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Latest Hunting Articles

The Elf Buck

Ten-year-old Payton McCullough, of Franklin, had no idea that her first deer harvest would be so special. Aside from sporting a beautiful 9-point rack, her buck also had abnormally long hooves that curved upward like elf shoes. In fact, her dad Chad had many trail camera videos and pictures of the unique buck that he…

Another Mountain Monarch For Chestatee WMA Record Holder

Chase Hemphill has a love-hate relationship with Chestatee Wildlife Management Area and deer hunting the mountains of Lumpkin County. The 39-year-old public-land hunter from Blairsville has had remarkable success with two special bucks… but they are bucks killed five years apart that bookend countless unsuccessful hunts.  “I love it when it’s right, hate it when…

Giant Will Raise Bar For Habersham County Deer Records

“A buck of this caliber isn’t a secret. If you have one like him on your camera, you can be sure that someone else has pictures of him, as well. He was a true legend in this area,” Cole Cleiman, host of the “Mountain Morning Show” and co-owner of 94.3 WCHM radio station in Clarkesville,…

New Carroll County Bow Record Just Officially Scored

Brandon McKune caught a lucky break on Sept. 15, 2024 when his wife said she’d watch their newborn so he could slip off and hunt on opening morning of bow season. “I decided to walk in to my stand on the back of our property,” he said. “It was hot. Really hot. I started sweating…

First Wild Hog Evokes Flood Of Emotions

When some people harvest their first wild animal, it awakens an appreciation of the great outdoors and nature. For others, it is much more emotional and prompts memories of family or loved ones. For Sadie Pettus, the latter is true. On a recent hunting trip to Barbour Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Pettus was able to…

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Deer Hunting

The Elf Buck

Ten-year-old Payton McCullough, of Franklin, had no idea that her first deer harvest would be so special. Aside from sporting a beautiful 9-point rack, her buck also had abnormally long hooves that curved upward like elf shoes. In fact, her dad Chad had many trail camera videos and pictures of the unique buck that he…

Another Mountain Monarch For Chestatee WMA Record Holder

Chase Hemphill has a love-hate relationship with Chestatee Wildlife Management Area and deer hunting the mountains of Lumpkin County. The 39-year-old public-land hunter from Blairsville has had remarkable success with two special bucks… but they are bucks killed five years apart that bookend countless unsuccessful hunts.  “I love it when it’s right, hate it when…

Giant Will Raise Bar For Habersham County Deer Records

“A buck of this caliber isn’t a secret. If you have one like him on your camera, you can be sure that someone else has pictures of him, as well. He was a true legend in this area,” Cole Cleiman, host of the “Mountain Morning Show” and co-owner of 94.3 WCHM radio station in Clarkesville,…

Turkey Hunting

Gobbler With 16-Inch Beard Would Be County Record

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…

Blue Angels Take To Georgia Turkey Woods

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…

Red Turkey Taken In Tift County

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

Coyote Worm Infestation Like Scene From Sci-Fi Movie

Bob Chestnutt, of Ludowici, was deer hunting in Long County when a coyote that he shot turned into a moment where he thought he was in the middle of a sci-fi movie. “I shot this coyote on Oct. 29 while deer hunting in Long County,” said Bob. “When I walked up to him, I saw…

Cage Traps: Quick & Easy

When I think about it, I realize the importance of cage traps. Back in the days of our mountain men, the steel leg-hold trap was the trap to own. They didn’t have the selection of traps that we have today. Trap designs and styles have upgraded, and in today’s market, we have a very large…

Lessons From The Trapline

I have written to GON before about my experiences with the Georgia Trappers Association (GTA), particularly in regards to the annual Convention and Youth Field Trials (both of which are not only free and fun, but will teach you more about trapping than years spent watching YouTube videos), but today I wanted to talk about…

Hog Hunting

First Wild Hog Evokes Flood Of Emotions

When some people harvest their first wild animal, it awakens an appreciation of the great outdoors and nature. For others, it is much more emotional and prompts memories of family or loved ones. For Sadie Pettus, the latter is true. On a recent hunting trip to Barbour Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Pettus was able to…

Beyond The Bow: A Primitive Pig Pursuit In Central Georgia

As the first rays of dawn broke through the fields, I knew I was on the brink of an adventure that would push me to my limits and fortify the connection to my ancestral lands. I’ve hunted for well over 20 years, but this time was going to be different. Today, I was leaving my…

Summertime Wild Hogs With A Bow

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…

Alligator Hunting

GON Gator Gallery

Gator season closed after the first week of October and ended with 408 gators being harvested. That’s the second-best year recorded since WRD started hosting a Georgia alligator season in 2003. The season with the most gators ever taken was in 2023, when 471 Georgia alligators were killed. The biggest recorded gator from the 2024…

Seminole Gator Hunt Yields 20 Feet Worth Of Lizards

Ashley Bowlden first started putting in for her Georgia alligator tags back in 2018, when she got to attend her first gator hunt. She loved it so much that she immediately started putting in for herself and her children every year, as well. Six years later, on the opening weekend of Georgia’s 2024 alligator season,…

GON Gator Gallery

Gator season won’t officially close until Oct. 7, 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 some hunters who took the time to send in pictures and info. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get all of those photos on…

Bear Hunting

The Baddest Bear­… Yet

At least the Global Positioning System—so now you know what GPS stands for—kens where they are. Even from a couple hundred or so miles skyward, it keeps up, spot-on, with the race. While we, somewhere or other in the vastnesses of the Okefenokee Swamp in Clinch County, can only go from experience in attempting to…

Teen’s Bear One Of Georgia’s Heaviest Ever

A 16-year-old hunter killed one of the biggest bears ever taken Georgia—the second heaviest ever from north Georgia and the fifth heaviest overall. On Oct. 22, Grayson Collins, of Blairsville, managed to take down the bear of a lifetime. The behemoth weighed 620 pounds on certified scales. Grayson was hunting a few miles from Ball…

Of Bears, Dogs—And Friendships

  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…

Dove Hunting

Corps To Host Dove Hunts At Lake Russell

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, Richard B. Russell Project, will host dove hunts for youth and the general public on Sept. 28 and Oct. 5, 2024, at two fields in Elbert County, and one field in Abbeville County, South Carolina. Youth and public hunts will begin at 2 p.m. The youth hunts start…

WMA Dove Fields

It’s hard to believe we’ve only got about a month to go before hunters will file into prepared dove fields in hopes of collecting a limit of 15 birds for the grill. Thankfully, WRD does a really nice job of providing public fields for hunters to shoot. To the right is the latest list of…

GON’s Pay Dove Shoots List

The new hunting season is just around the corner as we print GON’s annual Pay Dove Shoots list. Dial these phone numbers, reserve your spots and shoot straight. Dove hunting will legally begin one-half hour before sunrise on opening day, Saturday, Sept. 7. Some of these shoots may wait until the traditional 12 p.m. start…

Duck Hunting

Good Dogs And Grandkids

We were only a few minutes into legal shooting time when a shot rang out behind me. “What are you shooting at?” I exclaimed as I whirled around. “A duck,” Easton answers as he slips another shell into his 20-gauge Beretta A390. “Did you hit him?” I ask. “Yes sir,” he replies in a calm,…

Georgia 2024-25 Duck Season Opens November 23

Waterfowl hunters can head to their favorite hunting ground for the Georgia duck hunting season when it opens on Sat., Nov. 23, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD). Youth, active military and veterans should take note of an early hunt opportunity Nov. 16-17. “New this year, thanks to the…

Ready For Georgia Ducks: 2024 Waterfowl Forecast

Another season of duck hunting will roll around soon, and all duck hunters wonder how the Georgia duck forecast looks. Duck hunting here is dependent on many factors, and at the forefront is bad weather up North. Wet conditions in the spring and summer is good news in the breeding-ground wetlands, and nasty, cold weather…

Squirrel Hunting

Georgia Hunting Season Kicks Off With Squirrel Opener

“There’s a season for squirrels?” That was the reaction of a young kid when told of the upcoming squirrel season opener on Thursday, Aug. 15. The 2024-2025 squirrel season in Georgia runs from Aug. 15 to Feb. 28 with a daily limit of 12 squirrels per hunter. The simplicity of squirrel hunting and potential for…

Georgia Squirrel Season Opens Monday, August 15

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…

1025 Sportsmen Redlands Squirrel Hunt

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…

Quail Hunting

FDA Approves First Medicated Wild Quail Feed

The FDA has approved the use of an anthelmintic drug for parasite control in wild quail populations. The FDA concluded that the drug integrated into a medicated feed is both safe and effective in controlling parasites in wild quail in their natural habitat. Research in Texas has shown that parasites are affecting quail populations. For…

Ode To Uncle Suggs… A Lifelong Love Of Hunting And Fishing

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…

Uphill Battle Continues On Bobwhite Quail

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…

Other Georgia Hunting

Georgia’s Early Goose And Teal Seasons In September

Hunters can get a jump on the waterfowl season with the upcoming early teal and Canada goose hunting seasons. Early Canada goose season for 2024 is Sept. 7-29, with a daily limit of five geese. The early teal season for 2024 is Sept. 14-29, with a daily limit of six teal. “Teal migrate earlier than…

Mountain Grouse: Ghosts Of Craytonia

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…

Timberdoodle Quest – Georgia Woodcock Hunting

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…

Georgia Hunters on the Road

A Georgian’s First Elk Hunt

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…

Africa Safari With Georgia Outfitters

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…

Hunting Exotics In Texas

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…