I GEORGIA VOL. 2, NO. 10 I OCTOBER, 1967 ~GEORGIA ~GAME&FISH October 1967 Volume II Number 10 Contents Fur 'n Feathers Forecast . . .Dean Wohlgemuth 1 Tailored Duck Hunting . . .. ... Jim Tyler 4 How to Have "Horns" . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Art Rilling 6 Big Deer Contest 8 Brewing Pond Magic . . .Jim Tyler 10 Men in Green . . .. .Jim Morrison 13 Sportsmen Speak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Sportsman's Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Lester G. Maddox Governor George T. Bagby Director, State Game & Fish Commission COMMISSIONERS Judge Harley Langdale, Chairman Valdosta-8th District William Z. Camp, Sec. Newnan-6th District James Darby Vidalia-1st District Richard Tift Albany-2nd District William E. Smith Americus-3rd District Rankin M . Smith, Vice Chairman Atlanta-5th District Charles L. Davidson, Jr. Avondale Estates-4th District Leonard Bassford Augusta-lOth District J. B. Langford Calhoun-7th District Clyde Dixon Cleveland-9th District Jimmie Williamson Darien-Coastal District TECHNICAL SERVICES DIVISION Jack A. Crockford, Assistant Director Leon Kirkland, Fisheries Chief Hubert Handy, Game Management Chief Charles M. Frisbe, Supervisor, Marine Fisheries RobertS. Baker, Special Services Coordinator LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION Bill Cline Deputy State Chief, Atlanta David Gould Deputy State Chief, Brunswick GEORGIA GAME & FISH STAFF Jim Morrison, Editor Dean Wohlgemuth, Staff Writer Jim Tyler, Staff Writer J. Hall, Staff Writer Ted Borg, Photographer PHOTO CREDITS: Ronnie Abney 13; Ted Borg I, 11, 12; D an Keever 2, 3, 15; Jim Morrison 10, 14; H. Terry Smith , Georgia Power Company t.5; Jim Tyler 4, c. & b. 5; Rachel Wh.itmire 6, 7. G~orgia Gam~ and Fish is th~ of/ictal mo11thly maga:Jn~ of th~ G~or gia Gam~ and Fish CommiS>ion , published at th~ Commission's offices, .WI Stat~ Capitol, Atlanta, Georgia 30334. No adv~rtlsing accept~d. Subscriptions are $I for one year or $2.50 for thru y~ars. Printed by Stein Printing Company, Atlanta, Ga. Notification of addr~ss chang~ must include both old and new addreS> and ZIP cod~. with 30 days notice. No subscription r~qu~sts will b~ acc~pt~d without ZIP cod~. Articl~s and photographs may b~ r~printed. Prop~r cr"it should be given . Contributions ar~ welcom~. but the editors assum~ no r~sponsibillty or liability for loss or damage of artlcl~s. photographs, or Illustrations. S~cond-class postag~ paid at Atlanta, G~~a. Better pay for rangers At the heart of any wildlife agency is effective Jaw enforcement. Without a trained, dedicated, conscientious, and adequately-paid force of wildlife rangers in Georgia, efforts to preserve or improve Georgia's hunting and fishing are doomed to failure. Achievement of th at goal isn't being helped by the ridiculously low salaries now being paid Georgia's overworked and under-paid wildlife rangers and other Commission personnel. Believe it or not, the starting salary for a wildlife ranger is still only $395 per month, or $4,208 per year, lower than the national average of $4,855 a year in 1965. This is the case even though the physical and mental requirements for being a ranger are almost identical to those of the State Patrol, which begins patrolmen at the rate of $452 per month. Similarly, the Atlanta Police Department begins officers at $457 per month, and State Revenue Agents begin at $437 per month. Under the present low salaries for wildlife rangers, it is growing increasingly more difficult each year to hold quali- fied, trained rangers in their jobs with the Commission, especially when higher paying jobs with less strenuous duties are easily available to them with other governmental agencies or in private industry. Many of the best rangers have already been forced to resign from the Department because of the need to improve their personal financial situation, and others will reach the same conclusion in the near future, unless something is done to ease their problem. By the same token, recruitment of new ra ngers is becoming more difficult, especially in attracting young, aggressive, alert, and well-educated men who are qu alified to meet the unusual demands th at are placed on wildlife rangers in a field that is growing more sophisticated and complex every day, especially in the light of recent court rulings which tend to tie the hands of enforcement officers. With working conditions that include being on call twenty-four hours a day and working at least a six-day week, rangers should be more adequately paid. Since new rangers may not begin working for the Commission in their home county or an adjacent county, new men must sell their homes and pay the expenses of moving. Each time th at an experienced ranger leaves the payroll of the Commission, a considerable investment of time and money that was spent on his training and learning experience goes down the drain, never to be replaced . A new ranger may take many months to reach the peak of effectiveness that his predecessor reached through years of long, hard experience- the best teacher. A similar situation exists with many other Commission employees, who are now readily able to find better paying jobs with industry, other states, or the federal government, because of the training and experience they have obtai ned with Georgia at much lower salary rates. In at least a beginning to do something about the salary discrepancy and the drain of qualified personnel , Game a nd Fish Commission Director George T. Bagby has announced that he will ask the General Assembly next year to authorize raising ranger starting salaries from $359 per month to $396, still $56 below the $452 figure of the State Patrol. In addition, an across-the-board increase of 10 per cent would be given all existing rangers who are judged worthy of an increase. T he top pay for rangers with six and one-half years seniority would also be increased from $482 to $531 per month. Georgia's wildlife rangers have done an excellent job in the past, and they deserve to be compensated more fully for the important services that they are rendering to the State of Georgia and its sportsmen. -J. M . ON THE COVER: This October, more th an 120,000 hunters begin to turn to thoughts of deer, especially bucks with rockingchair racks. Some archers are already guarding their stands with ..: bow and arrow in hand. South Georgia hunters in the coastal section hit the woods with their guns on October 14, a nd almost all of the red-coat army of hunters will be in the .woods in full force by November 4, opening date of the deer season in middle and north Georgia. G ame biologists of the Commission estimate that more than 30,000 deer may be taken this year in Georgia by hunters. ON THE BACK COVER: It's a happy birthday for Georgia Gam e and Fish Magazine, marking its first anniversary with this issue. After one whole year, just about everybody is reading Gam e and Fish, or at least the hunters in the know are, even if all of the deer haven't got the message. If you have a hunting or fishing friend who hasn't gotten the message about Gam e and Fish, now's the time to tell him, or to give him a gift subscription for Christmas. By ..the way, now that you've tried Game and Fish out for a whole year, why not go ahead now and subscribe for three more years ? You'll save 50 cents - only $2.50 for three years, and you won't have to worry about missi ng a si ngle issue when your current subscription expires after the first of the year. Photos by D an Keever. The word straight from the crystal ball is that things are looking better and better for just about all types of Georgia's hunting. Fur'n Feathers Forecast By Dean Woh lgemuth Making predictions about the weather is a living to some people. Making guesses about what a hunting season is going to be like is really going out on a limb! There are so many factors that can get in your way. Even when armed with comments from men in the field who know their business, you can still make mistakes. And if you are wrong, there'll be plenty of unhappy sports- men to point out the error of your ways. You start assembling information for such a prediction well before season.. In the meantime, there may come a flood , fire, famine or other such misfortune or malfunction. Basing your findings upon results of previous seasons, along with reports of game biologists and wildlife rangers who watch for game and signs and other factors, you assemble all of them to come up with a group of generalities. But supposing the game is there, the weather is right, and food is plentiful, there's still another matter to consider when telling a hunter he'll have a good year. And that, of course, is the hunter himself. It's up to him, now, to find game and to hit it. Actually, there is not a great deal of 1 change in the forecast this year over last yea r. Things looked better last year, and should generally be even better this season. Deer hunting, in particular, has a very bright outlook for Georgia hunters. Deer herds continue to increase in North and Middle Georgia, thanks to good management and good food supplies. And the increase in deer is in spite of increased problems in controlling wild and free running dogs. If dogs could be controlled more effectively, there would most likely be a big jump in deer population just about everywhere in the state. The area with the biggest problem is the southern portion of the state. Herds are remaining about the same there, with hunting getting no better, while other sections are enjoying better and better hunting. In fact , populations are looking so good this year that many new counties will be open for the first time this season. The season will be shorter than in "older" counties, however, to prevent too great a harvest. Seasons are actually in three lengths in North and Middle Georgia. A full five sets of seasons were necessary throughout the state for gun hunters. The archery deer season is Sept. 30 through Oct. 28 for any county or portion of a county that has a regular gun season. The first gun season to open will be Oct. 14 through Jan. 2 in southeast Georgia. Southwest counties will be open Nov. 4 through Jan. 2. North and middle Georgia counties open Nov. 4, but the final day varies from Nov. 11, to Nov. 18 through Nov. 27. Check dates for the various counties in "Sportsman's Calendar," inside the back cover. Small game hunters are not to be forgotten this year by any means. Hubert Hand y, coordinator of game management for the Game and Fish Commi ssion , says squirrels, in particular, are in abundance throughout the state this year. Best hunting will be in the northern part of the state, but good crops of mast this yea r have made hunting good everywhere. Areas with plenty of hardwoods will provide the best squirrel hunting. Joe Kight, game biologist for the Southern Region , echoed Handy's forecast, adding that a good spring breeding season plus good food supplies will bring good hunting for just about all small game. Quail hunting. while showing a gradual decline over recent years hecause of a change in land use, is still holdin? its own fairly well this \'ear. The state still proud/v clings to its title of the "Quail Capitol of the World." Kight said quail hunting should be about as good as last year. Rabbits are more th an plentiful in southern Georgia. R abbits and bobwhites in north Georgia are considerably more scarce, however, H andy pointed out. Grouse populations look to be about like those of last year. Along the coast; game biologist Oscar Dewberry said the duck picture is somewhat uncertain . The offici al outlook is for a season similar to last yea r. A poor crop of new ducks is reported. However, be said, Ducks Unlimited has indicated good flocks can be expected. Of course prognostications of duck hunting must be made on a flyway-to-flyway basis, and the Atlantic Coast fl yway probably will not be among the most blessed. Dick Whittington, game biologist for middl e Georgia , aid hunters in that area can expect good hunting for just about everything. Middle Georgia bas some of the state's best deer hunting country. Squirrel and quail populations are good there, too, and rabbits are generall y fairly good. Wood duck populations are very good around the state, with a good hatch reported this year. The first half of the dove season is just about history as thi s issue gets off the press, so a forecast is out-of-date as far as the first half goes. And probably, the results you've found so far are as good an indication as you can get. But to get out on the limb as far as possible - since this was written before season - indications before the first shots were fired were for a very good yea r. Biologists saw plenty of doves around before sea on when coocounts and trappings (for banding) were made. If food supplies remain good and weather favorable, the second half of the season should be very good , particularly in South Georgia.>-= Game hwloRtSH 1av that rahhit~ are in .1/wrt v ,(ly 1 tl. s ' ar, e PiHII and north Georgia. The Game and Fish CommissiOn i1 financing a research proJu