Sorry for the dumb questions guys, but it will be my first hunting trip in a WMA, this particular WMA I have done all the research and I even PRE SCOUTED! :), This WMA has no quota entry, so its basically open for everyone on the first day. So my question to you guys is, What can I expect in opening day? should I take my bullet proof vest to avoid getting shot by 100's of hunters in the same area? or can i go relaxed knowing I wont bump into more then a few hunters if any?

Get in EARLY, verrrry early.

get there early. Here in SC most of the roads in the areas you want to hunt are closed to vehicle traffic. So the population density near the gate with hunters is dangerously high. I take a bicycle and ride a few miles in to find no one in a great hunting area. In a 250,000 acre WMA; only about 10% is accessed by hunters on foot. BTW, I have a makeshift trailer I tow behind the bike to carry my climbing deerstand and when I kill a deer I carry the stand on my bike and put him on the trailer for the ride back to the gate. You should see the looks I get.

Got any pictures of that rig!

I dont. I'll take one when I pull it out of the garage. I just modified a aluminum cart I found in a garage sale.

Get in early, get in deep, if you can sit up in a stand, be prepared to sit all day, best of luck to you.

I use to hunt a big track of state land . Had a spot where 3 ravines started in a saddle that was a thick swampy patch of alders. Walk up the ravines was a bear but it was the escape route of all the deer coming off the bottom. Walk from the back side use to take an hour of walking side hill in the dark. Use to take my stand in the week before and stash it at the foot of an oak, up hill side of the alder thicket. Start my walk in at 430 am in the tree at least an hour before light. As the other hunters came in they pushed the deer up the ravines and the deer would work that saddle all day long . Did kill a couple nice bucks from that stand but the drag was a killer . Didnt want to work that hard for a small buck or a doe. Stay in the stand all day . Pee in a bottle . Pack in food water and stayed till dark.

I've done well in the past playing the "pressure card". In short: Do your scouting (both with maps and Google Earth) WELL in advance of season. Try to figure out the places that most other hunters will access from, where they will go once they get in, and where the deer will move when hunters walk. I don't necessarily want a "escape trail" out of a bedding area, where someone's going to walk in, surprise a deer, and the deer runs full-tilt out of there (I won't shoot a running critter), but rather a spot where they may spot or hear a hunter some distance off and try to sneak out.

In my region, it seems like a lot of guys go in shortly before or right at first light, get bored/cold/hungry by 1000 hr. and thus leave the woods, and go back in about 1300-1400 hr. So, get to your hide/stand and situated (ie, be quiet and have your gear set-up) at least an hour before everyone else, and try to make the most of it by staying until well after everyone else goes home for the day. Yes, it's a very long day; dress warm, pack snacks and lunch, and do something like read a captivating book or examine songbirds with your bino's during the dull times. It's a mental game more than anything. For the last 5 seasons, this is how I've spent the first few days of gun season.

Can't say I've killed any monsters, but I certainly have punched quite a few tags doing this.