FEATURED WMA HOTSPOT: Chickasawhatchee WMA

Region 5

• 19,700 Acres
• Resident game animals include: deer, turkey, dove, hog and a variety of small game.
• Facilities include: Shooting Range, 2 primitive campgrounds

Available quota hunts include:

A September dove hunt, a March turkey hunt and a December deer hunt.

Description of Habitat:

Chickasawhatchee WMA consists of 19,700 acres and is situated in portions of Dougherty, Calhoun and Baker Counties. The WMA consists of approximately 12,000 acres of bottomland hardwoods associated with four creeks – Chickasawhatchee, Spring, Kiokee and Keel Creeks. The WMA is part of a larger wetland complex known as the Swamp of Toa. This swamp system is the second largest freshwater swamp in Georgia (second only in size to the Okeefenokee Swamp) and is the major recharge zone for the Upper Floridian Aquifer. The remainder of the WMA consists mostly of upland pines of various stand ages and understory vegetative conditions. The WMA has two primitive campgrounds, a shooting range which includes a 50-yard pistol and 200-yard rifle range, and an extensive network of roads, trails, and firebreaks.

The WMA has a good population of wild turkeys and has the highest number of birds harvested of any Region V WMA. The WMA has two quota hunts during the first two weeks of the season and then is open for sign-in hunting opportunity the remainder of the season.

Hunters should come prepared for an experience that can include encounters with snakes, mosquitos and alligators.

Hunting tips:

• Bring a compass (gps signals are spotty sometimes).
• Walking behind no vehicle access roads to inaccessible areas near the creeks or isolated wetlands can be a great way to find low human traffic areas.

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