OK, fill me in on Georgia pigs (coastal)

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Well my wife figured we needed another project so she bought a little fixer-upper place in Southeast Georgia.  Will mainly be a place to stay when we are down there fishing in the salt and future winter place in retirement.  For now its mostly a test of my carpentry skills   .  I'm looking too into the pig situation.  Primarily thinking about Altamaha WMA.  What's the story down there, on public ground?  Looks like you can hunt 'em whenever something else is in season, looks like up to Feb28th....am I missing something?  No baiting on WMA's as I understand, but some dog hunting?  I assume you'd need a deer tag in pocket during deer season, but nothing specific for pig?

Any info about seasons, regs, etc appreciated.... the e-regs I've seen are a bit vague....

Thanks, guys!

R

[Possum Head]

Not sure about Georgia Ryan, however in Ms. It's legal during any open season provided you use weapons for that given season. A few folks hammer them during squirrel season with high powered 4's. We get a spring time crack at them during Turkey season as broadheads are legal. I've heard Georgia is loaded with pork. Keep us posted and welcome to the south!

[Terry Green]

You can hunt hogs year-round on private property ....you can hunt hogs on Management Area whenever there's a small game season open or during deer season .
..so there are many times during during the year you can hunt on management area ....you only need a small game license you do not need a deer / big game license ...I'm pretty sure you can bait around your area as long as it's not during turkey season..... but you're not going to have to bait to kill a hog around that area

[Philbow]

The Georgia Regs
 http://www.eregulations.com/georgia/hunting/

If you are hunting on a WMA I don't think you can use bait, only private land. Each WMA has differing hunting seasons. Most exclude small game hunters during the deer hunts, you can still hunt hogs during the deer hunts but you'll need the big game license. The first small game (hogs with a bow) is squirrel season on August 15.

Fort Stewart is also very piggy. But every WMA in costal GA will have pigs.

[IndianaBowman]

Ryan, Jeff Holchin hunts GA hogs often and has had great success. He hosts PBS hunts there every year.

PM me if you want his Email or phone #.

[email protected]

[Terry Green]

Philbow...can you not hunt hogs on wmas during Turkey season down there?....and does your small game season not run through like Feb 15?

And yes you have to have a big game license during deer season to be in the woods at all.... the reason I mentioned you didn't have to have one is because I have a lot of people come hunt when there's no deer season and all they need is a small game license

[T Sunstone]

You can't hunt hogs on fort Stewart during turkey season.

[Terry Green]

asking about wmas on the two questions above...thx

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Now you can see my confusion...I'm not even from down there  

So I understand this - from opening (like aug 15) of small game season I'm OK, as long as I'm not there during deer season (need a deer tag).  Till end of small game season (late Feb).  Do y'all need turkey tags (in other words, if I'm hunting pigs in turkey season do I need a tag in hand, like for deer season?), or is small game/pig closed during turkey season?

Good on the no baiting on the WMA's - I was asking because if it was legal I could imagine issues with guys "staking out" areas and getting protective.  It appears some locals are running "guided pig hunts" with dogs on WMA's in that area from what I see on the interwebs - is that on the up and up?  Seems a bit of strange use for public ground....but maybe with the pigs the DNR doesn't care.

Thanks for the help, guys    - any info is MUCH appreciated!

R

[Terry Green]

Hey Ryan... yeah and I probably contributed to some of that confusion by not elaborating but I was in transition from the car to a meeting and just trying to help out and I should have taken more time but yes some things are different north and south and some things are different from management area to management area it can be confusing at times

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Terry, I'm just pulling your chain..I really appreciate the help.  It is exciting that the coastal counties seem to have lots of pigs, you know I saw a couple dead along the road by Darien last year and never put two and two together... I've been in areas with lots of pigs, and rarely saw one hit, must be a pretty good population to see that.

Any other input, guys?

Thanks!

R

[Philbow]

Terry,
Yes to Turkey season and small game season runs till the end of Feb. Depending on the WMA It may be closed to small game during the deer hunts so you would need the big game license to hunt on the WMA during these "big game hunts". Since Turkeys are considered Big Game I think a big game license is required to hunt on the WMAs during turkey season. Each WMA has different restrictions on hunting opportunities so each hunt must be arranged according to that WMA schedule. And then there are the Quota hunts where only the hunters selected for that hunt are allowed to hunt.

[Philbow]

Ryan,
I think you would need a big game license to hunt on the WMAs during turkey season.
The Ossabaw Island Quota hunts are just great. You also don't need to expend any cash to apply for priority points (rejection points).
Here the Start of the application process.

 http://georgiawildlife.com/hunting/quota

you'll need to create an account to begin applying but then it's fairly easy.

[Philbow]

Ryan,
Here the site for beginning to create an account.

 https://license.gooutdoorsgeorgia.com/Licensing/CustomerLookup.aspx

[RC]

I have hunted Altamaha WMA many times. In Ga. unless otherwise specified on a specific WMA you can hunt hogs as long as there is a hunting season in on that WMA. Turkey season is one of the best times to hunt pigs. Everyone wants to hunt them after deer season till Feb 28 but it is often tough then because the deer hunters have them pressured as well. But if you go long and hard in the swamp you can gett`m then too.

   I have been on most of the "drawn" hunts and can tell you the hunting is good in South Ga most everywhere on these WMA`s.I ve been to Ossabaw Island 3 times totaling 9 days hunting and killed 4 deer and 5 pigs with a stickbow. Very good hunt.  
   Jeff Holchin does a lot of boat hunting with great success and would be a great help to you on the coast I would hook up with him if you are interested in that. If you want to be shown around Buffalo Swamp on the Altamaha near Darien give me a holler and I`ll be glad to show you around. The WMA`s to the west of there are good as well. RC

[killinstuff]

If Robert offers to take you hunting, you'd be really smart to jump on that offer.  And if you're in Darien you'd be really smart to stop at B&J's steak and seafood.  Best fried shrimp and oysters on the coast IMHO.

[Kamu]

Man get with RC. He will show you how to get it done for sure in those swamps.  I followed him around Fort Stewart for a day and learned a awful allot. He is the swamper!!!!!!!!!

[killinstuff]

I should have added, the Altamaha WMA is mostly for ducks but there are hogs there.  Last Jan/Feb I didn't see a live hog when I was there but there were two road kill pigs south of the bridge. It was my first time walking around Altamaha and I wanted to hit a few other WMA up river as well, all the way to Horse Crick.  It poured and there were tornados all the while I was there, everything was flooded bad and there was a fair amount of damage as far north as Savanah.  I wouldn't say any of the WMA's are over run with hogs from what I saw and the biggest indicator besides lack of sign was acorns everywhere.  When it floods the acorns pile up on the flood line and hogs have that figured out and clean them up.  There were buckets of acorns waiting to to be eaten.  Saw plenty of deer and squirrels and Horse Crick was covered up with turkeys but saw only one live hog all week.  There are still hogs but I think the numbers are down.  They ain't going to go away just not as many as there were in the past is all.

[Frenchymanny]

Georgia and pigs.... What could be better?

F-Manny

[Ryan Rothhaar]

I wanted to thank all you guys for the info... things got weird the past couple weeks and haven't been on here.

And RC...I'll be in touch!  I appreciate the offer and I'll take you up on it....some of the pig killin' skills will have to rub off  

R