Advertisement
News
If you’ve seen a big tawny cat in the Georgia woods, chances are it wasn’t an eastern cougar, especially considering the recent announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) that the animal is extinct. Eastern cougar, western cougar or Florida panther, GON is still seeking evidence of big, long-tailed cats in Georgia. The…
Manabu Kurita says landing a world-record bass in his native Japan two years ago hasn’t changed his life drastically — but it has certainly changed his life. “In Japan, for me, it isn’t much different at all,” the 34-year-old auto service worker said through an interpreter during a recent visit to Georgia. “But the…
It’s official. Following six years of study, biologists with DNR have concluded that brown trout are reproducing in numbers significant enough to warrant a permanent cessation of brown trout stocking in the Chattahoochee River tailrace below Buford Dam. DNR Fisheries Biologist Patrick O’Rouke said they’ve finished crunching all the numbers from a study that began…
Marty and Glad Simmons, of Clarkesville, were just hoping for a few nice shots of some deer on their trail camera, which is located several hundred yards from their Habersham County home. However, when they had a photo of a large dog standing on a log, which appeared not to be a coyote, residents began…
In a case that has raised the ire of area hunters, five people accused of numerous wildlife violations involving spotlighting deer and poaching turkeys in Dodge County were sentenced Feb. 28 after pleading guilty to all charges against them. Two remaining defendants in the case, who entered not-guilty pleas, are scheduled for a June trial.…
Included in WRD’s proposed regulations changes, and open for public comment during meetings in April, are WMA user fees for non-sportsmen as well as significant changes to bear regulations, doe days in some northern counties, Northern Zone raccoon regulations and expanded hog hunting on public lands. Also, there are some new state park and WMA…
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…