Advertisement
Hunting
Latest Hunting Articles
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, J. Strom Thurmond Lake and Dam Project, Forest, Fish, and Wildlife section, will host primitive weapons deer hunts in Bussey Point Corps Management Unit, located in Lincoln County in October, November and December this year. All hunts are limited to the first 75 hunters to arrive per day on…
As a 30-year public-land deer hunter and former WMA manager for the Georgia DNR, I know the challenges of hunting deer on public land all too well. You have hunting pressure to contend with, limited season dates, and rules that can be confusing to someone new. In this article, we’ll dive into how deer hunting…
The 2024 GON Coyote Cull is off and rolling as hunters and trappers step up to the plate to kill song dogs in an effort to save fawns and turkey poults. Listed below are all the entries of those who have found success and taken a photo with their June 2024 issue of GON. We’ll…
Don’t let the heat and humidity lull you into thinking hunting seasons are not right around the corner—we’re only six weeks from the start of squirrel season in Georgia! Here is a quick reference to the 2024-2025 Georgia hunting seasons. Most Georgia counties are either-sex for deer—meaning antlerless deer can be taken—during the entire deer…
It’s no secret that just about every deer hunter wants to shoot big bucks. With the exception of obtaining free-range meat and perhaps the challenge of the pursuit, it’s a top reason many of us hunters wake up so early just to sit 20 feet up in the cold, dark woods instead of…
Hunting Links
Deer Hunting
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, J. Strom Thurmond Lake and Dam Project, Forest, Fish, and Wildlife section, will host primitive weapons deer hunts in Bussey Point Corps Management Unit, located in Lincoln County in October, November and December this year. All hunts are limited to the first 75 hunters to arrive per day on…
As a 30-year public-land deer hunter and former WMA manager for the Georgia DNR, I know the challenges of hunting deer on public land all too well. You have hunting pressure to contend with, limited season dates, and rules that can be confusing to someone new. In this article, we’ll dive into how deer hunting…
It lies, does the old homestead, on an island of its own. A century old now but even at that little changed, it is surrounded by the vastness of the Okefenokee Swamp. The alligators know the place well, as do the bears, the hogs, the deer. But not as well as Joe Chesser. Looking back…
Turkey Hunting
Although Georgia’s turkey season ended more than two weeks ago, it’s still newsworthy when we talk to a guy who killed a gobbler with a 16-inch beard. Milledgeville’s Bobby Day was just about to put an end to his frustration and give up on his morning turkey hunt. The hunting club where he hunts in…
If it comes as a surprise that an annual onion harvest could spawn a week-long festival that has spanned 47 years, you’ve probably never tasted the sweet goodness of a true Vidalia. The 2024 Vidalia Onion Festival was held April 25-28 and featured live music, vendors, rodeo and fantastic food—onions included. The grand finale was…
Jamal Lane, of Chula, is a rugged guy, a man’s man. He’s a landscaper. He farms on the side. He’s a dedicated turkey hunter who gets up before daylight to chase birds before beginning his regular workday. He never dreamed that the sight of a special turkey could bring out a different side of himself.…
Predator Hunting
The 2024 GON Coyote Cull is off and rolling as hunters and trappers step up to the plate to kill song dogs in an effort to save fawns and turkey poults. Listed below are all the entries of those who have found success and taken a photo with their June 2024 issue of GON. We’ll…
The 2024 GON Coyote Cull is off and rolling as hunters and trappers step up to the plate to kill song dogs in an effort to save fawns and turkey poults. Listed below are all the entries of those who have found success and taken a photo with their June 2024 issue of GON. We’ll…
Coyotes may be known as the scourge of the West, but Trae Renfroe says Georgia is up to its elbows with them, too. His trail camera caught evidence that they are indeed fawn killers. “I had a camera on a food plot on the property we own in Baldwin County,” he said. “On one day…
Hog Hunting
It was the Friday of a Memorial Day weekend when I struck out for the Wilkinson County river swamp. With my climbing stand on my back, I slipped into my hunting spot around 8 p.m. and quietly ascended the tree with my safety belt attached. I took my Voo-Doo deer lure out of my fanny…
It’s dark now. DARK dark. Like a bear down a well. Without a flashlight. The sun went down hours ago on this second January Tuesday. Turbid clouds are rolling ominously overhead, fleeing a tornado-spawning system headed my way. The wind moans and, at times, howls. Limbs click, clatter and thump to the ground. The ground…
If you’re looking for a comprehensive guide to Georgia hog hunting, you’ve come to the right place! In this article, I break down when and where you can hunt feral hogs in Georgia, what licenses you need, what weapons are legal, and which wildlife management areas (WMAs) offer you the best chance of putting fresh…
Alligator Hunting
On Wednesday, June 15, 1994, Wildlife Resources Division Biologist Steve Kyles was on Ossabaw Island to give a talk about alligators to a group of Boy Scouts. At about 11:15 a.m., Steve and a group of 10 or 12 scouts and several ladies were at a gator hole at the edge of one of the…
When my friend Garrett Harrison, of Hazlehurst, texted a photo of him and his wife LeeAnn standing beside a giant dead alligator, I was impressed. Garrett is not a small man, and just the gator’s tail was longer than Garrett was tall. I was curious as to whether he got it with a guide on…
Gator season won’t officially close until Oct. 2, but this season has already been highlighted by some really big Georgia alligators and happy hunters. As we always enjoy doing in October, we show off the ones who took the time to send in pictures and info. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get all of those photos on…
Bear Hunting
There’s no accounting for the bug that bites you. Or when it happens. For some, it’s a process of growing into whatever activity they eventually fall for and become consumed. Others are suddenly smitten. Like Don Butts. His parents didn’t see it coming during a vacation trip to the Great Smoky Mountains all those…
Normally, this is a period fraught with chaos. Never mind the ever-present and who-knows-how-deep black water, claustrophobic brush, vines and briers clawing and ripping; just hurry as best you can. Hounds are roaring out of their minds, hunters sloshing, tripping, bleeding, pushing on… Because some 987 interminable yards into the Okefenokee Swamp, a bear is…
The temperature was a crisp 38 degrees, the wind was still, and the skies were partly cloudy as the sun rose across middle Georgia for the annual one-day bear hunt in Houston, Twiggs, Bibb and Bleckley counties. The good weather meant the bears should be moving, and Sam Land, of Swainsboro, was patiently sitting in…
Dove Hunting
GON will publish our annual Pay Dove Shoots list in the August issue. If you host a shoot, email the following info to [email protected] by July 15. For County, just tell us which county your field(s) is in. Under Shoot Date(s), include all the pay shoots you plan to host. We understand not every field…
Of a morning, stumbling to perform my ablutions, the framed photo is likely the first thing bleary eyes are able to focus upon. Father And Son, it’s entitled. It’s 15×19, shot from the darkness of what appears to be a cave cut through a mountainside. With the camera at their backs, the subjects are a…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, has two youth dove hunts scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 16 and 23 at the Richard B. Russell Project Office. For both hunts, a parent or guardian must accompany youth participants, ages 9-16, and will be permitted to hunt along with the youth hunter. Hunters will be selected…
Duck Hunting
“Do you love it?” That is the question that startled me awake. It was asked by Grayson Crews. To give some back story to that quote, it’s 5:01 a.m, and the first good duck hunt is on the horizon. To say I was excited is an understatement. However, when he asked me that, I still…
Editor’s Note: After this article was published in the October 2023 print edition of GON, WRD announced that all Butler Island waterfowl hunting would be closed for the 2023-24 due to recent storm damage. See WRD Release. I knew the ducks were roosting in the back of a local farm pond because I saw them…
Editor’s Note: Tina Johannsen is WRD’s Assistant Chief with Game Management. Olivia Menard helped tell the story. I probably don’t have to tell y’all that hunters are a small group (less than 10% of the population), and in most states, our numbers are dwindling. State wildlife agencies like mine (GA DNR WRD) are funded by…
Squirrel Hunting
Looking for a healthy, sustainable source of protein and a good woodland hike? Squirrel hunting season, which opens Aug. 15, can meet those goals, and get everyone excited about fall hunting seasons, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD). “Squirrel hunting season is a great introduction to hunting,” said Alan…
It had been 23 years since I stepped foot on Redlands WMA in pursuit of critters. A return trip was certainly overdue, and Saturday, Jan. 15 was the perfect opportunity to take a trip down memory lane. The occasion was the 2nd Annual Squirrel Master Classic with a great group of folks who run a…
This is the way squirrel hunting ought to be—fast paced, lots of shooting opportunities and loads of excitement. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with sitting under a big oak and waiting for the squirrels to come out, but I’m telling you that hunting squirrels with a good dog is a boat load…
Quail Hunting
Did you ever wonder what it was that inspired your love of fishing or hunting or just being outdoors? Was it a parent, a friend, a book, or movie? Maybe you can’t put your finger on one person or thing. For me, the answer is crystal clear, my Uncle Suggs. I will soon celebrate my…
Now that the white-tailed deer season has ended, hunters will likely turn their attention once again to small game like rabbits, squirrels and the bobwhite quail, although quail hunting is nothing like it once was. When fence rows from small farms and family gardens crisscrossed Alabama and the Southeast, the bobwhite flourished. Since large-scale farming…
When I grew up in the late 50s and early 60s, my house, in a suburb of Jacksonville, Fla., backed up to a large pine forest with underbrush that was about knee high but not too thick; perfect quail habitat. I can remember waking to the sound of the northern bobwhite quail calling to each…
Other Georgia Hunting
In the fall of 1999 I had a bad case of the melancholy. My up-and-coming grouse dog had died and had left me feeling down in the dumps. Little Mac, our young Brittany spaniel, had died from what was evidently a brain tumor. Little Mac started having seizures in his second year which progressively became…
In the Southeast, when a person mentions upland hunting, the bobwhite quail is usually the first, and sometimes only game bird that people think about. The late Charlie Elliott named the bobwhite the “prince of game birds.” When you go into the Appalachians, the ruffed grouse enters into the conversation, but the lack of timber…
Falling Feathers at Whitaker Farm in Harlem hosted the Georgia chapter of The Fallen Outdoors for a veteran’s pheasant shoot on Saturday, Nov. 28. The Fallen Outdoors is a national volunteer 501c3 nonprofit organization comprised of active duty and veteran military who use the outdoors as a means of therapy, and to help other active…
Georgia Hunters on the Road
By John Holbert Jonah and I both drew either-sex muzzleloader tags for Colorado elk this fall. Neither of us had undertaken such a challenge before, and we were eager to try. We spent all summer researching, preparing, packing and training for the safari. The rut forecast predicted we would have good timing to see some…
Gathering around the campfire at Camp Isilwane (lion) in Matetsi, Zimbabwe we look out at the vlei, which is a prehistoric river bed. The buffalo come into the dying waterhole for that last drink as the day succumbs to darkness. It is the end of the dry season, the last of the water before the…
When I think of exotic animals, I envision animals being created in a lab through experiments and test tubes. However, my husband Paul and I decided to read more and more about exotic hunting ranches and we decided to peruse the Internet for research. Although these animals are not indigenous to North America, they are…