If any of you follow our YouTube channel you've probably seen this hunt. In December of 2020 Warb, Gooch, Greg, Zach and Keith traveled to North Georgia to hunt mountain deer with a muzzleloader. We try to make a point to hunt down South at least once each year. It is consistently some of the toughest deer hunting we experience.
Key Questions:
Why did we choose to hunt this timeframe?
Why did we choose this area to hunt?
What tactics were used to find and harvest bucks?
How does the hunting in the South compare to the Midwest?
What was the rut timing on this hunt and how did it play a role?
What type of habitat did we find deer in?
Habitat Overview
The public areas we hunted were vast. Some spots were remote and required a steep climb up or long hike to find the deer. The habitat was 95% wooded with the occasional small wildlife opening placed close to roads. There were some open stands of pine and oak timber but each area was full of thick cover. Some old clear cuts and timber thinnings added diversity. Small creeks and rivers weaved throughout the mountains with aggressive topography. Combine these factors together and the mountains of North Georgia are a great place for bucks to reach old age. The catch is, they are difficult to find and hunt.
Adapting Tactics
We began the hunt by setting up over thick transitions near oak trees dropping acorns. Each day we sat several hours in the morning and evening while scouting through the middle part of the day. For the first two days of the hunt, we did not see a deer while sitting. We kept finding deer sign when scouting but deer sightings were extremely low.
Since we were on a tight window (6 days or less) we decided to start aggressively still hunting to cover more ground. As you'll see in the hunt breakdown video, this paid off in a big way!
The lesson here is always adapt to the situation you are in on the SPECIFIC day. We weren't seeing good deer movement while sitting so we decided to take our chances covering ground and calling into thick cover in an attempt to bring bucks out during daylight. Don't be afraid to mix it up if your current strategy isn't working. Even if you're not sure what to do. Try different approaches until you find something that works.
