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The Georgia House of Representatives voted 122 to 48 to pass HB 277, the “Baiting Bill,” which would make it legal in the Southern Zone to hunt deer and hogs with no distance requirement from feeders or food like corn spread on the ground. From its original version that would have legalized baiting for deer…
Sportsmen interested in potential big changes to the face of Georgia hunting should turn their attention to Georgia lawmakers currently in session at the Gold Dome in Atlanta. The “Baiting Bill” will likely be voted on Wednesday. For deer hunters it now only legalizes baiting in the Southern Zone. “Speak now, or forever hold your…
The Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) is again being asked by the Governor’s office to reduce its budget. Fewer personnel — law-enforcement officers, game and fish biologists and technicians — would have to do their jobs with less funding. Budget cuts could also mean fewer acres of leased Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs). Budget cuts for state…
It’s usually good news when fewer proposed laws and law changes are introduced during a Georgia legislative session. So far this year it’s been a quiet session as budget concerns have dominated the scene. However, for hunters, a significant piece of legislation has dropped. HB 277 would legalize hunting deer and hogs near food or…
No charges have been filed against Jay Williams, a Lee County landowner, interviewed by DNR law enforcement in connection with two batteries of remotely operated shotguns found in the Lee County woods on a Georgia Power right-of-way in November. According to Capt. Jeff Swift, with Region 5 law enforcement, he has no evidence to suggest…
A doubling of the bear limit, banning dog training on Chattahoochee National Forest and the plan to charge fees for WMA users not hunting or fishing were all presented to the public at eight WRD regulations meetings Jan. 3-6. However, public comment was geared toward perennial concerns like baiting and deer populations. The meetings opened…
It wasn’t the news Jay Crouch, of Eatonton, wanted to hear on a December afternoon. His wife’s grandmother called to say there appeared to be a deer floating in her 3-acre pond, which sits on property where Jay and his son, Ethan, 10, hunt. In fact, they’d been hunting a big one all year. “I…
During the Oaky Woods December 1-4 deer hunt, many of the 448 hunters in attendance wondered if the WMA would even exist next year, as the Georgia DNR Board was set to discuss the possible purchase of the property at their Dec. 7-8 meeting. A “no” vote could have possibly meant the end of…
We’re not going to rename state-managed hunting areas as recreational areas, but other users of some Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) will have to purchase a stamp or short-term pass called a GORP. Those are the recommendations of a DNR steering committee that looked at WMA uses and users. When revealed last May, both proposals drew…
We’re not going to rename state-managed hunting areas as recreational areas, but other users of some Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) will have to purchase a stamp or short-term pass called a GORP. Those are the recommendations of a DNR steering committee that looked at WMA uses and users. When revealed last May, both proposals drew thousands…