Big Lake Bottom WMA

[TheSchwartz]

There are NO deer in Fannin county. NONE!
Hog doggers done caught all the big pigs.
Nuttin up there but a whole passel of my cousins all up and down the river so don't go trespassing.

I'm confused....BLB WMA isn't near Fannin Co...

[Solo7]

I’m in for the 2nd draw.

[Oldskool67]

Was up there for a couple hours Monday in the middle of the afternoon. I only went in about a mile on the west side. A good amount of water, but the area I was in was walkable for sure. I saw a doe and a good buck within the firsts 500 yards. Scouted around where I saw them and found some decent sign.

Looks promising so far. Might have got lucky with the early date as long as it doesn’t start flooding.

I’ll be on foot for the hunt so hopefully they don’t do compartments and get stuck real far away from the gate.

I’m going to try and go one more time before the hunt, but it’s a 3.5 hour drive for me.

Mosquitoes were terrible.

[Phorizt]

Did you put corn out when you hunted there? Wondering if baiting is worth the time or if there's enough natural browsing available to them out there.

I tried baiting at BLB and nothing ever found it. I had deer passing around me within 50 yards of the bait but nothing touched it. I was on the far West side toward the river and the deer numbers seemed very sparse over that way.

At Richland Creek I tried putting out a bunch of corn in the area around my stand and that backfired. a few deer found it at first but then a bunch of hogs found it, camped out there all night a couple of night, tore up the place and kept any deer scared off. I did shoot a couple of the hogs though.

[mattkwebb]

Did you put corn out when you hunted there? Wondering if baiting is worth the time or if there's enough natural browsing available to them out there.

I didn’t put corn out. There’s really no point other than trying to get a deer to stop in your shooting lane. There’s so many acorns there. They have food all around. Since you seem like a mobile hunter, I would check out the southern outdoorsman podcast and look for episodes with river bottoms especially with Jonathan Moreland. That will point you in the right direction


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[jnd1959]

This is my favorite place to draw archery. It can be a tough hunt since it is all pretty much the same topography. there are some big deer out there. I can attest to that from about 60 yards. If it is wet you want four wheels and serious 4wd and good mud tires on an atv. A winch or come-along is a good idea. You don't want to be walking 3 miles back to camp to get it. Don't ask. They run this hunt relaxed and very well. I usually hunt the first week and I'm going down to see if there are standby spots this year. I haven't had a lot of success with corn but I know other have.

I've hunted this place for several years now. There are better draws but this is still my favorite.

Look up last years topic for BLB. I've posted some information there.

This year, I'm just going to take my saddle and still hunt north to south until I see some promising sign. I'm actually more interested in pigs but I won't pass up a good deer.

Note the antler restrictions are 15" there (or were last year). They want you to shoot mature deer only. I passed on one last year that was close. A 15" deer is nothing to sneeze at.

[jnd1959]

Was up there for a couple hours Monday in the middle of the afternoon. I only went in about a mile on the west side. A good amount of water, but the area I was in was walkable for sure. I saw a doe and a good buck within the firsts 500 yards. Scouted around where I saw them and found some decent sign.

Looks promising so far. Might have got lucky with the early date as long as it doesn’t start flooding.

I’ll be on foot for the hunt so hopefully they don’t do compartments and get stuck real far away from the gate.

I’m going to try and go one more time before the hunt, but it’s a 3.5 hour drive for me.

Mosquitoes were terrible.

They haven't done compartments in any of the years I've hunted there.

[jnd1959]

Hey Matt, glad you got drawn again! I sent Oldskool an private message. Best of luck but I know you make your own luck.
Willie

PM Sent

[jnd1959]

I drew the early Sep 30-Oct 9. I’m sure it’s going to be hot and possibly flooded. And no 4wheeler. But I’m not complaining as it’s the first time I’ve drawn anything. Also I will be able to hunt some mid week so hopefully that will help.

If you do a search there are several good threads on here that are not that old. Also there are some videos on YouTube. Going to try and get out and scout a little in the next couple of weeks. I’ll post again after I scout

PM Sent

[mattkwebb]

Hey Matt, glad you got drawn again! I sent Oldskool an private message. Best of luck but I know you make your own luck.
Willie

Hey Willie! I never got your message, you can still txt me though!


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[ctom87]

Note the antler restrictions are 15" there (or were last year). They want you to shoot mature deer only. I passed on one last year that was close. A 15" deer is nothing to sneeze at.

Per tpwd category for this year:
Legal bucks must have one unbranched antler or a main beam spread equal to or greater than the ear tips.

So I guess the 13" rules doesn't apply as long as he is wider than his ears? I think I read somewhere when I was learning about scoring in the field their ears tip to tip are 15 to 16 inches.

[jnd1959]

Antlers need to be clearly outside the ears. That's the definition I've gotten in the past. They are out there on this unit, trust me. If they're clearly outside the ears then your likely safe even if it is close, at least that's been the feeling i get from the staff.

[Senko]

Per tpwd category for this year:
Legal bucks must have one unbranched antler or a main beam spread equal to or greater than the ear tips.

So I guess the 13" rules doesn't apply as long as he is wider than his ears? I think I read somewhere when I was learning about scoring in the field their ears tip to tip are 15 to 16 inches.

They will tell you at orientation that they at least have to be 15" wide. They won't accept the 13" rule.

[Beargrasstx]

Going this year unless forced to work overtime. I drew the december timeframe. Looking forward to getting out there and a change of scenery.

[30-30]

BLB was a fun hunt. It was dry as a bone when I was there, and they allowed access with trucks. Apparently that’s not the norm. I saw several deer out of range, and arrowed a pig but lost it. Thanks jnd for loaning me your good flashlight.

In our orientation they explained they want mature, obviously “legal” bucks taken. Not 2.5 YO basket racks that might squeak 13.5.” Big-bodied older bucks tend to be 14-16” ear-to-ear, thus the strict “outside the ears” rule.