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WMA Land Totaling About 51,000 Acres To Be Cut

It may not be as bad as originally expected, but the WMA cuts settled on by the Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) are significant — approximately 51,000 acres on three and a half areas, said Mark Whitney, WRD’s Chief of Game Management. Sportsmen should be upset by any cuts to services provided by WRD to hunters…

No Word Yet On Which WMAs Will Face The Budget Axe

While the budget news for sportsmen could have been worse, the reality of losing up to a half-dozen Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) is starting to sink in, and rumors of which WMAs will close are spreading through local communities. Dan Forster, director of the Wildlife Resources Division (WRD), said he could not yet identify which…

Hunters Rally Against Park At Rich Mtn. WMA Archery Tract

About 200 hunters packed a recent Gilmer County meeting, upset over what they heard were the county commission’s intentions for the Cartecay Tract, a state-owned property east of Ellijay managed by WRD as a WMA. While some may have had hopes to develop the Cartecay Tract with more park-like features, hunters had other ideas, and…

Red Snapper Fishing Banned

An interim rule to close red-snapper fishing in federal waters from North Carolina to Florida was passed in a 7 to 6 vote by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) the first week of March. Once approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMF), the ban could begin as early as June, a devastating…

Legislative Update: Some WMAs Likely Spared The 2009 Budget Knife

The key issue for sportsmen during the current Georgia legislative session is the Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) budget. The overall budget for WRD has been cut year after year along with other state agencies, despite sportsmen paying for about 80 percent of their own way through license fees and taxes on sporting equipment. This year,…

Country Goes Huntin’ Bringing It Back To The Camp

“Bringing it Back to the Camp” is the theme for this year’s eighth-annual Country Goes Huntin’ (CGH) event scheduled for March 29-April 1 in Blakely. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a decade since the co-founders of CGH, professional hunter Sam Klement and country artist/songwriter Rhett Akins, held their very first CGH non-profit event.…

New Licensing, Boater Registration Systems Experiencing Start-Up Glitches

It was a bumpy start for DNR’s new outsourced licensing and boater-registration systems, but DNR officials say they are ironing out the glitches. “It’s doing as fine as possible for as complicated a system as we have,” said Licensing and Boater Registration Program Manager David Neyhart. “In the beginning, there were definitely issues where we…

Sadness, Fond Reflections Around Woody’s Campfire As Woody Coffee Mourned

Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Coffee Jr., 66, of Alto, died of a heart attack in his home Saturday, Jan. 24. Woody was born Aug. 22, 1942 in Habersham County. He founded the Chattahoochee Bass Club and was a member of the Walkinshaw Hunting Club in Richmond. Woody was known to thousands of sportsmen through his business,…

Special Legislative Meeting On Northern Zone Deer Season Proposal

There will be a special subcommittee meeting on HB 402 on Wednesday, March 4, at 3:00 p.m. in Room 216 of the Capitol. HB 402, introduced by Rep. Martin Scott (R – Rossville), calls for a statewide ending date for deer season. Since no one expects a shorter season for Southern Zone deer hunters, the…

Georgia Legislature Debates Proposals That Would Impact Sportsmen

While the key issue for sportsmen during the current Georgia legislative session at the state capitol continues to be the Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) budget, several bills have been introduced that could affect hunting and fishing. The overall budget for WRD has been cut year after year along with other state agencies, despite sportsmen paying…