Trad Gang

Everybody says you can't kill em on the couch...so yesterday Tarzan and I got up bout 4am, met up, and headed up to Cohutta Wilderness area in hopes of finding a bear.

We hiked first into an area with a few creek drainages, hoping to catch either hogs or bear feeding or bedding. 3 hours of intense stalking later, we had nothing but lots of hog sign and sweat drenched clothes. We hiked up a drainage and across a couple of ridges to hillside literally covered in chestnut oaks.

To say there was plenty of food on the ground was an understatement   (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/2005%20Season/9-24-05%20Cohutta/test4008.jpg)

The bears had obviously been in the area, but it had been a while...too much food laying on the ground and nothing "still steaming", not what we had hoped.   (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/2005%20Season/9-24-05%20Cohutta/test4010.jpg)

This was the freshest sign we saw, a yellow jacket nest torn into with pieces of honeycomb laying around the stump....pretty cool.   (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/2005%20Season/9-24-05%20Cohutta/test4002.jpg)

We hunted hard...the terrain will whoop ya quick  (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/2005%20Season/9-24-05%20Cohutta/test4013.jpg)   (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/2005%20Season/9-24-05%20Cohutta/test4003.jpg)

We spent most of the day standing like this   (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/2005%20Season/9-24-05%20Cohutta/test4011.jpg)

But the view was worth it   (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/2005%20Season/9-24-05%20Cohutta/test4006.jpg)

No bears, no hogs...but a great day in the field with great company. Ya cain't kill em on the couch boys!    :bigsmyl:

Looks like a day well spent..... Great pics... Terry

Interesting pics. When I picture in my mind hunting the south I see swamps, gators, bugs, and T-shirt weather heat. Heck, that ground looks more like my backyard. JC, you must be from NORTHERN GA, huh?  :)  

Would like to see some more pics or video of that country, and the things it holds.

JC,
WOW!! Pretty hardwoods with mass to boot!!! Thanks for sharing the great pics and hunt.

Cool!! Sounds and looks like alot of fun between two friends.  :bigsmyl:  Can't wait too get back in the hills next weekend and do some bowhunting for deer.  :)  Good luck getting a bear/hog and some deer this fall!!

JC-I'm glad y'all got after 'em.  Whether fishing or hunting, the Cohutta will WORK you indeed.

Me...I stayed on the couch this weekend...with my newborn son. He's awesome!   :thumbsup:

Looking at the "standing" pictures I was drawn to the quiver with the yellow feathers. I was surprised how well they blend and how the black fletching cover stands out like a sore thumb. Another reason to re-think my choice of black feathers. Deer could prolly see them moving two countys away!

Glad you guy had a great time. I enjoyed the pictures a lot. Everything is pretty much flat around here. How the heck to you drag a deer up them hills?

Very cool! I wish I didn't live so far away. I would have loved to have been there. CK

Tom and guys, funny how people think GA is flat and swampy...we've got our share but mainly GA has a varied terrain, especially up here above Atlanta. No real mountains but we've got some steep foothills!

CK, you holler when you come and we'll have a whole crew who'll take off work and drag you around to our best spots like you do us! Glad you rode out the storm, holler if you hear anything about a new date.

Sparta, my wife gives me grief over the poop shots but it's not every day a feller sees 20 piles like that in a 50 yard area   :scared:  It would have been nice to post hero shots but as you said, great hunts don't always end with blood on your hands.

Great pics Joe!  :thumbsup:

Here ya go Tom.....

  (http://tradgang.com/terry/pic4.jpg)

  (http://tradgang.com/terry/jcc1.jpg)

Ya can't fool me Terry. That be pics of Missouri.  :)  

That is some beautiful looking country for an archer to wander around in. I could lose a whole bunch of arrows in there. Is that mostly all public ground and do you have a lot of it?

Terry, quit showin' them pics!  All them durn yankees will be movin down now.  That's why us South Carolinians call em' halfbacks.  The yanks leave for the winter a headin' to Florida, get halfway back to yankeeland and stop off of I85 in my neck of the woods  :D    But seriously, he's showing pics of Minot,ND; not Georgia, got it?  

Move? Nope. I'll take the cold and snow over that hurricane stuff any day.

Visit? Post a couple more pictures like that and lookout, here I come.  :)

Tom,

We don't have hurricans in N GA..only the left overs from them.....it gets cold...and we do get some snow from time to time.

Those pics are of the Cohutta Wilderness.  Its a 95,000 acre Managment Area with 33,000 acres of Wilderness in the middle.

Just too danged hot down yonder. Our bow opener is Oct 1st. The weatherman says we might even see a snow flake in the air this Thurs (2 days before the opener). Yeah baby, now we're talking good weather!

Ray...if I didn't hunt when it was hot down here, I could easily take away over half my kills.  

Hot weather doesn't make for bad hunting....just not always comfortable hunting.  I think it was 91 yesterday...and did see 3 does about 30 yards out of range.  


Course, I've never been a 'fair weather hunter'.

ya  always got some hot ones down the bayou also.....then there is that one morning you just feel the weather start to turn ,,ahhhhhh , aint happened yet....marco#78   :D    :D

Terry,

I hear ya on the not skippin hunting. I sat with my son for the MI youth deer hunt this past weekend and it was 70 degrees. There were mosquitos in the air and I had to "hunt" for some warm weather clothes.

We're just spoiled yankees, that's all.   ;)

Awful beautiful country, guys!

JC Have you ever tried three forks area?I have been told by a old timer or three that the  area is a for sure bear hunt zone........Magnet..Were you guys on the south side or north side check in area?Did you see any other hunters parked on side of road?Anybody check anything out at the check station kill sheet?I went up to coleman river area,got some good tips on hog whereabouts and activety.Going back soon as i can.....Did you see any storm damage/high winds blown down/uprooted trees?The wind really blows up on those big ridges.It will get better when the weather cools off.Stick with it...& Good Luck!

Ted, We went to the check station there on E.Cowpen. We did see some other "hunters" but...um...not sure what they were doing (only one with a bow, one with an orange vest on, one with a map). There were 4-5 bears on the check station sheet, strangely, all of em from either my town of Ranger or town next to me of Fairmount, they must all know "the spot". Didn't see much storm damage at all...woods were pretty dry but looked great otherwise. Good luck to ya!

Hey JC,Dang your at the roughest place on the area to hunt,those ridges are steep!The game wardon and other hunters thru the years have told me the hogs are in there though.If you want to try someplace differnt just to hunt and maybe scout-keep going past the check station and ride till you see a flat place on the left that gently slopes down,maybe a couple miles past check station,not real far.There is a good trail that goes way back in there.just go a couple hundred yards down the ridge and you will find a old mountain man cabin still standing back in there from years ago.Hunt from there back to road and you will see every track from every animal on that area.Its a hot spot crossing.Be sure and dont tellanyone as it is a secret spot!You will for sure get a shot on a hog or deer ,maybe a bear!Its a easy hikehunt for cohutta and not steep like most of the area.Good Luck and get a bigun!Hope this helps.

Cohutta is a big place   :scared:   .There are more good places up there than you can shake a stick at.Its close to where he has been hunting.They will enjoy the area and may get lucky.i never have a problem helping a fellow hunter.Lord knows i have been helped enough myself.What goes around comes around,if i help someone it will come back to me.Cohutta is truly a hunt different than any other,95,000 acres is a lot of big woods.It is the beauty that all ways draws me back,you can really feel free wayup on those windy ridge tops!Oh yea its public land so first one there gets the hunting spot!One things for sure,you can walk cohutta till your legs fall off!   :bigsmyl:   Cohutta is a hard core mountain man hunters land,easychair/flatlanders/roadhunter type hunters need not apply!My hats off to anyone that will tackel it,especially with primative weapons!Good luck & get a biggun!

Jc posted while i was writeing mine and hes got it pegged!It isnt easy to find anything at cohutta.Lots of ridges up there.Shes a jewell and i hope she stays as wild as she is!Long live the cohutta wilderness,My favorite secret place!

JC and Tarz, Thanks for sharing the pix.I'd like to join you guys up there some day.Looks like an awesome place to hunt!!  :thumbsup:    :thumbsup:

Any time Guru...any time.

I do love the Cohuttas...no doubt about it.

Just need a bit of time some seasons to find the sposts.....but man is it BEAUTIFUL in there.  A man can get lost for sure...and that could be a good thing.

T

I will turn you guys on to one of my favorite cohutta pics.enjoy!   :wavey:    (http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b310/blackbearhunter/fall_holly_creek_100_copy.jpg)

Nice picture blackbearhunter.  Man, I need to get back up there.

Beautiful country.  We got some places like that in Tennessee, especially up around the Tellico area.

Guys loved the pictures . thought i was the only one who had to go up hill to hunt .not fun on short winded fat guys !! love to see the hills just don't like climbing them !!--- herb

Another favorite Pic!Enjoy!  (http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b310/blackbearhunter/cohutta.jpg)

Fall Pic.  (http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b310/blackbearhunter/ftmountain.jpg)