Daryl Kirby's GON Blog

There’s a bit of a last-minute re-write to this month’s editorial, and it’s in the wrong direction—or maybe it’s the right direction. Let’s just say the path diverged from how thoughts are normally put to paper around here. The normal path… something shiny gets our attention, and by shiny I mean it is often when…

“The Golden Age of America begins right now.” Those were the opening words from the mouth of our 47th president a few weeks ago as he began his inauguration address. His second such address, which is not unheard of in American political history, but it is only the second time a second presidential term was…

Continuity is key. If not for familiarity and some ‘same-same’ in process, it would never be possible for GON’s crew to produce our monthly magazine along with all the other elements of this community—articles posting daily on the website, our email newsletter, the Outdoor Blast, keeping and compiling deer and fish records, and trying to…

That’s a monster buck killed at Piedmont Refuge a few weeks ago. If you didn’t see it, look back at the picture on page 48. It’s not the first time this historic piece of Georgia hunting dirt has thrown out a big buck, and I’m betting it won’t be the last. Like so often when…

A curious mind, sprinkled with a touch of skepticism, serves a person well. It’s how we sort fact from fallacy, and clarify the gray areas between. Several years ago you might have seen an email or text of an aerial photo showing a gator swimming across the surface of Lake Allatoona with a grown deer…

I used to have a running dialogue with a buddy and neighbor about our jobs. He was a fireman. These weren’t complaints, more like comparisons… working at GON has been a dream come true for me. Since I was old enough to read and would flip through ancient torn and faded issues of Outdoor Life…

There’s too much noise, stress and angst in today’s world. People with a passion for the outdoors know a peace and calm, a release. We have—thanks be to God—a window into a world far from the struggles of everyday life. The rhythmic clatter and gurgle of your buzzbait will not magically make your credit card…

In 1987, a handful of folks—principally Steve Burch and Brad Bailey—began a journey of blood, sweat and tears to create a new hunting and fishing publication in Georgia. From the beginning, GON was different. It looked different and it felt different. That dirty newsprint could leave a stain on your hands, and it wasn’t as…

A picture of me with the first deer I ever killed appeared in our local newspaper. Not because that 9-pointer was newsworthy, but more so because I had a proud and persuasive mom. The headline was “Young Hunter Shoots Buck.” This was in 1978, and being in a small-town paper was special. I was a…