Georgia Bird Hunting TR
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I’m feeling pretty proud of myself right now. I haven’t been as active on the board this fall because I’ve been doing a lot of sort of unsuccessful or at least unexciting hunting. Spent a good chunk of October/November on the Allatoona WMA looking for deer (didn’t take any shots, although I saw several small does), and then on Georgia’s duck opener, which was a cluster.
The last two weeks I’ve been working very hard with my Griffon, Gretchen. Frozen quail, pointing training, lots of retrieve training.
Well today it all paid off. I purchased 15 quail from Adam Leach out of Gainesville, Georgia. I actually drove out and met him, but next time I’ll just order them to be shipped. They are $3.50 a bird.
This morning I drove over to the J.L. Lester WMA in Cedartown, Georgia, past Paulding County over near the Alabama border. Gretchen did really well. She pointed birds and didn’t chase them as they busted. Some of my quail flew better than others (I’d kept them overnight in a crate for two nights and I think they were pretty beat up). But we came home with birds, and Gretchen is now officially a bird dog. Pretty awesome.
Just pulled my quail shepherd’s pie out of the oven. House smells amazing.
Zach
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So, I hunted Allatoona WMA. I have spent a good chunk of the last couple years scouting up the Etowah River near Shoal Creek – there’s a lot of land there, although like any public WMA it’s not especially great hunting. At least it is far from roads, though, and I’ve taken both deer and turkey off it.
I had scouted that area for the duck opener during deer season, seeing several mallards and wood ducks on a forest pond fed by a creek that trickles through a swampy area frequented by smaller does. I made a mental note that I’d like to duck hunt the pond, even if I just puddle jumped some.
As duck opener drew closer, I started realizing this was going to be more of a chore than I thought. First, I caught wind of several other people wanting to hunt that area. Then, the Corps dropped Allatoona lake WAY down, exposing the river channel and leaving both Knox Bridge and, ultimately, the City Park ramps high and dry. That meant a long motor up from Little River Marina.
But I was still determined to do it. I had word from friends that I’d need to be early, so I got up at 3:30AM and got to Little River Marina by 4:15AM. It was already a cluster. Saw a few guys I knew there, loaded up my dog and gear (Gretchen was just along to theoretically fetch in floaters on the pond), and I headed out.
Most of the boats were big water boats with huge decoy spreads so I was reasonably hopeful that I’d still have the pond to myself. After an hour and a half slog up-lake through muddy channels that even the Gheenoe bottomed out in (several required poling to get back to deep water, because the water itself was totally opaque and I had no other way to find the channel, I finally reached my pull out spot.
I beached my boat on a *different* creek mouth 300 yards from the pond (this will be important later), and walked into the forest.
Sure enough there were already people spread all over the pond. Two separate blinds, probably each with 20+ decoys spread out. Keep in mind the most ducks I had seen at once on that pond never topped 20 at any time. Those guys tried to shine me off with their lights but it was still an hour before flight time, and I wanted to know how they had beat me. “Well we camped out here,” one of them said. Ok, said I. Good luck. Camping in the WMA is illegal, as I knew, but evidently duck hunting in Georgia is so exciting that people are willing to break the law to do it.
I went back to my boat, built a small reed blind and got set up. I did have a few shots – all very fast flying birds that were cutting the corner of the creek intersection and flying right over my head. One merganser landed near my spread of 6 decoys but didn’t come close. I shot at several ducks, including a couple that I knew were probably too high, ultimately not knocking any down. I don’t set up to be a great duck hunter by any means but that was very, very tough shooting. On my way out I saw enough duck hunters lining the Etowah to make it look like the approaches to Fallujah. I spoke with one group and joked that if I’d been a better shot I would have filled my limit. (I was obviously speaking hyperbolically but I probably could have killed 4 or so if I had truly been a dead eye and had a full choke).
I get back home thoroughly convinced that Georgia duck hunting is not worth the effort, and one of my friends links me to a post over on a local board. Those guys from the farm pond were blaming me for “scaring off all their ducks.” They claimed I had set up 100 yards away and somehow cornered the market. Obviously, none of the ducks I was shooting at were headed for that pond. And NO duck in its right mind would have set down anywhere near anything unusual that day. There were enough people out there with decoy spreads to give all fifteen ducks who might have used that pond that morning a PhD in spotting humans. All in all it was a pretty pathetic display by all concerned, if I’m honest. I came away thinking Georgia duck hunters are a lot like Georgia stocked trout fishermen. And while *I* certainly don’t know any more about it than anyone else around here, I feel like there’s a 100% chance that an experienced duck hunter from, say, the Arkansas or Louisiana areas, would just look at all of us and shake his head in dismay. The general lack of stealthiness and overuse of the resource–and I totally include myself in this–just did not exactly reek of a high level of competency.
At least I learned my lesson. Bottom line: don’t go duck hunting in Georgia. 🙂
Zach
Zach…..that story brings back memories. I’ve been down that road as well….at West Point WMA. That definitely was a “cluster” as you say. 🙂
I used to have some friends that had access to private property beaver ponds. It was almost strictly a wood duck affair…..with birds flying right at day break or dusk and never more than a dozen each time. One hunt and they were gone…never to return. I tried launching on the Hooch down here around Whitesburg….and anchoring up or down river for some pass shooting. I never had any luck with that either.
So….I gave up duck hunting around here a long time ago. My son usually drives to Arkansas twice during the season. He has a guide that he’s used several times.
I have wanted to explore the Savannah area….specifically the area around the National Wildlife Refuge, but have never taken the time to do it.
Thanks for sharing.
You know Steve it never even occurred to me to think about a guide. I’m from Arkansas and I always travel over there for Thanksgiving, so it’s certainly feasible for me to stop in Stuttgart for a day or two. Do you mind me asking what the cost of the guide is? Do they hunt public land or private property?
Zach
I’ll find out from my son. He uses a guy whose family has access to some private wetlands. Apparently he is satisfied with the service as he has used the guy multiple times.
Updated…………
He says it’s a private “rice farm” near Stuttgart. The guy also has two other tracts of land that are on a lease basis. My son says $150 per day but did add, “we have been hunting with him for the past 6 years.”
I actually really enjoyed the Allatoona WMA story, good story telling, I could picture the whole thing unfolding.
I’ve been curious about a Lake Allatoona Corp Property as well – I drove by a park a handful of months ago. I’ve attached the sign from it. I’m not a big hunter, but ever heard of a Cobb County Hunting Permit?
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Hey Zach, yes Arkansas hunting is a little different from Georgia. Because they waved you off with a light and said they “camped” there, I’d say they had you beat. In GA its not uncommon to get there at Midnight to beat the camping rules and be there earlier than anyone else. I’ve been to many GA spots at midnight just to shoot woodies. Thats the nature of GA duck hunting. As you said, it looked like a good duck spot, and after all we are in GA. As for you ruining their hunt I will say admitting you shot at ducks you say you likely wouldn’t kill puts you in the duck dynasty category. By that I mean all these new duck hunters ruining duck hunting by simply not knowing etiquitte. Think of it this way. In AR people hunt the same hole simply because its crowded and there are ducks. If you shoot the ducks everyone is working into a hole on your side of the hole then more power to you… IN ARKANSAS. Even if you set up a reasonable distance away there is no reason to shoot at ducks you dont KNOW you can kill. There was just an article about this exact same thing going on in GON. Hunters shooting at ducks they had no business pulling the trigger for and thus ruining neighboring hunters chances because they were working said ducks closer. Our running joke in AR and MS is don’t shoot till you see the whites of their eyes or the webbing in their toes. Bottom line is there are no ducks in GA. If you’d like I can PM you some spots in MS that are nice for a DIY hunt. Fiberglass boats will not be nice out there however. I’m leaving for AR Christmas day through New Years and will pass along any info I get but we will be hunting public land the entire time. From what I understand is the duck equivelant of NY steelhead, unless you have someone in the know. My buddy has just returned with a record of 119 mallards in 20 days between him and his buddies. MS around MLK weekend is a paradise but the mallards are smart. It’s a trade off, the ducks are smart but you are the only duck hunter for miles.
Your car may start like this(notice the clear GA boys do MS with all the woodies)
and end up like this
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7 man limit in Bayou Meto
You better be ready to risk life and limb for these
15 shell limit per hunter
3 ducks per hunter, 1 hen
25 hp limit on a boat(most guys racing run 2stroke 3cyl with nothing in the boat)
No regard for human life is a strict requirementYou really aught to come down here and hunt with me sometime Zach. I grew up hunting Georgia with a trip to Iowa for Pheasants every year at Christmas, but I also grew up thinking that Granddad’s stories of “the way it used to be” we likely exaggerated. Then I moved to Patagonia. And the first time I flushed a covey of something like two hundred plus wild quail I just about messed my drawers. I talked to Granddad about it on my last trip up North there, apologized for having taken his stories for granted, and thanked my lucky stars that the population density of humans where I live now has the ratio it enjoys with the population density of birds. Most of my days throughout each winter are mixed bag affairs, with quail and snipe being my primary targets, but ducks and geese thrown into the mix to whatever degree I feel like that day, along with the occasional European hare. It’s not that the waterfowl and hares are scarce; in fact it’s the opposite, there are so many that shooting them just ends up feeling more like a meat-collection chore than it does hunting! So I focus on the little game birds, and have a hell of a lot of fun in the process. Looks like this year I’ll miss out on more or less the whole season though, since I’m slated to guide the Bahamas and then Kamchatka, not getting back down here until at least October by the time I stick around anchorage for a bit of spey casting with a cousin I haven’t seen in years. But when you get a chance let’s make some plans. You can even bring that awesome dog of yours down and we’ll let Negra show her the local ropes!
Justin Witt
Patagonia Unlimited
Skype ID = justin.c.witt
USA Office 1-404-783-2114
Argentina Office 011-549-2945686798 (dialed from the United States)
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http://www.patagoniaunlimited.net
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That’s awesome Justin.
Yarborough, from what I can tell duck hunting is just not worth it in Georgia. I am not willing to go to those extremes, much as I would forgo combat fishing for Erie steelhead.
Zach
For duck hunting in Georgia I believe you just have to kind of think outside the box. In other words, consider tactics and places that others don’t. For instance, I floated the Toccoa several years ago with a buddy in winter, and we had great fishing, plus shot our limit of mallards. Several of the rivers we commonly fished have great float trip duck hunting on them in winter, but nobody does it, because they just don’t associate those locations with the idea of hunting. I also used to shoot Canadas and ducks on several farm ponds all over the place, including one that actually bordered Kennesaw National Park. I have no idea whether or not it is legal or you can get away with these days discharging shotguns in suburban Cobb County, but back then it was awesome, and if you check out the laws my guess is there is still nothing specifically that prevents it as long as you are nowhere near a road or subdivision. Plenty of wood ducks around too if you know where to look for them. Just my thoughts!
Nice work with your pup! It’s a great feeling to have the time, money and energy pay off with some birds in the hand with the help of man’s best friend. We’ve actually had some better wild bird numbers this year. Not great, but definitely better than last year when we were in the worst drought in 100 years and had literally no rain and extreme heat. I was somewhat distraught. I’ve got two English pointers that are both two. Reba is broke to wing and shot (doesn’t move until I tap her on the shoulder after flushing and shooting) and Lucy is getting there. Lucy is broke on pigeons and penned raised birds but needs more work on her wild birds (hence the collar on the flank in the pic below).
I’ve become somewhat obsessed with chasing wild birds with pointing dogs and keep a loft of homers for some off season tune up work. We had some good luck over the holidays chasing pheasant and quail. In my best hunt we found 5 coveys of wild birds in just over 3 hours with two dogs. 4 coveys of bobs and one of blues.
That’s VERY cool Grant. How are you working with your dogs to keep them on point after the flush and shot?
Zach
First pic is a pair of wild blue quail reba has pegged under the tiny little scrub brush. It is very unusual for blues to stick like that in such little cover.
The second pic is a really classy little 9 month old pup that belongs to a friend of mine. He is going to make a very nice dog in another 6 months.
Third is a handful of wild birds (bobwhite hen and cock and a blue quail)
Last is my dog Lucy pointing a small covey of blue quail.
Similar to you, these were my first two pointing dogs and I had no clue how to begin. Fortunately I have a good friend who is an exceptional trainer walk me through the process and I have access to wild birds and keep my own pigeons to train with. He actually whoa broke and steadied up Reba and I’ve been working on Lucy myself. There are a lot of methods but I’ve stuck with the Smith Kennels method (Ronnie Smith) and attended one of their weekend training seminars about a year ago. It’s been a fun process and a great learning experience for me.
I went back out yesterday for a short three hour hunt on a warm January day. My hunting buddy ended up having to work so I was flying solo. The dogs found 4 covey and handled them nicely.
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