The sound of a dog barking rang loudly through the mixed hardwoods on top of a mountain ridge in north Georgia. A sure sign to Bob Thomas, of Morganton, that his black mountain cur, Moe, had just treed a squirrel and was waiting on him. Carrying a .17 HMR rifle with a high-quality scope, Bob took off in Moe’s direction.
“As long as you get a good scope and hit ’em in the head, the .17 is the way to go,” he said. “It’s also a little more challenging than a shotgun.”
Before I could catch up to Bob, who darted nimbly through the thick undergrowth, I heard the crack of his rifle. I looked up and saw a squirrel falling out of the tall canopy.
Having “lived off the land” in Fannin County his entire life, Bob told me he’s always been a logger. He first began logging the north Georgia mountains with big bow-saws and mules and buggies with his father.
On Sept. 8, I was walking to check my trail camera for pictures at my Walton County hunting lease when I saw a deer from behind. I watched it about five minutes, and it never moved.
I...
Charles Petty may list his home as Harrisburg, Ark. these days, but Georgia still claims this native son as the best duck caller our pine hills have ever produced. Born in Clarkston, Charles is a former Georgia State Champion duck caller who has been guiding duck hunters in the Jonesboro, Ark. area for the past 20 years.
On Nov. 27, Charles, 61, earned the title of world champion when he won the 2009 Senior World Championship during the World’s Championship events in...
The hounds struck soon after being dropped for the first time of the evening, raising a din that echoed across the valley and through the bright moon-lit woods of Oconee County.
“Jake strike!” barked Jake Garner, of Zebulon, the elected president of the Georgia Federation of Coon Hunters and the judge of this evening’s cast. Those were the first words spoken since the hounds had been loosed into old-growth mixed pines and hardwoods. The three hunters...
