Bear Hunting!

[biker_bill]

I want a bear soooo bad, that's on my bucket list. I just have no idea where to go and actually have a chance at seeing one. I've been to Cohutta several times and never seen anything but sign.

Anybody need a hunting partner?....

Dawson Forest WMA the Amicalola tract between the ridge and the river.
There's always black bear being taken off that section during the early deer hunts.
Not many, but always at least a few.

Best I recall until the record was broken years back the biggest bear came off Chestatee WMA above Boggs Creek.
That is certainly where I saw the biggest pile of bear poop I'd ever seen.
I saw that pile early one morning just 50 yards from where I had camped the night before.
I nudged it with the toe of my boot and when the steam came off of it I knew it was really fresh.
Thank God he had a fully belly and was feasting on black berries .....

 

[Bear44]

Dawson Forest WMA the Amicalola tract between the ridge and the river.
There's always black bear being taken off that section during the early deer hunts.
Not many, but always at least a few.

Best I recall until the record was broken years back the biggest bear came off Chestatee WMA above Boggs Creek.
That is certainly where I saw the biggest pile of bear poop I'd ever seen.
I saw that pile early one morning just 50 yards from where I had camped the night before.
I nudged it with the toe of my boot and when the steam came off of it I knew it was really fresh.
Thank God he had a fully belly and was feasting on black berries .....

My brother was scouting in Dawson Forest WMA a few weeks ago and saw two bear at separate places. He said one was about 150lbs and the other was about 300lbs. They both came within 30 yards of him. The 150 never knew he was there, but the 300 spooked at about 15 yards.

 

[Hillbilly Headbanger]

Dawson Forest WMA the Amicalola tract between the ridge and the river.
There's always black bear being taken off that section during the early deer hunts.
Not many, but always at least a few.

Best I recall until the record was broken years back the biggest bear came off Chestatee WMA above Boggs Creek.
That is certainly where I saw the biggest pile of bear poop I'd ever seen.
I saw that pile early one morning just 50 yards from where I had camped the night before.
I nudged it with the toe of my boot and when the steam came off of it I knew it was really fresh.
Thank God he had a fully belly and was feasting on black berries .....

Thanks for the pointer

 

[InTune]

Never wanted to shoot a bear,saw some in Twiggs county.I know Larry.

I feel the same way. Always felt fortunate to see one. Had an up close encounter with one on a spur trail to the Appalachian trail a few years ago. He was very large. Trophy for sure. I never had any problem eating the deer I harvested. If it was brown it was down would be my first kill and from then on, trophy buck every season so most years I just killed 1 deer. Like most wild game, someone who knows how to butcher and cook it right, bear might eat good. I dunno. Would like to try it.

 

[hikingthehills]

I don't mind hunting anything in GA but for some reason I just don't have an urge to shoot a bear. Good luck to you this year and I hope everything works out.

 

[biker_bill]

I feel the same way. Always felt fortunate to see one. Had an up close encounter with one on a spur trail to the Appalachian trail a few years ago. He was very large. Trophy for sure. I never had any problem eating the deer I harvested. If it was brown it was down would be my first kill and from then on, trophy buck every season so most years I just killed 1 deer. Like most wild game, someone who knows how to butcher and cook it right, bear might eat good. I dunno. Would like to try it.

I've had the opportunity to try a couple different cuts of meat from a black bear and I didn't much like any of them.
The ground was edible in a meat loaf, the black bear meat I was given was very fatty.
I've been told some state's have a spring bear season and the meat is way better, much less fatty.
(I guess they burn it off hibernating?????)

 

[biker_bill]

Hillbilly Headbanger - Remember earlier when I mentioned the Amicalola tract on Dawson Forest?

Here's their story it's an epic saga.

My son was in high school and had a play that afternoon, but he shot a deer and needed to go, so I took it to the Dawson Forest check out station for him.

While I was there a big young fella came up and asked for help getting a bear out of a boat on the Amicalola (about 1/4 mile from the check in station) so me and a buddy went to help.... This was at just about noon......

So the guy that's still with the boat is another big young country boy and he shot the bear a little before dark the night before with a .270 and it was DRT, but it was about 150 yards over the ridge down towards the river.

They didn't field dress it because he wanted to mount it whole, so they put their drag ropes on it and pulled.
And they pulled and they pulled and they pulled and they pulled and the bear stretched and it stretched and it stretched and it didn't move an inch. lol
(You should have heard them tell the story, they had me laughing so hard I was crying...)

After these two big young fella's admitted they couldn't pull this bear up the hill to the truck, they came up with plan B.

Plan B was for one of them to go back to his house and come back with a Jon boat so they could pull it UP the river, since they figured they weren't but a mile or so from the bridge near the check in station.

So the one guy spends the next few hours trying to stay warm on a cold autumn night next to a small fire he built while guarding the bear. His buddy got back and had dragged the Jon boat through the woods by 1AM.

They roll this bear 1/2 roll at a time down to the river, it took hours.
Then they went and pulled the boat down to the river.
(I understand it was very difficult to get the bear in the boat, but they persevered until they got him in.)

But the bear was heavy and the water was shallow, so the boat was no longer floating!
It became clear to them after just a very few minutes that walking along the shore with a rope around them tied to the boat while pulling it upstream wasn't going to work, because they kept bumping into rocks.

(Now I guess they're at Plan B.1)

So they got in the water and did whatever was required to get the boat to the bridge, it was the longest mile of their young lives and they were done tuckered when I saw them, an older man would have died that night, lol.
(The water was cold and it was a cold night, only the strenuous work probably kept them alive that autumn night!)

In all it took them about 16 hours to get that bear out of the woods!

Here's the kicker, when the state biologist put the bear on the scale it only weighed 272 pounds.
(That's lighter than my brother!!) (Imagine if it was a 550 pounder?)

Me being an older guy and a bit of a smart ass, asked the young fella that shot it, if he had to do it all over again, would he have shot the bear. His answer was NO! I'll NEVER shoot another bear!

That settled it for me. I'll never shoot a bear except in self defense.

So if you hunt in an area where 4 wheelers aren't allowed remember a few things.
1. Only hunt uphill !!
2. Bears S T R E T C H !!!!
3. Have plenty of strong young helpers on standby !!!

Good Luck!

 

[Hillbilly Headbanger]

Hillbilly Headbanger - Remember earlier when I mentioned the Amicalola tract on Dawson Forest?

Here's their story it's an epic saga.

My son was in high school and had a play that afternoon, but he shot a deer and needed to go, so I took it to the Dawson Forest check out station for him.

While I was there a big young fella came up and asked for help getting a bear out of a boat on the Amicalola (about 1/4 mile from the check in station) so me and a buddy went to help.... This was at just about noon......

So the guy that's still with the boat is another big young country boy and he shot the bear a little before dark the night before with a .270 and it was DRT, but it was about 150 yards over the ridge down towards the river.

They didn't field dress it because he wanted to mount it whole, so they put their drag ropes on it and pulled.
And they pulled and they pulled and they pulled and they pulled and the bear stretched and it stretched and it stretched and it didn't move an inch. lol
(You should have heard them tell the story, they had me laughing so hard I was crying...)

After these two big young fella's admitted they couldn't pull this bear up the hill to the truck, they came up with plan B.

Plan B was for one of them to go back to his house and come back with a Jon boat so they could pull it UP the river, since they figured they weren't but a mile or so from the bridge near the check in station.

So the one guy spends the next few hours trying to stay warm on a cold autumn night next to a small fire he built while guarding the bear. His buddy got back and had dragged the Jon boat through the woods by 1AM.

They roll this bear 1/2 roll at a time down to the river, it took hours.
Then they went and pulled the boat down to the river.
(I understand it was very difficult to get the bear in the boat, but they persevered until they got him in.)

But the bear was heavy and the water was shallow, so the boat was no longer floating!
It became clear to them after just a very few minutes that walking along the shore with a rope around them tied to the boat while pulling it upstream wasn't going to work, because they kept bumping into rocks.

(Now I guess they're at Plan B.1)

So they got in the water and did whatever was required to get the boat to the bridge, it was the longest mile of their young lives and they were done tuckered when I saw them, an older man would have died that night, lol.
(The water was cold and it was a cold night, only the strenuous work probably kept them alive that autumn night!)

In all it took them about 16 hours to get that bear out of the woods!

Here's the kicker, when the state biologist put the bear on the scale it only weighed 272 pounds.
(That's lighter than my brother!!) (Imagine if it was a 550 pounder?)

Me being an older guy and a bit of a smart ass, asked the young fella that shot it, if he had to do it all over again, would he have shot the bear. His answer was NO! I'll NEVER shoot another bear!

That settled it for me. I'll never shoot a bear except in self defense.

So if you hunt in an area where 4 wheelers aren't allowed remember a few things.
1. Only hunt uphill !!
2. Bears S T R E T C H !!!!
3. Have plenty of strong young helpers on standby !!!

Good Luck!

Wow!!!

I always try to hunt uphill, because unfortunately, I'm usually solo. Sounds like I better bring an appetite and eat as much bear meat as I can before I start to drag, lol!

 

[Lawn and Tree Barber]

Dragging a bear through the mountains..... NO THANKS!!!!

 

[Bear44]

I feel the same way. Always felt fortunate to see one. Had an up close encounter with one on a spur trail to the Appalachian trail a few years ago. He was very large. Trophy for sure. I never had any problem eating the deer I harvested. If it was brown it was down would be my first kill and from then on, trophy buck every season so most years I just killed 1 deer. Like most wild game, someone who knows how to butcher and cook it right, bear might eat good. I dunno. Would like to try it.

I hear it has a lot to do with what they have been eating, but in the fall that's going to be primarily soft mast and acorns so it should be pretty good. Remember that a bear's closest relative is a pig. So yum... hopefully.