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Hunting
How did one WMA manage to be open the entire hunting season last year and have hardly any hunters? The answer: Nobody knew about it! Townsend WMA officially opened last year during the muzzleloading season, almost two months after the hunting regs were published. So the majority of hunters in Georgia didn’t even know the…
The second annual GONetwork SEEDS benefit shoot at Claibourne Darden’s Taliaferro County farm September 1 started with barbecue and Brunswick stew. It ended with plenty of birds flying, lots of empty shotgun shells, and an amazing result for the SEEDS effort. The shoot netted $3,379.63 for the GONetwork’s program to encourage participation in hunting and…
After 15 minutes of trimming limbs, I finally settled comfortably in my climber. It was a cold and clear November afternoon, and I had a good feeling about my stand location. In early November, I would usually be waiting on a mature buck, but this time I needed venison for the freezer. I had been…
It began, like many hunts for a giant buck these days, with a trail-camera photo. The camera was put out by Hawkinsville’s Blake Smith, 39, on one of his two Pulaski County farms. On August 19, Blake got a photo of a wide, impressive buck, and when deer season started, his hunt began. “I couldn’t…
Silas McPhee was dead. He just knew that was going to be the outcome of being trapped in his truck with the rattlesnake. Petrified with fear, he sat bolt upright in the truck seat, afraid to move even to take a breath, but he was certain the drumming of his heart alone would surely trigger…
From trout fishing to bear hunting, the north Georgia mountains are well known for many things — deer hunting is not one of them. But there are a couple of hunters up in Gilmer County who make mockery of the low hunter-success ratios year after year on mountain WMAs. They hold many of the top…
The population rebound of the American alligator is one of the great wildlife stories of my lifetime. I have been applying for a permit since Georgia’s first alligator season and was finally selected for the 2006 season. As I reflect on that awesome hunt I had last year, my excitement level builds in anticipation of…
Clint McPhee sat on the ground with his back to a fence post and his binoculars resting on his knees. The rusted barb wire fenceline, grown up in Johnson grass and blackberry briars, was the high point on the edge of a cut hayfield that sloped away to a dark treeline 200 yards away. The…
It was the last day of the 2005-06 hunting season. I had all but given up on seeing a giant buck that I hunted for two seasons. That morning, my hunt was uneventful. I hadn’t seen a single deer, which really isn’t so unusual for this small patch of woods. The hunting was just hit…
When Heath Oglesby ripped open the envelope and began flipping through the photographs he had just developed at the local Walmart, his jaw dropped. “Dudley… Dudley! This ain’t good,” he said, drawing the attention of his hunting buddy William Dudley. Heath and William were 18 years old at the time, and Heath’s dad, Paul Oglesby,…
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