Monthly Archives: November 2014

Waterfowl Opener 2014 – Recap

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Opening Day of Waterfowl Season has come and gone with mixed reports. Most people we spoke with are reporting more ducks than recent opening days, but not a lot of success. The birds were very cautious of decoys and almost call shy. The bluebird day that we had could have been part of the cause of that. It is very early in the season to see the birds this cautious. We will keep an eye on this as the season progresses.

Our opening day was spent in a swamp along a river. Just after legal shooting time, ducks could be spotted most directions. As normal for Georgia, most of the ducks seen today were wood ducks. Ninety minutes into the season, wood ducks were still flying. We had a very fun and exciting morning and appreciated the invitation to this area.

Remember to keep checking back often for more news during hunting season. Also, feel free to email us your stories or comments to dirtroaddispatch@ymail.com.

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2014 Waterfowl Season Preview

With the 2014 Waterfowl Season Opener just a few hours away, expectations are running high.  According to the US Fish & Wildlife Service, breeding pairs are up 8% from last year.  Only Pintail and Canvasback saw a reduction from 2013.  With these kind of numbers and weather forecasters predicting another cold winter, it should be a stellar season in all the flyways.

Georgia unfortunately does not get a large number of migratory birds with a few exceptions.  Georgia always has a high number of wood ducks that fills our season.  As far as the large numbers of big ducks, we rarely see those.  Last season, with the cold weather, there were some big birds late in the season.  We could hope for the same thing this year.

Scouting is a must.  There are ducks in Georgia, but it takes time scouting.  Public land hunting is challenging as it is with all game species.  The best bet is to find a secluded swamp on a WMA and get there early in the morning.  The more days you spend there, the more likely you are to find new species of birds.  Some of the larger lakes do hold ducks, but are often overhunted.  Once again, scouting the key to success.  Get where the ducks want to be.

Regardless of your successes this season, please be safe out there.  Always wear your life jacket, dress appropriately, and be safe around other hunters.  Good luck this season and keep checking back for updates throughout the season!!!

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Trail Cameras

For the first time, DRD is utilizing trail cameras.  We know that we are late to the game with trail cameras, but we have gotten onboard.  In Georgia, there is a fantastic deal available on trail cameras.  Although we never want to endorse purchasing products from Dick’s Sporting Goods, there is a deal that we can’t avoid telling you.  In the Georgia Hunting Regulations, there is a $10 off coupon for in store use at Dick’s.  They have several different Wildgame Innovation Cameras that are between 40-50% off.  With the camera prices being under $50 (after coupon), we expected the quality to be lacking.  This is definitely not the case.  Although we have had a few blurred pictures from moving deer, more of the pictures have been at least the quality of the one below.

For the very few people that aren’t using cameras yet, we do highly recommend them.  It is exciting going to pull a SD card to see what has been through your area.  Having 24/7 surveillance on your hunting area is a huge advantage.  Areas that we believed no deer were using, have been proved otherwise.  Especially in our busy daily lives, it is great to have this scouting tool available for us.  It also provides us with a few minutes in the woods on days that we wouldn’t normally make it.

Trail cameras should not replace scouting.  Nothing beats boots to the ground, miles and hours of scouting to keep that skill set strong.  Good scouting is a true skill and we need to continue to teach to the new outdoorsmen and women that we introduce to the sport.

Trail Camera

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Sarah’s Creek 2014

The Annual DRD trip to Sarah’s Creek took place the end of September.  If you have read from the previous years you know, the purpose of the trip is to bow hunt the early part of the deer and bear season in the northeast Georgia mountains.  We arrived late afternoon to set up camp.  A little rain the first evening did not deter us from hunting.  There was a little sign, but after setting up camp hunting hours were limited before dark. Leaves were starting to change, but none had fallen yet.  What was amazing was the mast crop, especially after last year.  There were acorns EVERYWHERE!  At one point we discussed sitting down and seeing how far down the mountain we could slide on them.  It was like walking on marbles.  This made the hunting very challenging versus other years.  The deer and bears were not out roaming the mountains so intercepting them was next to impossible.  In talking with other hunters, this was the case for most this year.

We still hunted hard for three days.  The weather ended up being warm but beautiful.  We found very little sign and only saw turkeys.  Although it wasn’t successful this year, it turned out to be another great trip to Sarah’s Creek.  We highly recommend spending time there given the opportunity.  Most people won’t hunt the area due to the steep terrain, so you often have the area to yourself.  It is challenging and anyone hunting there should be in moderately good condition.  Regardless, the views are amazing, there is limited-no cell signal, and the campsites are clean.  We start counting down the days to the next year’s hunt as soon as we leave Sarah’s Creek.

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2014 Early Season Report

It has been a busy start to the hunting season for the staff of DRD.  With several hunting trips completed, we are settling into the Georgia late seasons now.  We will discuss the early season trips in posts over the next few weeks, but tonight we will update from feedback we are receiving this season.

Many reports from hunters across the state for this year’s deer season has been far more positive than previous years.  Many areas are describing higher deer populations and lots of young deer.  Obviously it is too early to note if the changes in 2013’s reduced doe days had a positive effect, but the feedback has been good.

We also have heard reports of more quality deer being killed statewide.  This also is a positive sign towards the health of the deer population.  The one negative that we are hearing though is the high number of coyotes.  The coyote population is booming and this is not a positive towards any of the game populations.  The coyotes directly attribute to game bird, turkey, and deer population declines.  Please do your part by eliminating coyotes as you see them.

The dove season was very positive across most areas.  Local birds had not moved on yet and there were quite a few migratory birds already here.  We have not received many reports about the early duck and goose seasons.  Hopefully we can provide more information once the regular season opens.

The mountain reports have been far from positive this fall.  The bear hunting has been extremely challenging due to the huge mast crop from this year.  There are food sources everywhere which is making it difficult to find bears since they are not having to climb to get food.  Also, the grouse numbers seem to be discouraging again this year.  We are in need of some cutting to help the create some progressive growth forests.

We look forward to hearing from everyone as the season progresses.  Please feel free to email us a dirtroaddispatch@gmail.com!

Check back often for reports from our travels!!!

 

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