Photo by John Ford

The phrase "the old red hills of Georgia" is never more appropriate than when applied to the 37,500 acres of the Redlands Wildlife Management Area. Located largely in Green County with portions extending into Oglethorpe and Oconee counties, the WMA contains numerous tracts of land owned by the U.S. Forest Service adjacent to the Oconee and Apalachee river drainages.

Rolling hills descending into river-bottom flood plains provide a variety of habitats for deer and other wildlife. Often, antebellum plantation fields have given way to large tracts of planted pines, although some old fields have been preserved and are planted as food plots. The river bottoms have been largely revegetated by hardwood forests and rank growths of native cane and privet hedge -- an exotic escapee from plantings around old plantation houses.

Portions of Lake Oconee extend up both rivers north of Interstate 20, providing boat access to bottomlands on the Oconee and Apalachee arms of the lake and opportunities for waterfowl hunting.

Although old cultural sites are now largely covered by re-established forests, a significant pre-Civil War industrial site with the ruins of brick factory buildings remains at Scull Shoals. The largest structures were mostly used for textile manufacture. During the War of 1812, some were temporarily converted into a mill to supply paper when imports from Europe were cut off by British warships. Excavations of the site are continuing. The most recent discovery was that several buildings, one on top of the old foundations of the others, had been constructed along the former town's main street.

MANAGEMENT
The area is administered as the Oconee National Forest by the U.S. Forest Service and as the Redlands WMA by the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division, and a cooperative management program exists to enhance habitat, preserve existing important cultural resources, and manage wildlife. For its part, the Forest Service is seeking to combine scattered parcels of land into continuous blocks by swapping parcels with private owners. This process has enabled important land consolidations to be completed.

This area has witnessed the near extinction of deer in post-colonial times, extensive cultivation, the collapse of Piedmont cotton farming, regeneration of forests, and the re-establishment of huntable populations of white-tailed deer. The WRD manages hunts for various species to provide recreational opportunities and prevent environmental damage by wildlife, while simultaneously maintaining a healthy deer population.

Many deer hunters living in the Athens, Greensboro and Watkinsville areas take advantage of the non-quota hunts on the WMA during the archery, primitive weapons and gun seasons. The large area of the WMA with its numerous camping facilities also appeals to hunters from other parts of the state. The WMA provides a relatively inexpensive hunting excursion to an area that has not only deer, but also hog and waterfowling possibilities.

HUNTING SEASONS
An either-sex archery season typically begins the second week in September and extends until the start of primitive weapons season the second week of October. Hunters may continue to take bucks or does until the opening of regular gun season a week later, when the buck-only firearms season begins. Buck-only hunting continues through the first week in November, when either-sex hunting resumes and runs until the end of the first week in December. At that point, deer hunting is closed for about two weeks. Either-sex hunting resumes after Christmas and goes until the end of the Northern Zone firearms deer season in early January. For exact dates, refer to the Georgia 2005-06 Hunting Seasons & Regulations booklet.

According to WRD wildlife biologist Nick Nicholson, this near-continuous deer season was designed to provide an alternative to WMAs that have quota hunts and fewer hunting days.

"Redlands is available to Georgia hunters most days of the Northern Zone deer season while retaining the December break to allow access for small game hunters. This approach was taken because this is about the only way to design an overall management program for the many parcels of this WMA. When a guy and his buddies decide 'Let's go hunting,' this is one WMA that they will almost always have available."