Has anyone hunted the Paulding Forest WMA? Since I have not been able to get a lease or in with a club anywhere. I am thinking I may go start scouting there with my daughter. So at least I can get her in the woods this year for her first year hunting. Any thoughts or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Do not want to step on toes or take anyone's spot out there. Just looking for thoughts and advise. I have never hunted a WMA before.
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Paulding Forest WMA
- Thread starter James Queen
- Start date
Safety first. Wear lots of orange. You AND your daughter. I can’t say that enough.
This. Opening morning will sound like a war. Go with head to toe orange the deer don't care.
Any fishing over there?
Paulding Forest is open through the archery season, has a youth firearms hunt in October and then two rifle hunts. The two rifle hunts are usually in Nov and December. Get there early and stay all day, expect to be walked in on. Don’t hunt near the roads, unless you want to see folks drive by all day long. Camping is allowed on the WMA as well. Certain areas of the WMA has wild pigs too.
There aren’t many “bad” areas there, I try to find escape routes leading to thick cover. That’s where the deer will be headed once the orange army invaded that place.
There aren’t many “bad” areas there, I try to find escape routes leading to thick cover. That’s where the deer will be headed once the orange army invaded that place.
There is Goldmine Lake and two more lakes nearby, all of which are off of Goldmine Rd. There’s also decent trout fishing on Raccoon Creek, but the stocking has ceased for about a month now. The creek gets low and hot this time of year. If the beaver dams across the creek are gone, the trout might make it down to a couple of big holes further down the creek. It’s too overgrown for a fly rod, unless you have a good roll cast.
When do they allow access for scouting.
