Back in 2011 I posted:
Who knew such monster bucks were coming off WMAs in Georgia? From what I am finding out this state has some of the best public hunting in the nation, maybe the best.
The Georgia DNR is doing things right and giving all hunters, not just the lucky ones with access to private land, a fair shot at killing a giant, and for a nominal $20 permit fee.
The 5,600-acre Coosawattee WMA in the mountains of northwest Georgia is the shining star of these public lands. Leased annually and managed cooperatively with private landowners, this WMA offers better and more varied hunting than your typical state- or federally-owned lands, many of which are overcrowded, underfunded and hardly managed at all.
(Eric’s buck from a Georgia DNR trail camera survey on the WMA a year ago )
Three-day quota hunts on Coosawattee keep the pressure down and a hunter’s odds up a bit. This WMA has yielded more great bucks in 2016, including this 178-inch giant shot by Eric Stone on December 18.
Hunting smart like a wily old veteran, 20-year-old Eric said, “I wanted to get far as I could from people. I went back to a spot I had scouted in the past and found a couple of nice rubs (and) hung my climber.” He shot the massive buck following some does the first morning he hunted.
Way to go Eric, buck of a lifetime! I wish the public opportunities could be so good in all the states.
Awesome that some states are managing for quality instead of brown-its-down shoot every legal buck.