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Deer were hungry. On a very cold day last winter, 96 deer were observed digging through a foot of snow trying to fill their bellies.
Digging for the last remaining acorns? Clover? Rye? You probably could not guess what these 96 deer were digging for, so we’ll tell you: radishes.
The above scenario occurred in New York last February, but we’re quickly...
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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 areas will be closing until after WRD gets a...
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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 so did WRD.
“We’re...
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National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) Senior Wildlife Biologist Dowd Bruton of Traphill, N.C., testified before members of the U.S. House Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, Thursday, Sept. 27 about the need for active forest management on national forests.
Dowd, whose NWTF wildlife biologist duties cover Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky and West Virginia,...
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In only the third year since the state-park system began management deer hunts on park land, three new parks have been added to the list of parks on the quota-hunt list. The new parks, all in northeast Georgia, are Bobby Brown and Mistletoe on Clarks Hill Lake, and Tugaloo on Lake Hartwell. Here’s a look at the hunting opportunity on the new parks.
Tugaloo State Park
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Game species have an ally when it comes to management of Oconee National Forest. The red-cockaded woodpecker is the reason about 1,500 acres of timber infested with southern pine beetle (SPB) will be cut over the next two years, creating early successional habitat beneficial to all types of wildlife — especially deer, turkey, small game and quail.
The cut — or salvage...
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Georgia deer hunters have become food-plot specialists in recent years in attempts to both improve the health of the local deer and enhance their hunting opportunities. There has also been an increased interest in recent years in planting trees to benefit deer and turkeys. Oaks, apples, persimmons and crabapples are but a few of the trees sportsmen are planting this time of year to benefit the...
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With 52 hunters bringing down 100 deer, the November 29-30 quota hunt at Fort Yargo State Park was a success on every level. The park was able to thin its deer herd, and a lucky group of hunters got the chance to hunt a 1,814-acre tract that hasn’t seen a rifle or bow in more than 50 years.
By comparison, hunt organizers were surprised by low hunter turnout at the November...
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Folks interested in improving their land for wildlife while also reducing the cost of land ownership and management have a unique opportunity to attend sessions taught by resource professionals at an upcoming field day event. Representatives from the Wildlife Resources Division (WRD), Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, University of Georgia...
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Although scientific research has not been completed on the subject, it seems clear that coyotes on certain tracts of land in Georgia have increased to populations where predation on fawns can limit a local deer population. In some extreme cases, coyotes may actually cause a local deer population to drop. The key word in that statement is local. One point is clear from our interviews...
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The seed is here. Orders are placed online, and return e-mails are letting each GONetwork and SCI-Ga member know the order has been received and when...
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WRD developed Georgia’s current statewide deer-management plan in 2004. In gathering responses from sportsmen about that plan, charitable deer...
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The GONetwork’s Henry County Committee and the Henry County Water and Sewerage Authority (HCWSA) held their second-annual Kids’ Wood-Duck...
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This fall, like last year, has been a great year for acorns across Georgia. From live oaks on the coast to white oaks and chestnut oaks in the...
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Spring is here, and it's an early one this year, so the wildlife on your land has been carried through the sparse months of winter on the food plots...
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For deer and turkeys, March can be the toughest survival month in the calendar. Acorns, seeds and soft mast are usually gone by this time of year, and...
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One of the greatest ironies of the present struggle that quail are facing in Georgia and the Southeast, an irony pointed out a few months back by...
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Those of us who have had the opportunity to hunt ducks in a flooded field of corn or grain sorghum, or in an impoundment planted in rice, know that...
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It is appropriate that May is a good month to turn your habitat-management thoughts to wild turkeys, since many of us still have turkeys in our...
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Every September you probably take the same approach to the opening day of dove season that many people do: sit and wait for a friend with a good dove...
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It's September, and the thoughts of most hunters are focusing on the upcoming deer season. At this point, when the season has not even opened yet, not...
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You can have your dream of a luxuriant food planting for deer, turkey or other game in the isolated heart of your hunting grounds.
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If you are thinking it's too late to plan or plant any new wildlife crops this year, think again. October is the optimum time to put in annual grasses...
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November is a quiet time of year for habitat management, relatively speaking, but there are always a few things you could do-and things you don't have...
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As a landowner or a land manager, you are probably familiar with some of the various government programs that offer cost-share incentives for soil,...
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