Editorial-Opinion January 2025

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 do some social media in a way that shines light and goodness in a space that seems to harbor too much darkness. 

Suffice to say, we have a few balls in the air around here. There’s a mantra that keeps this machine from coming unglued and from too many of those balls hitting the ground: ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’

So, all this talk about continuity is a lead-in to talk about some changes, and to reassure the GON troops that even with some change, the marching orders remain very much the same as when Steve Burch first began to organize and grow this band of outdoor brothers and sisters back in 1987. 

Where’s The Rate My Deer Season And VOTES Survey?

Longtime GON readers might be wondering what happened to their January issue and the Rate Your Deer Season and VOTES survey. It’s coming next month in the February issue. 

We started our survey back when half the state’s deer season ended on Jan. 1 and the other half ended about a week later. The January issue of GON with the Rate Your Deer Season survey hit the mailboxes at the perfect time. Now, it’s one statewide season that closes on Jan. 12 this year. We have an ever-growing number of suburban counties—28—that allow archery hunting until Jan. 31. And there are now eight counties in the southwest corner open later for firearms deer hunting—this season it closes on Jan. 15.

So, even while locked in on that continuity thing, we took notice of the growing number of Rate Your Deer Season comments about not being able to rate the season the first of January because the season wasn’t over. VOTES will appear in the February issue.   

New Recruits, New Blood

It’s vital for GON to continue doing what it does, and to do it not just well, but exceptionally well. Having said that, we’re getting a bit long in the tooth in some areas. 

For me, the days are fewer when I hop in the truck and show up at a mountain WMA check station at 10 a.m. (after sneaking in a few hours with the rifle or bow in hand) to take pictures and talk to hunters, followed by a quick jaunt to the other end of the state to spend the day in a boat with a guide or pro angler. 

My days are fewer not because I don’t continue to absolutely love traversing the state hunting and fishing and gathering content for GON, but the tread on these tires is a bit worn—some would say bald… pun intended.  

That’s where the need for some new blood comes into play. In my opinion, showing up is exactly what built GON’s brand and created a community of like-minded and engaged people who share a love for Georgia’s outdoors. 

GON is on the hunt. We need new blood, the next generation of go-getters who can’t wait to get to Cohutta WMA for a deer hunt because the following week they’re heading to the coast for some inshore fishing. We’re going to teach them how to write articles about those adventures, articles that are filled with the type of timely and relevant information that makes GON special. 

And these new bloods also need to be comfortable and want to be a face of GON, because where we are severely lacking right now is showing up in the new media space—with video content, social media and with a regular and consistent video podcast where a GON panel talks about what’s going on in the Georgia outdoors.

We are on the hunt for new blood to fill full-time positions. These are ‘burn the midnight oil’ full-time jobs for people with a passion for hunting, fishing and GON, who are not adverse to hard work, and who also have the personal capacity and lifestyle to be out there showing up—and doing it in a very public way. To be considered for these full-time positions, email a resume and cover letter to [email protected]. Tell us why you might be the next face of GON.

Meanwhile, if you simply want to write and contribute to the GON at your own pace, our door is always open. 

I can’t count the number of folks over the years who wrote their very first article for GON, and many went on to write for national publications.

Get in touch.