Posts by Duncan Dobie
The Shotgun
It was one of those spur-of-the-moment, mostly impulsive things we do every day that seem so insignificant at the time but they turn out to change our lives. I had driven by the pawn shop a million times and never stopped. For some reason, the big sign out front with “Guns” written on it in…
Read MoreTom Cooper’s Silver Bullet Buck
Tom Cooper was living in Lilburn and was 33 years old when a chance happening in the Georgia deer woods changed his life forever. On the morning of Nov. 24, 1974, he set out alone in the cold darkness, driving toward public land for a typical day in the woods. As an avid deer hunter,…
Read MoreCohutta’s John Roy Brackett Passes
He was buried in his camo shirt and work overalls with a cigar in his pocket. If he’d had his way, they probably would have buried him with his 50-year-old Willys Jeep that still runs like a charm. John Roy Brackett, of Cisco, well-known locally for his lifetime of hunting exploits, passed away quietly at…
Read MoreA Hero’s Buck: Littlejohn’s Lamar County Giant
The oldest son on a family of four boys, Gary Littlejohn grew up in Lamar County, just outside of Barnesville, in the tiny community of Milner. “Dinky,” as he was known to his younger brothers and friends, spent many a happy boyhood day roaming the woods in and around his home. According to his younger…
Read MoreFrank Pritchard’s Jasper County Monarch
Frank Pritchard chased big bucks across Georgia for most of his adult life. He began practicing trophy management long ago before it was the “in” thing to do. Fifty years ago, Frank shot a massive non-typical buck in Jasper County that sported a rack with 22 points. By every standard, it should have qualified for…
Read MoreThe Bone-Crusher Buck From Coweta
It had been a slow morning for Douglas Freeman. After several hours in his portable stand, he decided to climb down and do a little walking. “I reached the edge of a large corn field that had been cut several weeks earlier. A lot of scattered corn was still on the ground, and some deer…
Read MoreThe Quest For Blackbeard Part 3: Turkey Hunting Fiction Series
Things were going almost too well for Cliff. He continued working hard at the Holloway farm on Saturdays. He had killed a nice gobbler with a shotgun, and he knew he was lucky to have a special relationship with Big Sam. He had not seen or talked to Freddie Burns in many weeks, but by…
Read MoreThe Quest For Blackbeard Part 2: Turkey Hunting Fiction Series
Ellis Holloway III was a third-generation landowner. Even though he was accused of having been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, which he couldn’t deny, he had set about early in life to do more than live off the family inheritance. He had always been a hard worker, and he loved the land…
Read MoreArthur Woody’s Native Turkeys
Arthur Woody had a lifelong passion for his mountain turkeys. Next to his beloved deer and trout, wild turkeys were the most important game animal in Ranger Woody’s life. He hunted them as a boy, and during the 1920s and ’30s, at the height of his restoration program with deer, he worked hard to try…
Read MoreThe Quest For Blackbeard: Turkey Hunting Fiction Series
The large black gobbler came tip-toeing over the small rise like a perfectly balanced ballerina, zigzagging from side to side as if he were floating above the leaves on nothing but thin air. He took a few quick steps, paused, puffed up, and then continued his dainty toe-stepping ballet toward the unsuspecting decoy. His thick,…
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