Cohutta, Georgia Wilderness Trip and Elk Hunt Preparation: 25 Miles in 28 Hours
The Outdoor Smorgasbord 08.10.12
Did we go on this hiking trip for fun? No, we went to prepare ourselves for the upcoming elk season. We literally looked at topography maps, found the steepest terrain within 4 hours of Auburn, Alabama and went to punish ourselves and our gear (next post will recap my feelings about some gear items). Mission accomplished.
We left a trailhead (but not before Pete dropped a 10 pound plate in our packs for extra weight carrying my total pack weight to 46 pounds and 32% of my body weight) near Chatsworth, Georgia, and hiked to the top of Little Bald Mountain. 6.2 miles and about 2600 feet of elevation. Arrived at 7:00 p.m. and immediately struck out for Bald Mountain, which was another half mile and 500 feet up, then dropped off the spine and dropped 1800 feet down to the Conasauga River on Tearbritches Trail. It was 6.3 miles round-trip and we arrived back at the top of Little Bald Mountain around midnight. Next morning, we headed down to the Conasauga River via a different round-trip trail taking an additional 6.3 miles and losing/gaining more elevation. I think it was called Hickory Lead Trail or something like that. Made it back to Little Bald Mt. about 2:00 p.m., then hiked the remaining 6.2 miles back to the truck. 25 miles and somewhere around 5,500 feet of elevation – infinitely farther than I had ever hiked in the same time span.
As far as wildlife goes, it was pretty barren. Saw spotty hog rooting, three piles of black bear crap, a rat snake of some variety, a monster timber rattlesnake, and a rabbit hanging around camp. Other than that, pretty much desolate.
We had one team member go down in a spectacular ball of flames, but it was a nasty run of luck for him: blisters, dehydration, cramping, and pouring unfiltered water in his Ziploc bag of breakfast granola/powdered milk/protein power. Plenty of time before Colorado though and this was exactly why we planned such a brutal pre-hunt hike. Much rather work the kinks out now than later.
Overall, a very successful trip even though successful means the trip really sucked and my body is still screaming at me 48 hours later.
I’m 28 years old and I am currently stationed at Auburn University where I am pursuing a doctorate degree in wildlife sciences. Before this stage of life, I spent the better half of my life living in Alamance County, North Carolina. I’m convinced that my father’s love for deer hunting fostered a permanent infatuation with the outdoors in my life. As a 12-year old, I killed my first deer at my grandpa’s farm in northwestern PA. From the time that bolt-action .243 barked in 1996, it was a slippery slope towards obsessive addiction. My passion is white-tailed deer hunting, especially with archery equipment.
However, as my blog name would suggest – I don’t consider myself a one dimensional outdoorsman. I am just as likely to be wading shallow lake waters trying to arrow prehistoric bowfin and torpedo-shaped grass carp, busting the January brush for cottontails, combing hillsides for antler sheds, calling ducks in a timbered swamp, battling monster flathead catfish, or setting traps for beavers and raccoons. My passion also takes me outside NC boundaries – bowhunting elk in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley, glassing pronghorn in Wyoming’s plains country, stalking mulies at the base of the Bighorn Mountains, waiting for a Kansas whitetail to funnel past a treestand. The list could go on.
I guess the thing that makes me somewhat unique is that I have taken my love for the outdoors and genuinely made it my life’s pursuit. I received a 4 year degree in wildlife sciences from North Carolina State University in December 2006. Since then, I’ve also completed a master’s degree that focused on using GPS collars to examine how adult bucks react to hunting pressure at Chesapeake Farms, Maryland.
My current project at Auburn University also uses GPS technology but my objectives are different. I am looking at breeding strategies by different age class bucks in a very unique, high-fenced deer population. I also intend to address the controversial issue of fair chase, as well as spearhead numerous side projects while at the University.
Well, enough about me, my wife is extraordinarily beautiful if I do say so myself. We were high school sweethearts and were married in January 2008 and were joined in September 2011 by our beautiful daughter Raelyn Mae.
Finally, what can you expect from my blog. I will bring you many exciting experiences, practical how-to tips, and candid product reviews, but I also want to bring you a unique perspective from the science behind the great outdoors.
