Posts by Mike Bolton
Harris County 14-Pointer Wasn’t Hunter’s Opening-Day Target Buck
Clay Johnson is thankful that his deer hunting buddies are there when he needs them, but he sure was glad that they were a little slow in answering his text last Saturday. Clay, of Dallas, was hunting a Harris County farm that belongs to friends on Saturday when he suspected that the buck he was…
Read MorePoor Acorn Crop In North Georgia Mountains
Hunters utilizing any of the 21 WMAs in north Georgia during the 2022-23 season will be greeted with one of the poorest mast crops in recent years, according to the just-released WRD Mast Crop Survey of those WMAs. Overall, the 21 WMAs rated poor for white oaks, red oaks, chestnut oaks and on the total…
Read MoreYes, Rattlesnakes Can Climb Trees
An item on GON.com in August created a buzz among deer hunters. The story was about Brian Murphy who was checking his Morgan County deer stands on Aug. 13. He was shocked to find a 3-foot timber rattlesnake tucked in his lock-on stand seat 20 feet up a tree. The reaction to the story ranged…
Read More13-5 Gator On Seminole Answers A Prayer
Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Mark Quirk and his brother Charles had done all the right things in preparation for their alligator hunt on Lake Seminole, but their bad luck was reaching the almost-ready-to-give-up stage. That’s when they learned that prayer trumps Murphy’s Law. Last year Charles assisted…
Read MoreWild In The Kitchen: Creamy Garlic Dove Stew
Creamy Garlic Dove Stew Here’s a new twist on cooking up some doves. This recipe is quick and delicious. 8 dove breasts, cleaned 1/2 c. all-purpose flour 1/2 stick butter 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup dry white wine 1 head of garlic, peeled 1 pint heavy cream 10 halved medium mushrooms 1 can cream…
Read MoreNew Oconee River Blue Catfish Record Spools Angler On Light Tackle
Brandon Watts and his family went to the Oconee River on July 9 with plans to catch a few small catfish that could feed the family. They only caught one fish, but it was big enough to not only feed his family, but many of his neighbors, too. The blue catfish caught on the stretch…
Read MoreThink Ducks, Grow Big Bucks
Rivers Cathey has taken five of the 10 largest bow bucks ever taken in Hart County, including two that qualified for the Pope & Young record buck. All came from the family’s 350-acre farm in Hartwell. You’re probably assuming that the farm has a magnificent wildlife management program, and you’d be right, but it’s not…
Read MoreSinclair All Nighter Produces New Flathead Record
Lake Sinclair has always been a big part of Tommy Spell’s life. He grew up fishing there and that hasn’t changed through the years. It’s more than 55 miles from his Alamo home, but he still makes the trek there often because it the largest lake closest to his home. Those late-night hours fishing for…
Read MoreOgeechee Warmouth Gives Glenn Settles Six River Records
Glenn Settles lives on the Ogeechee River between Statesboro and Sylvania. His riverside home gives him the opportunity to fish several evenings a week. He loves the leisure of fishing for redbreast sunfish. What he rarely catches on the river is warmouth, but June 21 was different. “I was fishing for redbreast sunfish with…
Read MoreBill Could Threaten Wildlife Funding
Hunters are proud to brag that it is they and they alone who are responsible for the dramatic comeback of America’s wildlife. Species like white-tailed deer, wild turkey and ducks, not to mention non-game species like bald eagles, thrive because of agencies and programs funded by sportsmen. Now, the mechanism that funded that dramatic comeback…
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