Tried my luck in Georgia for 5 days of hunting. Different land, different regs, different way of hunting. My deer tag consisted of 2 bucks and 10 does to be harvested. My guide was my cousin who lives in Jacksonville Fl. He has a total of 6 stands which allows him to pick the best one in regards to factors such as wind direction.
Now this is my 2nd time hunting there. I was skunked the first time (2 years ago) but I figured that was due to my cousin just acquiring the land and learning the habitat. When I heard my cousin bagging 2 deers out of 3 outings, combined with my zero luck in So Cal, I quickly flew over there. I thought this was going to be fun! Especially since my cousin has left the stands untouched since he has already bagged 2. He did keep the feed going and would check deer cams for updates/teasers.
I was told that hunting in south GA is not easy and there is a reason why they are allowed to use feed. I quickly realized as the days went.
Arrived Wed noon in Jacksonville. Got to hunt first evening. Hunted stand #5 from 4-8pm. Deers came to feed after dark. Waited for hogs and no show. Went to have dinner which my cousin prepared steak and venison bulgogi. My cousin telling me of rain in forecast for the next few days, combined with my jet lag, I decided to go back and hit the stand again that night until 2am. Nothing.
Thursday morning woke up late and found my cousin gone. After drinking coffee my cousin comes back saying the skunk is gone. I took it literally but he explained to me that we got at least one deer to take home. He bagged it in his least favorable stand.
Stand 3 is walking distance and is the least favorable since it has this huge bear living behind it. My cousin wont even go to it in the dark in fear of meeting it.
Bagging deer in GA is like "drive-thru" hunting. You just backup your truck, load deer, and back up to hoist.
Motivated now, I sit in a ground blind my cousin has numbered 1. At around 430pm 2 does come out and I set up my rifle thinking about my cousin telling me to go for the neck shot. This is done because you dont want a hard fetch in the swamp. So at about 75 yards I figured it was an easy shot. Pulled trigger and thought the deer is down. Sat around for 10 min and started packing up. Only to realize no deer was around. No blood, no nothing. Looked around area and no sign. Clear miss??? No way! My scope must be off from the flight. Quick run to the range behind the cabin for a scope check and all was good. My cousin and I went back after dark with the night vision and confirmed a total miss.
Friday morning-rain. Thought we had to stay indoors but another hunter showed up and was going out. If he was going out then Im not staying indoors. Zero.
Evening- more hunters showing up for the weekend hunt. Great. Zero for me but one of them bagged a young buck.
Saturday morning was nice. Rain dwindled. Turkeys are moving around. Fox Squirrel entertained me. Got annoyed my screaming wood peckers. Zero deer.
Evening- went back to stand #5 for deer and pigs in the dark. Quick note on stand 5- area recently acquired by my cousin. Had a preexisting stand that was faced the wrong way. Previous owner set it up for a trail shot but my cousin decided to leave feed in an opening behind it for a ground blind on the other side of the opening. However the wind direction is not favorable for the ground blind. So this lean-to stand requires an over-the-right shoulder shot for that opening. Sunset at 525pm, 2 does show up at 540pm, 40yards max. I stayed on her for almost 10min to see if a bigger buck shows. Insta-kill neck shot where she dropped on the spot.
I was about to text my cousin when his text pops up saying he got one too. Double whammy in GA is cool but nothing to brag about with the locals. Not even a big deal if the same person kills 2 in the same evening.
Well the weather turned super cold. So cold that the knives were caked with fat as we processed the deers.
Sunday morning only the die hards hunted. I was relieved of bagging my first white tail that I decided to take it easy and opted for breakfast with the locals instead.
Sunday evening until Monday morning I tried to get my buck. Never showed. I also tried for hogs again and also coyotes. Zero on those. I am glad I did not come across the huge bear.
I still need to get my first white tail buck. Although unsuccessful this time, it was not for the lack of trying. There will be a next time.
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