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Hunting

Georgia’s Best Trophy Buck Counties For 2023

The Big Buck Production scores for 2023 have been tallied, and there are no surprises at the top. Worth and Lee counties remain No. 1 and No. 2 for the state of Georgia. Dougherty County moved up to No. 3, swapping spots with Macon County—a swap between those two counties for the No. 3 and…

All About Scrapes And Rutting Bucks

Along the forest edge, a whitetail buck hesitates beneath the overhanging branches of a pine tree. Then with ease, the buck stretches his head and neck upward toward a particular limb and begins to rub his mouth and forehead upon the limb. Closing its eyelids, he resumes this behavior with the area surrounding this sense…

Split Browtine Buck: A Tribute To Our Fathers

By Preston Wall My good friend Brannon Cook invited me to hunt with him in Jackson County on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 24, and of course I went. Brannon and I grew up hearing the stories of our dads hunting together through their younger years all the way up to today, so we have always strived…

Trail Cameras Pay Off During Rut Peak

We all know that trail cameras are useful tools for monitoring deer movement.  A hunter can set them up on scrapes during pre-rut to get an inventory of the bucks using the area, place them on trails going to and from bedding, or maybe a nice pinch-point or funnel.  The list goes on and on,…

The 2023 Georgia Rut Map

When’s the rut? That has to be one of the most common questions we get at GON. The short answer is always, “It depends…” For one, the rut varies widely in our state. In southeast Georgia, bucks are chasing does as early as the first of October, while in the mountains or southwest Georgia, deer…

2023 Georgia Deer Season Off To Hot Start

Another Georgia deer season has kicked off, and based on reports from archery hunters, it’s going to be a good one. Lots of quality bucks—many of them still in velvet—were taken the first two weeks of bow season. We are also hearing some promising reports on the acorn crop this year, which is good news…

Five Entries In Youth Big-Buck Contest Week 1

GON’s Youth Big-Buck Contest began with five bucks entered by young hunters during the first week of archery season. The best buck each week wins a LockedOn 360 gun vise, a Rugged Road Outdoors 30-Can Soft Cooler and a Shoot-Out jersey. They also earn a spot in a Youth Shoot-Out for a $3,000 shopping spree…

Lord, If It Be Your Will…

By Ross Sparkman I normally have to work after school, but we were caught up, and I was given the evening off to go hunting. My dad and I were talking about the storm moving in and how the temperatures were going to drop and it would be good hunting weather. I had hung a…

What’s Really Important

As I write this, it is 8:40 p.m. on Sept. 10, the day after the archery opener. I am sitting with my four oldest children during Family Movie Night after a lazy Sunday afternoon. My wife is bathing my newborn daughter, Georgia Anne. She was born five days ago. I am not hiking out of…

That Friend May Be A Poacher

Poachers are despicable. When I began hunting in 1965, I thought night riders were the worst. I changed my mind the second day of bow season this year when a man I considered a friend turned into a poacher. Another close friend hunted for 50 or more years as a guest, and when his buddy became…

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