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Bear Hunting
Justin Sapp, of Cochran, is one patient bear hunter. Two previous years, he was on the stand many hours but never saw a bear. His luck changed Dec. 14. He was hunting his family property in Twiggs County, arriving well before daylight and prepared to spend the day on the stand. The morning was slow.…
I grew up hunting deer and other small game and always dreamed of getting a chance at a bear. When the one-day bear season in middle Georgia started last year, I knew I had my chance. I’ve hunted with my brother-in-law Chad Proctor in Twiggs for the past five or six years and have collected a ton…
On Nov. 21, Jimmy Rhodes, of Chester, and his buddy Frog Mullis, owner of Frog’s Buck Shop Taxidermy in Hawkinsville, went on a scouting trip at the Westlake Tract, an archery-only area of Ocmulgee WMA in Twiggs County. After splitting up, Jimmy stumbled upon an incredible find—a massive black-bear skull. “I didn’t know if I…
Hunters got their second chance at middle Georgia bear hunting on Nov. 10 in Houston, Bibb and Twiggs counties. In all, 14 bears, eight of which were females, were brought into the Oaky Woods WMA check station for data collection, according to Raye Jones, Oaky Woods area manager. This was a private-properties’ hunt, so Oaky…
The biggest bear GON has heard about so far this season was taken by Danny Taylor, of Ailey. He killed a 528-lb. south Georgia bear in Clinch County on Sept. 27 while on a dog hunt. “I was observing a planted pine field when I noticed a pine sapling move,” said Danny. “Then I spotted…
Black bears in metro Atlanta? Georgia’s bear population is on the rise, and these highly mobile critters are showing up more and more in areas where they’re not supposed to be. Odd sightings are especially frequent this time of year, when young males disperse. Larger adult males push young males out of their home ranges…
Middle Georgia’s first bear hunt in recent times was held on Nov. 12, 2011 in Bibb, Twiggs and Houston counties, and this bear hunt marks a significant success story for Georgia wildlife recovery efforts. Hunting by early pioneers nearly wiped out the bears in central Georgia. But the legally protected population very slowly grew in…
In the spring of 2010, WRD Law Enforcement rangers used a call out to the public to solve a bear case in which poachers killed a mother bear and one of her cubs. But as it turned out, the case they solved was not even the one they set out to. In early March 2010,…
From dense, tangled vegetation of the southeastern swamps to high mountain oak ridges, it’s already a record-breaking year for bear hunting in Georgia. On archery hunts alone, north Georgia hunters are killing more bears than they ever have. And dog hunters in south Georgia have broken the state record for live weight… twice. In south…
“When I heard the commotion, I spun around. I had thought the bear was dead, but he was on me before I could move. All I could see was a mouth full of teeth, right in my face. He wadded me up like he would a dog, and we went down together.” In that instant…