebee, of Towns County, killed this 9-pointer.

Ryan Garrett, of Blairsville, started the weekend right with this spike buck.

There is still a day and a half remaining to participate in the first hunt of the year on Cedar Creek WMA. Saturday will host an either-sex hunting day, which will likely attract a few more hunters than normal since private lands in the area will be closed to either-sex hunting on Saturday.

Jerome Jones, of Murray, kicked the weekend off right with this 125-lb., 7-point buck.

Tommy Keener, of Murray, killed this 105-lb., 7-point buck.

“We expect to have around 900 hunters registered by the end of the weekend,” said Bobby. “The weather is perfect, and I am excited to see how many deer we get by the end of the hunt.”

James Stovall, of Stockbridge, shot this 127-lb. spike Oct. 15. This is James’ fourth year hunting the first Cedar Creek WMA deer hunt.

Lamar Staton, of Gainesville, is a 30-year veteran of Cedar Creek WMA. He shot this 6-point buck.