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Bear Hunting
At least the Global Positioning System—so now you know what GPS stands for—kens where they are. Even from a couple hundred or so miles skyward, it keeps up, spot-on, with the race. While we, somewhere or other in the vastnesses of the Okefenokee Swamp in Clinch County, can only go from experience in attempting to…
Bears having a litter of cubs and raising them in town—could help explain the bear population growth in Georgia! This black bear and her four cubs were spotted in downtown Helen on Sept. 10. GON subscriber Joseph Fievet, of Douglasville, shared the photos.
A 16-year-old hunter killed one of the biggest bears ever taken Georgia—the second heaviest ever from north Georgia and the fifth heaviest overall. On Oct. 22, Grayson Collins, of Blairsville, managed to take down the bear of a lifetime. The behemoth weighed 620 pounds on certified scales. Grayson was hunting a few miles from Ball…
The Houston County Board of Commissioners recently disapproved an application that would have allowed Silicon Ranch solar company to place panels on a 4,700-acre tract adjacent to Oaky Woods WMA. Citing quality of living, property values, Georgia lawsuits against Silicon Ranch and wildlife habitat, the board unanimously voted against adding a solar farm to the…
The Conservation LE Corner is designed to highlight the efforts of Georgia DNR Law Enforcement Division (LED) officers who, among their many duties, protect Georgia’s wildlife, sportsmen and natural resources from game-law violators. Ware County: Around lunchtime on Oct. 15, 2022, Cpl. Sam Williams received a phone call from Sgt. Jason Shipes instructing him to…
It was a great day to bear hunt with fairly good weather and mid temperatures, but the bears didn’t seem to be moving At the end of the day on Dec. 16, 2023, only two bears were brought into the Oaky Woods WMA check station for the middle Georgia bear hunt that covers private lands…
There’s no accounting for the bug that bites you. Or when it happens. For some, it’s a process of growing into whatever activity they eventually fall for and become consumed. Others are suddenly smitten. Like Don Butts. His parents didn’t see it coming during a vacation trip to the Great Smoky Mountains all those…
A situation where a police officer shot and killed a bear in the backyard of an Elberton home was an unfortunate situation, but no charges will be brought against the officer, DNR Law Enforcement says. Elberton Police Chief Scott Marunich said he stands behind the action that the officers took, but his department is receiving…
Normally, this is a period fraught with chaos. Never mind the ever-present and who-knows-how-deep black water, claustrophobic brush, vines and briers clawing and ripping; just hurry as best you can. Hounds are roaring out of their minds, hunters sloshing, tripping, bleeding, pushing on… Because some 987 interminable yards into the Okefenokee Swamp, a bear is…
The temperature was a crisp 38 degrees, the wind was still, and the skies were partly cloudy as the sun rose across middle Georgia for the annual one-day bear hunt in Houston, Twiggs, Bibb and Bleckley counties. The good weather meant the bears should be moving, and Sam Land, of Swainsboro, was patiently sitting in…