Posts by Daryl Kirby
Go For Gator!
Last summer when a gator permit arrived in the mailbox, a great, grand adventure was hatched. An endless night doing battle with a 10-foot beast fully capable of causing significant damage… and we’re now wise enough to understand that alligator hunting should not be a casual endeavor. If you’d like to read about that adventure,…
Read MoreEye on the Antis – June 2006
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Legal Defense Fund has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by anti-hunters that seeks to outlaw hunting on 37 units of the National Wildlife Refuge System. “The case is totally without merit,” said Rick Story, senior vice president for the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, which manages the Sportsmen’s Legal…
Read MoreLiving On Largemouths At Lake Lanier
When the blueback herring took off in Lake Lanier and created a midday, heat-of-the-summer topwater bite for magnum spotted bass, I imagine there was a young angler all by himself, not another boat or a single jetski in sight, grinning like a possum eating persimmons. On the south end of Lanier, they are calling up…
Read MoreThe Coyote Factor
Editor’s Note: The following article was written in 2006, a time when state agencies and biologists were hesitant — at best — to say coyotes were impacting deer and other wildlife in Georgia. Although scientific research has not been completed on the subject, it seems clear that coyotes on certain tracts of land in Georgia…
Read MoreEye on the Antis – April 2006
A decade ago if you mentioned that hunters should be allowed on Georgia State Parks to deal with a serious ecological problem caused by too many deer, folks looked at you like you had two heads. Each time that GON brought the issue up, the responses ranged from a parks-aren’t-for-hunting attitude to flat-out denials that…
Read MoreEye on the Antis – December 2005
Back in the 1950s, the American Humane Society was responsible for setting up animal shelters across the country, a needed and valuable venture that dealt with stray dogs and cats. Apparently some folks wanted the organization to get more involved in animal-rights’ issues. A split occurred, and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)…
Read MoreEye on the Antis – October 2005
Quick quiz… what’s more frightening for the future of hunting and wildlife conservation? Is it that hunter numbers are falling in Georgia, and that the percentage of hunters under 34 years old gets smaller and smaller each year? Or, is it that animal-rights groups like PETA and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)…
Read MoreWood Duck Boxes With Dr. Morgan Smith
Wood-duck hens are early nesters, usually selecting a site and getting down to business in early February, so you don’t have a lot of time remaining if you want to help them along this year with nesting boxes. Boxes that have already been installed need annual maintenance, which can be as simple as wading out…
Read MoreBack In Black Shoals For April Bass
Have you heard that new song? It starts out kind of slow… the beat like water gently lapping the front of a jon boat, the melody set to the gentle hum of a trolling motor. But the chorus? Definitely more upbeat with the swish of rods cutting through the air on hook-sets, the grunts of…
Read MoreDeer Hunting OTG – On the Ground
The quick, frenzied crack and clatter of antler against antler was unmistakable. My first thought, someone had slipped onto our Henry County lease, that a trespasser was rattling. It was the third week of October, about 10:30 on a Wednesday morning many years ago. A cool, steady breeze had tempted me out of a treestand…
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