View Full Version : Anyone Hike WMAs?
Incahiker
06-18-2008, 14:58
Just curious if anyone has looked into hiking your local WMAs? They are not very far away and can offer days of hiking. Though you have to carry a map and compass of the area as there are no official trails in these places. Usually you never see anyone in the areas. Of course, skip the hunting season, they will shoot anything that moves, well at least here in Georgia.
Bulldawg
06-18-2008, 16:58
Just curious if anyone has looked into hiking your local WMAs? They are not very far away and can offer days of hiking. Though you have to carry a map and compass of the area as there are no official trails in these places. Usually you never see anyone in the areas. Of course, skip the hunting season, they will shoot anything that moves, well at least here in Georgia.
If you hike the Unicoi to Dicks section in Georgia, two WMAs back right up to the ridgeline. Coleman on the west, Burton on the East for a large portion of the section. actually I think from the northern foot of Tray until Moreland Gap or so.
bloodmountainman
06-18-2008, 17:05
Bush-wacked all over the Chestatee WMA. Lots of old logging roads. Found 4 different ways to access the AT without having to drive to a trailhead. This WMA is my "backyard".
Cohutta is another map and compass area. Done a lot of bushwacking in there to access interior trails.
Coopers Creek and The Blue Ridge WMA's have a lot of cross country bushwacking oppurtunities.
bloodmountainman
06-18-2008, 17:19
If you hike the Unicoi to Dicks section in Georgia, two WMAs back right up to the ridgeline. Coleman on the west, Burton on the East for a large portion of the section. actually I think from the northern foot of Tray until Moreland Gap or so.
Swallow Creek WMA to the west..... Lake Burton WMA to the east. AT divides the two.
notorius tic
06-18-2008, 17:33
Ocala National Forest has some nice trails just becarful during HUNTING season..
Clifty Wilderness in KY rocks!!
bloodmountainman
06-18-2008, 17:41
Just curious if anyone has looked into hiking your local WMAs? They are not very far away and can offer days of hiking. Though you have to carry a map and compass of the area as there are no official trails in these places. Usually you never see anyone in the areas. Of course, skip the hunting season, they will shoot anything that moves, well at least here in Georgia.
Rule number one for mountain big game hunting...... make sure the game goes down on or just below the ridge-line. If it is injured and runs off you will have a VERY difficult time retrieving it.
I have hunted the North Ga. mountains for many years and have NEVER, EVER fired at movement. A lot of things move out there. I have only fired two shots in years of hunting,both successfully. One deer.... One turkey. Hunters are NOT the dumb-#@$'s most folks think they are.
notorius tic
06-18-2008, 17:47
I agree bloodmntman i hunt also I was just stateing the fact...
Nicksaari
06-18-2008, 20:54
excellent WMA here in virginia. NOBODY 'packs them. standouts: powhatan WMA, the willis river trail, highland county WMA
trailmomma4
06-18-2008, 22:15
Just curious if anyone has looked into hiking your local WMAs? They are not very far away and can offer days of hiking. Though you have to carry a map and compass of the area as there are no official trails in these places. Usually you never see anyone in the areas. Of course, skip the hunting season, they will shoot anything that moves, well at least here in Georgia.
I hunt and live in GA and DO NOT fire at anything that moves!! I fire at what I am planning to kill and only after I am positive-1. that I can get off a SAFE shot and 2. that I can make a killing shot!! I think that you may need to edit your post as I am certain that you did not mean to say that all hunters will "shoot anything that moves"---especially the GA part of the quote!!
Bulldawg
06-18-2008, 22:38
Swallow Creek WMA to the west..... Lake Burton WMA to the east. AT divides the two.
Thats right, my bad. Coleman river is on up the trail ain't it?
Incahiker
06-18-2008, 23:39
I hunt and live in GA and DO NOT fire at anything that moves!! I fire at what I am planning to kill and only after I am positive-1. that I can get off a SAFE shot and 2. that I can make a killing shot!! I think that you may need to edit your post as I am certain that you did not mean to say that all hunters will "shoot anything that moves"---especially the GA part of the quote!!
Can't edit my post, and mean no offense to you responsible hunters, and I didn not say "EVERY" hunter. But my father used to be big into hunting deer and turkey, and he said that a lot of people out there are just crazy as hell, shooting into bushes that move. He's a good ol Georgia boy that is a responsible hunter, but he also points out that there are a lot out there that are not.
In every area of life, there will be good people and bad people. It applies here too. So for those of you that aren't trigger happy, thanks:)
bloodmountainman
06-19-2008, 07:24
Thats right, my bad. Coleman river is on up the trail ain't it?
Swallow Creek and Lake Burton are the last WMA' s on the AT before entering N.C. Coleman River is to the east off of Persimmon Road and FS 70. There are some blue-blaze trails to access the AT from the Tallulah River campsites. Map and compass highly recommended.
Montana Mac
06-19-2008, 08:57
Hunters are NOT the dumb-#@$'s most folks think they are.
I hunt and also guide hunters and also spent many years in law enforcement. Most hunters aren't but there are more and more of those dumb-#@$'s that are taking up hunting.
My brother and I were hiking in the Catskills one day and I was approached by a "hunter". He said I should have been wearing blaze orange because he has had his scope on me for the last half hour. I asked him since he knew (or should have known) I wasn't a deer why did he keep his scope on me for a half hour.:mad: If his scope was on me that means he was pointing a loaded rifle at me for a half hour - not a very good feeling.
There was a case in Maine where a woman hanging laundry in her backyard was shot and killed. The shooter saw a flash of white.
I investigated a case where a man shot his son in-law through the femur with a 30-06 when he saw "movement". His son in-law was hanging his butt over a log and was wearing a long gray coat. There were hunting out fo season. His son in-law will always walk with a very noticeable limp considering over 2" of his femur was shattered.
Isolated incidents - Yes - but I don't want to be one. So if your are going to be hiking during hunting season a mesh orange vest weighs very little.
bloodmountainman
06-19-2008, 09:10
Montana Mac, I would not call any of the above Hunters. Idoits with guns are in a different classification. Those types are known around these parts as outlaws.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
06-19-2008, 10:16
I've done a lot of bushwacking and camping in WMAs in my lifetime - as others have noted, during hunting seasons there are likely to be 'idiots with guns' as well as careful hunters in the area. I hike in areas where hunting isn't allowed during deer season as I have no desire to turn into this:
http://museum.ceu.edu/Puzzles/Dinosaur%20Head.jpg
Incahiker
06-19-2008, 10:25
Well here are the stats for hunting accidents here in Georgia from the DNR.
"In Georgia, there has been average 73 hunting accidents and an average of eight fatalities each year since 1979. Tree-stand accidents and accidents resulting in self-inflicted injuries account for 72 percent of the total accidents and shooter/victim for 38 percent. According to U.S. National Safety Council statistics, people are 20 times more likely to die in a car accident than while hunting. Compared to other outdoor recreational activities, hunting ranks incredibly low; lower than playing golf. Hunting is a very safe activity, probably because hunting, like driving a car, demands safety and hunters do not take that issue lightly."
Seems like they are saying there have been an average of 73 hunting accidents total since 1979. And an average of 8 people killed every year. Close to 40% from shooter/victim, almost half. Still, it isn't that much.
Anyhow, back to my topic, WMAs are awesome to hike and very peaceful, when not being shot by hunter;), lol, jk.
Odd Thomas
06-19-2008, 10:56
Rule number one for mountain big game hunting...... make sure the game goes down on or just below the ridge-line. If it is injured and runs off you will have a VERY difficult time retrieving it.
I have hunted the North Ga. mountains for many years and have NEVER, EVER fired at movement. A lot of things move out there. I have only fired two shots in years of hunting,both successfully. One deer.... One turkey. Hunters are NOT the dumb-#@$'s most folks think they are.
Run if you see Dick Cheney though
bloodmountainman
06-19-2008, 11:01
Run if you see Dick Cheney though
That's good advice , even when not hunting!!!
notorius tic
06-19-2008, 11:11
I got a Froliking frog with a gig this year does that count...Teeth like a dinoursor
envirodiver
06-19-2008, 13:53
IMO I think that during hunting season the best idea is to assume that everyone hunting in the area where you are hiking is the biggest idiot that ever loaded a gun and behave accordingly. Then hope that the people in the area where you hike are responsible careful hunters, as most are. It's just a way of having safety back-up.
troglobil
06-19-2008, 14:32
Well here are the stats for hunting accidents here in Georgia from the DNR.
"accidents resulting in self-inflicted injuries account for 72 percent of the total accidents and shooter/victim for 38 percent. .
Last time I learned math, this equals 110% :D
Incahiker
06-19-2008, 14:57
hahah, thats a good catch, I didn't even notice it. Here is the link to the l document on the web though, they should have caught that.
http://www.goboatgeorgia.com/documentdetail.aspx?docid=366&pageid=3&category=default
Its about the 7th paragraph down.
troglobil
06-19-2008, 17:37
Maybe they read this book.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Lie-Statistics-Darrell-Huff/dp/0393310728
Pennsylvania's State Game Lands (the PC'ish "WMA" has apparently never quite caught on here) offer many wonderful hiking opportunities. Of those, backpack camping is allowed on only one of the many trails on over one million acres - the A.T. And then, subject to their rules, see http://www.satc-hike.org/paoutdoors.html#rules
What are WMAs?
designated wilderness areas? I know of clifty wilderness in KY.
mnof1000v
06-23-2008, 19:38
I think the 38% and 72% may not be mutually exclusive. That is, they may be measuring different things.
The 72% is referring to tree stand accidents and self inflicted injuries, a number which likely is inflated due to serious falls. This number would include a larger pool of accidents, which would include injuries not caused by guns.
The 38% refers to shooter/victim injuries, which I would suspect only measures the percentage of total injuries that involve a shooter and a victim.
A simple 72 + 38 mathematical equation would mean nothing becuase the two figures are percentages of different pools of data. :-?
What are WMAs?
I took the context to be "Wildlife Management Areas" which is the typical title states call Pittman-Robertson lands http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/Subpages/GrantPrograms/WR/WR.htm
wildlife Management Areas. They generaly have special hunting dates and quotas.
I did an overnighter last night to the Allatoona WMA, here in Georgia. I wanted to scout out a possible place to deer hunt this fall. What I saw absolutly made me sick. There was litter/trash everywhere. Coke cans, beer cans... Theses people never heard of LNT, to them the woods are the place to dump trash. (saw one area where someone had dumped refridgerators, mattrasses, etc.
I think its mostly young people, driving out there to party. Nobody seems to care. The shore of the lake is also pathetic. It really distracts from the outdoor experience.
Nearly Normal
07-05-2008, 21:41
Well here are the stats for hunting accidents here in Georgia from the DNR.
"In Georgia, there has been average 73 hunting accidents and an average of eight fatalities each year since 1979. Tree-stand accidents and accidents resulting in self-inflicted injuries account for 72 percent of the total accidents and shooter/victim for 38 percent. According to U.S. National Safety Council statistics, people are 20 times more likely to die in a car accident than while hunting. Compared to other outdoor recreational activities, hunting ranks incredibly low; lower than playing golf. Hunting is a very safe activity, probably because hunting, like driving a car, demands safety and hunters do not take that issue lightly."
Seems like they are saying there have been an average of 73 hunting accidents total since 1979. And an average of 8 people killed every year. Close to 40% from shooter/victim, almost half. Still, it isn't that much.
Anyhow, back to my topic, WMAs are awesome to hike and very peaceful, when not being shot by hunter;), lol, jk.
In the 9th grade in Virginia we had to take a NRA Gun Saftey class. Perhaps if it was required again less accidents would happen.
The little things like the proper way to climb in and out of a deer stand or crossing a fence makes a big differance.
This was given during the winter months in PE class.
We also took classes on drug abuse, and sex ed. and driver education.
South Carolina won't issue a hunting permit to persons born past a certain date without a completion of a gun safety course.
During hunting seasons all outdoorsmen should be aware. If you don't inform yourself or have a bit of common sense you don't belong outside anyway.
I don't know what the facts are with the Cheney shooting but I have hunted quail behind dogs. This was probably a case where a crossing bird flew toward a person standing in the wrong place and the shooter didn't check himself. There was probably more than one person at fault there.
If it was a negligent shooting Cheney would have had to be charged.
You can bet the media would have sniffed out the dirt if it was.