Posts by John Trussell
Small Lake Profile: Flat Creek PFA
Build a good Public Fishing Area, and the people will come! In 2014, the DNR reported that Flat Creek had more than 40,000 visitors, and that included fishermen, hikers, archers, scout groups and others who just come out to enjoy the scenic location. Max Wood, the PFA manager, is a 35-year veteran of DNR service,…
Read MoreSmall Lake Profile: Hugh Gillis PFA
Hopefully, a good Public Fishing Area should get better with age, and due to good management from WRD and strong public support, Hugh M. Gillis PFA, near Dublin in Laurens County, is living up to that potential. The 109-acre lake, which opened in 2004, looks like a large fertile farm pond. It’s shaped like a…
Read MoreWMA Hogs From Around The State
Deer season is winding down quickly, and it’s time to think about adding some variety to the wild game meats in your freezer. WRD biologists say that a good number of our WMAs have huntable populations of wild pigs, and that it’s time for hunters to come to the aid of our beleaguered WMAs. “Wild…
Read MoreOnly One Bear Killed During The Special One-Day Hunt In Middle Georgia This Season
Justin Sapp, of Cochran, is one patient bear hunter. Two previous years, he was on the stand many hours but never saw a bear. His luck changed Dec. 14. He was hunting his family property in Twiggs County, arriving well before daylight and prepared to spend the day on the stand. The morning was slow.…
Read MoreNo Changes To Macon County Antler Regs
Macon County has a rich tradition of big bucks. In 1976, Harold Cannon, of Oglethorpe, dropped a B&C buck that scored 177 5/8. It’s one of seven B&Cs that have been taken in the county. Fairly recently, Rick Prendergast dropped a 166 2/8-inch buck in Macon County in 2011 that made GON’s exclusive Fab 40…
Read More14 Bears Killed On One-Day Middle Georgia Bear Hunt
Hunters got their second chance at middle Georgia bear hunting on Nov. 10 in Houston, Bibb and Twiggs counties. In all, 14 bears, eight of which were females, were brought into the Oaky Woods WMA check station for data collection, according to Raye Jones, Oaky Woods area manager. This was a private-properties’ hunt, so Oaky…
Read MoreWMA Meat Hunter Shares The Tips That Bring Home Antlers, Too
Clyde Yoder’s friends jokingly tell him he’s such a lucky hunter he could put up a stand on the light pole in the Walmart parking lot and probably shoot a buck. Clyde, a very modest and humble hunter, welcomes good luck and said it always helps to be at the right place at the right…
Read MoreCatch Blackshear Crappie Pulling Up
Longtime Blackshear crappie angler Rusty Parker said the lake is fishing as well as he’s ever experienced. And this month, he expects crappie to pull up early for the prespawn and spawn. There are a lot of different methods that will catch them this time of year, and Rusty wasn’t heistant about serving up several…
Read More34 Bears Shot On Inaugural Middle Georgia Hunt
Middle Georgia’s first bear hunt in recent times was held on Nov. 12, 2011 in Bibb, Twiggs and Houston counties, and this bear hunt marks a significant success story for Georgia wildlife recovery efforts. Hunting by early pioneers nearly wiped out the bears in central Georgia. But the legally protected population very slowly grew in…
Read MoreSouth Georgia’s Monster Bears
They grow them really big in south Georgia, and we are not talking about football players, sweet potatoes or watermelons. We are talking about trophy bears, bruins in the 400-plus-lb. range. Hunters who trek to Canada or out West in search of trophy bears might be surprised to learn they could avoid expensive travel and…
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