Thanks for the info, I didn't know there was a forum on Gon for bears. I also have heard that if you find the white oaks that the bears won't be to far away. Good luck on your hunt.
can not guide hunters for pay in any of the WMAs. So, we do not have a developed guide industry here.
I am one of the guys active in the GON Bear sub-forum. I am no expert, but what I know I learned from that group. Are you posting in the Bear forum?
You are not a new guy though. You have been on the GON forum for years. Just new to bear hunting?
Being a north Georgia local, you're spot on
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Jbogg, question for you. I noticed that looking at historical harvest records of GA bears, it seems to wax and wane on a year to year basis. A strong peak of bear harvest will be followed by a low year the following year. We are coming off of two low years, so I suspect there will be a lot of bears hitting the ground this season. Do you think this mostly correlates to trends in mast production? Just naturally that if more bears are killed there will be less to hunt the following year? Or something else?
So that’s a good question, and what they have seen is that in years with heavy mast production harvest numbers typically go down. Last year is a good example. When there are acorns absolutely everywhere the bear can stay in a mountain laurel thicket with food, water, and cover making it much harder for a hunter to connect. I have done a lot of scouting this summer, and I think a lot of guys will be connecting on bear in a few weeks.
Jbogg knows. Seriously though, last year you could skate for miles on red oak acorns. I have never seen anything like it. I took a few 1 sq foot samples in one hollow and determined there were more than a million acorns in a square mile. That sounds impossible, but if you saw it you would not doubt it. I got my first bear last year and had to go into some thick stuff to do it. This year looks different so far. I am unsure about the white oak crop, but as long as there are some white oak acorns in the mountains and you can find them, you will find the bear -- and the deer and the hogs.
I did the same thing, and it worked, but it took a couple of years for me. In the meantime, I killed two mature mountain bucks, so there is that. It will kick your butt. For me, the worst part is getting back on some ridge and trying to get out through a couple of miles of blowdown. I have learned some of that lesson. there is so much land and I just love to explore, plus, when you bear hunt in the mountains you really have to scout and hunt at the same time. So, I tend to wander too much and it really tears me down. This year I will cut that back because the fatigue is cumulative. I about did myself in at Cohutta last year, and I did not recover till after the season.
I think this could be the best year in probably the last three as far as the acorns go. I am finding some really good pockets of white oaks, but they are definitely not everywhere. I am hearing from guys that are seeing white oak acorns at lower elevations, as well as the higher ones, but there seemed to be an elevation band between 2300’ - 2800’ that was hit by that late frost this spring. It’s all just speculation until the season begins. It still comes down to climbing a mountain and looking for fresh piles of scat.
