Georgia game and fish [Vol. 3, no. 12 (Dec. 1968)]

VOL. 3, NO. 12 I DECEMBER, 1968

~GEORGIA
~GAME&FISH
Decem ber 1968 Volume Ill Number 12

The Mountain Lion Trophy Conservation Communications Award - 1967 The Georgia Sportsmen 's Federation .

Contents

Rabbit Riddl e

.......... Marvi n Tye 1

The Ma rs hes of Chatham

George T. Bagby 4

Dove Dilemma

.. Dea n Wohl ge muth 10

Hounds of Hell

.Jim Morrison 13

Outdoor Worl d

20

Sports man's Calendar

21

Ti de Table

21

Lest er G. Maddox Governor
George T. Bagby Director, State Game & Fish Commission

COMMISSIONERS

Rankin M. Sm ith .

James Darby

Chairman

Vice Chairman

Atlanta- 5th District

Vidalia -1st District

William Z. Camp , Sec.

J . B. Langford

Newnan -6th District

Calhoun -7th District

Richard Tift

Judge Harley Langdale.

Albany-2nd District

Valdosta-8th District

William E. Smith

Clyde Dixon

Americus- 3rd District

Cleveland- 9th District

Charles L. Davidson, Jr.

Leonard Bassford

Avondale Estates-4th District Augusta-lOth District

Jimm1e Williamson

Darien - Coastal District

TECHNICAL SERVICES DIVISION Jack A. Crockford . Assistant Director
Leon Kirkland . Fisheries Chief Hubert Handy, Game Management Chief Charles M . Frisbe, Superv1sor. Marine F1sheries Robert S. Baker. Special Services Coordinator

LAW ENFORCEMENT D IVISION Bill Cline
Deputy State Ch1ef, Atlanta David Gould
Oeputy State Ch1ef. Brunswick

GEORGIA GAME & FISH STA FF

J1 m Morn son . Ed1tor

Dean Woh lgemuth.

J . Hall. Staff Wnter

Staff Writer

Ted Borg Photographer

Marvin Tye . Staff Writer

Georg1a Game and F1sh is theoff1c1al monthly mag.azmeofthe Georgia Game and F1sh Comm1ss1on. published at the Comm1ss1on 's off1ces. 401 State Cap1tol. Atlanta, Georg1a 30334. No advert1smg accepted. Subscriptions are $1 for one year or $2.50 for three years Pnnted by Stem Print1ng Company. Atlanta. Ga. Notd1cat1on ofaddress change must include both old and new address and ZIP code. w1th 30 days not1ce. No subscnpt1on re quests will be acceptedwithout ZIP code. Art1cles and photographs may be repnnted Proper cred1t should be g1ven. Contnbuvons are welcome. but
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PRESERVE MARSHES NOW!
The most encouraging development to come out of the controversy over proposed phosphate mining on the Georgia coast is the good news that something is being done to see that it will never happen again.
The "something" is a proposed State law to preserve the marshes of Georgia. being drafted by State Representative Reid W . Harris, a Brunswick attorney who is chairman of the special Estuarine Study Committee recently appointed by House Speaker George L. Smith.
Aroused by the prospect that one-twelfth of the Georgia coast might be turned over to a private compan y for destruction. Harris has begun an in-depth study of the value of marshlands and what can legally and administratively be done by the State to preserve them. 1n this regard, he has surveyed what is being done in the other coastal states, and is making a detailed study of their laws affecti ng the uses made of marsh lands and acquisition program of the various states. After studying the information and conferring with conservation agencies, state and local governmental officials. and members of the general public, Harris plans to draft legislation for presentation to the next session of the General Assembly.
While the exact provisions of the Harris bill have not yet been finalized , the current thinking of its author clo ely parallels that of conservationists in Georgia and other states. Harris agrees with biologi ts and conservationists that Georgia's marshlands and offshore bottoms are an invaluable natural asset at least two and a half times as productive as the best farmland. He recognizes the growing need for the mar hes and coastal waters for recreational as wel l as seafood producing areas today and in the future.
Harris believes that Georgia should have a law similar to Massachusetts to preserve its marshes and estuaries in their natural state. He feel that filling. dredging. and otherwise altering the natural character of the estuaries should be prohibited. except by special permits issued through a local governmental agency subject to review by a conservation dominated state control board. Harris says this Coastal Wetlands Control Board should have a representative of the State Game and Fish Commi sion, the Water Quality Control Board, and Natural Areas Council, and two other conversation minded representatives. The State Mines, Mining, and Geology Department should not be a member of such a board , Harris feels . It is a member of the Mineral Leasing Commission, an unrepresentative board with dangerous authority that should have less independence. Harris proposes giving the General Assembly the power to approve or reject any leases made by the Mineral Leasing Commis ion. which is required for any actions of the State Properties Control Committee. which is composed of more elected officials.
Next. Harris believes the problem of ownership of marshlands should be solved through a state-financed title search of all marsh lands to determine who their true owners are.
Continued on page 20
ON THE COVER: Mourning Doves sweeping into a Georgia field with the opening of the second half of the season, D ecember 6, th rough January 15. For more on doves, see " Dove Dilemma" by Dean Wohlgemuth on page 1O.Painting by George Reiney of Columbus.
ON THE BACK COVER: A cottontail rabbit. si tting in a country lane. You can almost see the light shining through his translucent ears. Where have Georgia's rabbits gone? See the "Rabbit R iddle" by Marvin T ye on the next page. Color photo by Ted Borg, the talented photographer of Game & Fish.
PHOTO CRED ITS: Ted Borg I, 4. 6. 7. 9, 11 . 12. 14. 17, Dan Keever 2, 3, Jim Morrison 10. Marvin Tye 20, Dean Wohlgemuth 15.

RABBIT BIDDLE
Where Rave all the Rabbits Gonet
By Marvin Tye

The number one target of bunters thro ughout the country is the cottontail rabbit. This fine little game animal can be taken by hunters using shotguns, small caliber rifles, or bows and arrows. In addition to providing plenty of sport, the cottontail is also pretty tasty table fare when correctly prepared.
Although the cottontail is found in all of the United States except Alaska and Hawaii, its popularity in Georgia seems to fall behind that of the quail and possibly the deer. The main reason for this lack of popularity is that the rabbit population in much of the state has been steadily decreasing for many years. Why? A study of the Georgia cottontail financed by the Georgia Game
and Fish Commission and made by Dr. Michael R. Pelton, assistant professor of forestry at the University of Tennessee, should shed some light on the reasons.
Dr. Pelton conducted hjs study from October 1965 through April 1968. At that time, he was a student at the University of Georgia. Working with Dr. Pelton on this project were Dr. James H. Jenkins, professor of wildli fe management at the University of Georgia, and Dr. E. E. Provost, associate professor of wildlife management at the University of Georgia. During the test period, 1,158 cottontail rabbits were collected from three major physiographic regions of Georgia: mountain, Piedmont, and coastal plain. These rab-

bits were examined to detect body weight and body and skull measurements comparison on a regional basis. The breeding habits, general health and other factors were also examined. In general, a complete life history study was conducted on the rabbit population in Georgia.
This study showed that cottontails in Georgia breed from February to September. The young rabbits are born 28 days after mating. April and May appear to be the peak months for rabbit reproduction. Rabbits in this state produce about eight litters per year, averaging three offspring per litter. This means that a single female rabbit here will produce 24 offspring per year while a rabbit in Missouri will produce 45. This could be because there is a higher mortality rate in Missouri due to the severe winters. Lower soil fertilit y in this area could also a.ffect the litter size.
Since rabbits produce such a large number of offspring, it would seem that there should be plenty of them. There are several factors that limit the number of rabbits. The average cottontail lives less than one year. Practically every predatory an imal in the wild will eat rabbits. They are prey of bobcats, foxes , hawks, owls, weasels, snakes and others. Free-ranging dogs and feral cats are a big factor in keeping the rabbit population at a low number.
Hunting pressure has little if any ef-
1

I

.
./ '
..

Hunters throughout the United States

spend more time pursuing the cottontail

rabbit than any other game animal.

Georgia hunters do not have the chance

to enjoy as much of this exciting sport as they should. Changing land use and Joss

..

of habitat are the main reasons for the

decrease in the state rabbit population.

Dr. Michael R. Pelton of the University of Georgia collected 1,158 Georgia
cottontails dunng a three-year period beginning in 1965 as a part of a Game and
Fish Commission research project. Rabbits were collected from the mountain,
piedmont, and coastal plains regions of Georgia to compare physical
characteristics and reproduction rates.

2

Left: Dr. E. E. Provost, associate professor of wildlife management at the University of Georgia, observes as Dr. Pelton examines a cottontail specimen in a laboratory at the University of Georgia. The scientists concluded that restocking rabbits was not the answer. Habitat improvement seems to be the best way to increase the rabbit population.

feet on rabbit numbers. Those taken by the hunters would probably have died of natural causes or been killed by predators if they had not been bagged. It is a strange fact of nature that almost any species of wildlife will be found in suitable habitat in the numbers that habitat will support. There will not be too many or too few , except for limited times with big game species like deer and turkey.
According to Dr. Pelton, the problem in Georgia i one of insufficient habitat. Changing land use is a big factor. During the past 10 years more than 23,000 smaiJ farms have been abandoned. More than 40 % of this land has been converted to pine pl antations.
"A rabbit needs food and cover to survive," Dr. Pelton said. "Pine plantations do not provide this sort of habitat. When available cover is removed from the land, the rabbits are exposed to the elements and to predators. They are also more likely to be affected by parasites and disease."
"Restocking rabbits into these areas is not the answer," Dr. Pelton said. "If there is not sufficient habitat the rabbits will not survive. Restocking rabbits may also carry disease from one area of the state to another."
According to Dr. Pelton, the best way to increase the rabbit population is to improve the habitat. This can be achieved through controlled burning on pine plantations and providing escape cover such as brush piles and briar patche . H e also believes that cover hould be allowed to grow along powerline rights of way, fences , creek banks, and field borders and that small-game management areas should be created, especially near large human population centers. These management areas would provide recreational hunting, provide controlled research areas for biologists,

Far left: The farmer who allows some areas to grow up on his land will not find a bunny under every bush, but his chances of finding game will improve, the Commission study concluded.
and provide examples to the public on ways to manage for better small-game populations.
The farmer can help by creating brushpiles along the edges of fields and in other edge-type areas. The piles should be I 0 to 15 feet in diameter and 4 to 6 feet high . Permanent strips of food and cover should also be added and maintained for continuous good rabbit hunting.
Several small patches of brush and food are better than one large patch of each. Strips left along fence rows, drainage ditches, pond edges, streams, along wood lots and orchards, field roads, or any area that can revert to weeds, briars, sumac and other bru h will benefit the rabbit population. Food strips planted beside the cover will help in erosion control as well as helping the rabbits . Oat , wheat, and other small grains provide food during the winter, while lespedezas provide nourishment during the spring and summer. All types of clover are good for rabbits.
Landowners can obtain recommendations on planting and other agricultural practices from their county agent or from Game and Fi h Commission biologists. An excellent guide to rabbit management, "How to Have Small Game on Your Land," can be obtai ned by writing the State Game and Fish Commission, 401 State Capitol , Atlanta , Georgia 30334.
To summarize the findings of Dr. Pelton and others, it eems that the cottontail's biggest problem in G eorgia is finding the proper habitat. Restocking is not the answer and seems to bring more problems th an it solves. Heavy hunting pressure doe n't seem to bother the little animals, so if you're a landowner. improve the habitat as best you can and enjoy some exciting hun ting and good eating.

3

"A league and a league of marsh-grass, waist high, broad in the blade,
Green, and all of a height, and unflecked with a light or a shade,
Stretch leisurely off, in a pleasant plain, To the terminal blue of the main ...
Oh, What is abroad in the marsh and the terminal sea?
Somehow my soul seems suddenly free From the weighing of fate and the sad
discussion of sin By the length and the breadth and the
sweep of the marshes of Glynn ...
Oh, like to the greatness of God is the greatness within
The range of the marshes, the liberal marshes of Glynn."
Sidney Lanier
"The Marshes of Glynn"

THE MARSHES OF CHATHAM
By George T. Bagby Director, State Game and Fi sh Commission
* Statement by George T. Bagby, Director of the State Game and Fish Comm issi on to the pub lic hearing of the State Mineral Leasing Commission held September 30, 1968, at Savannah, Georg ia, concerning proposed leas ing of offsh ore state lands in Cha tham County to the Ker-M cGee Corpora t ion.
Lighthouse

Sidney Lanier in that immortal poem, "The Marshes of Glynn," written many years ago, I am afraid, better undertood the value of this God-given reource than many of us do today. I am not a poet. I'm just a simple country boy from Paulding County, who grew up with a father who liked to hunt and fish, and who taught me to appreciate these wonderful gifts of nature that our Creator made for us.
My father didn't live long enough to share much of those gifts with me. I wish that he were alive to have had the wonderful opportunity that I have now of seeing the beauty of the Georgia coast, and enjoying the bountious harvest from it. I know that he would have wanted me to do everything in my power to see that our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, would always be able to share this great coast of our , just as we have done wi thin our own lifetimes.
I am proud to be able to help defend the Marshes of Glynn, and of Chatham , from destruction. D estruction is what it will be if th e proposed lease is granted to the K err-McG ee Corporation.
The power to save this important portion of the Georgia coast is in the hands of the Mineral Leasing Commission, and the decision is theirs to make. As fellow citizens and offici als of the State of Georgia, I want to believe that the Mineral Leasing Commission will make its decision based on what is best

for the greatest number of our people, over the longest period of time.
I want to believe that the Commission will seriously weigh the overwhelming evidence that has been accumulated in opposition to this unwise mining scheme, and vote unanimously to reject any and all bids to mine any portion of the Georgia coast.
The conservation agencies have been placed on trial here, when the shoe should be on the other foot. KerrMcGee is the company that want to rape the Georgia coast. Kerr-McGee and its owners are the people who wi ll profit by exploiting our state-owned lands, yet they have never once even contacted our department and offered any explanation of their plans. We should expect and demand full details of any of their proposed operations before any request for bids is granted. This should have been done before any request for bids was issued.

The solid color area shows controversial underwater State-owned lands proposed for leasing to the Kerr-McGee Corporation, along with marshlands already owned by Kerr-McGee. The total of 41 ,000 acres of land and water is one-twelfth of Georgia's total coastal estuary area.
In the few bits and pieces of information that we have been able to gather before the Savannah public hearing, we are told that the compan y now owns 14,000 acres of tidal marshl ands on Little T ybee and Cabbage Island in Chatham County, and that it holds options to purchase approxim atel y 2,000 more acres of marsh on Wilmington Island.
ow, the company proposes to lease approximatel y 25 ,000 acres of Stateowned unde rwater lands. The combined mars hland and water acreage under Kerr-McGee control wou ld then be 41 ,000 acres, which is 7.8 per cent or almost one-twelfth of the entire Georgia estu ary a rea of 520,000 acres of land and water.
Even from the scanty information th at has been given u by Kerr-McGee, it i obvious that we are talking about the permanent destruction of at least one-twelfth of the marine resources of Georgia. This would result from the

5

proposed dredging from State underwater lands and filling company-owned marshlands. This is assuming that there is no water or air pollution that will spread to more than the area now controlled by the company or proposed for lease from the State of Georgia.
The value of these so-called "useless marshlands" that Kerr-McGee proposes to fill up is too great to carelessly ignore. It is a proven biological fact that these areas are the spawning, nursery, or feeding areas for 100 per cent of the shrimp , oysters, and clams harvested in the surrounding waters, as well as for 85 per cent of the fish.
We are talking about the destruction of one-twelf th of the entire shrimp crop produced and harvested on th e Georgia coast. We are talking about the shrimpers losing one-twelfth of their income or spending 13 hours a day instead of I 2 hours to catch the same amount of shrimp. What does Kerr-McGee propose that our fishermen do to make up for this loss? Do they think that shrimpers can put wheels on the doors of their nets, or rockets on their boats, so they can catch the same amount of shrimp in the same time that they do now?
And what about the people who eat this shrimp? Will they have enough of it in the future, after one-twelfth of our shrimping grounds have been destroyed? Last year, the average amount of shrimp available to each person in the United States was only a pound and a half for the entire year. When the population of the United States doubles, this amount will be only three-fourths of a pound per person, or less than one good meal of shrimp per year, even if all of our present shrimping grounds are preserved. Can we afford to reduce this amount even more? Will our grandchildren even be able to enjoy even one meal of shri mp at all ?
The shri mp industry in G eorgia over the past ten years has averaged producing 7,528,000 pounds of shrimp each yea r. The loss of one-twelfth of this amou nt would cost the State $3 ,485 ,400.00 each year.
By the same token, dredging and fillin g in Chat ham Count y will ruin forever a potenti al oyste r and clam fishing indust ry. Dredging and filling will destroy commercial finfish that in the near future may provide thou ands of dollars of income for G eorgia's commerci al fishing industry. At least one-twelfth of the Georgia coast's production of these choice seafood items will be permanently destroyed. The story is the same for had fis hermen , the crab fi hermen , and all the commercial fi shermen o f the Georgia coast.
Georgia's commercia l fis hing industry would lose more than $9,451 ,400.00 each year, although it is sti ll in its infa ncy. Abatement of pollutio n and re-
6

Far left: Jeanne M owner Gordon Nelson of Savannah and his deck hand sort out their catch of shrimp. Georgia's annual shrimp harvest of more than 7,528,000 pounds would be reduced one-twelfth if mining is allowed to destroy the shrimp nursery areas in the marsh, a potential economic loss to Georgia of $3,485,400.00 a year for shrimping alone.
Left: Speckled trout and channel bass fishing is excellent in threatened Wassaw Sound. Thousands of Savannah residents like Degan Hardt and C. E. Brigdon spend their leisure hours there. Recent studies by marine biologists indicate that Georgia's tidal marshlands are more productive than the best wheat lands . The fertility of the marsh mud and the grasses growing on it is measured in millions of dollars of benefits through the production of seafood, sport fish and wildlife, recreation, and storm protection.

search wi ll greatly increa e the productivity of the Georgia coast for commerc ial fis hing in the near future. For example, in September of this year, I 0,000 acre of Georgia's saltwater rivers and creeks were opened for oyster harvest by the State H ealth D epartment. the Water Quality Board and the State Game a nd Fish Comm ission. This includes a portion of the T ybee Ri ver and part of the Shad Ri ver. In 1908 . Georgia had an oyster harvest of l ,436,000 bushels compared with only 50.000 in 1967. The 1908 harve t could be repeated again as pollution is cleared up. an d modern methods of oyster production are implemented. Jf o. the value of the Georgia oyster harvest loss wou ld amoun t to $1,707,440 a year at current market prices.
That the e resources wi ll be developed beyond their present level is a lready indicated from research discoveries of our Commi ssion's Marine Fisheries Division and Anadromou F ish Project. The a nnu al budget fo r these two acti vities alone is now more tnan $ 140.000 a year. This does not include figures for the University of Georgia's Marine Institute at Sapelo I land. The fir t mari ne biologist for Georgi a was on ly hired three year ago. Studies are being made on methods of improvi ng the catch of shrimp , oys ters . cl ams. crabs, a nd commercial sport fish.
For example. one of our research projects just completed has scientificall y demonstrated th at Georgia has a potential untapped clam industry that, if developed , could yield several million dollars a year alone!
The potential value of commercial fishing has scarcely been tapped on the Georgia coast. Now, clams are not

harvested at all. either are many valuable finfish. including menhaden , herring. whiting. mullet, flounder , croaker, butterfish and mackerel.
Not even counting the potential for the future of commercial fi sh ing on the Georgia coast, destruction of onetwelfth of our estuary based on present figure alo ne will res ult in the loss of $9,45 1,400 million dollars a year, year after year, to th e economy of the State of Georgia.
As disastrous as the effects of this operatio n wi ll be on Georgi a' budding com merc ial fishing indu try, I have not yet mentioned the havoc th at marsh filling will do to sport fi shing. Sport fishing prov ides almost as great a contribution to the econom y of our state as does com merc ial fishing. Sa ltwater port fishing is sti ll in it infancy. too: a nd forces that wi ll greatly accelerate its amazing future potential are already actively at work .
At the present ti me, there are more than 281 ,41 6 resident sport fishermen a lo ne on the Georgia coast. They fish a total of 3.810.373 man-d ays a year and catch a total of 22 million pounds of fi sh a year. The loss of one-twelfth of this total a year wou ld be $6.248,600.00 a year lost forever at current lev e ls.
The sobering fact is that usi ng the current figure only, Georgia stands to lose $15 ,700,000.00 a year now fro m its yearly marine resources! While ' we can visualize the incredible worth of some of our marine resources within the yea rs to come, the figure in ma ny cases is impossible to compute. If we could full y determine the true potential treasure th a t is locked up on the Georgia coast's prawling undi turbed ma rsh-

Two public hearings held on the proposed
/ease by the State Mineral Leasing Commission in Atlanta and Savannah
were jammed with indignant opponents
of phosphate mining. Coastal residents,
commercial and sport fishermen ,
professional conservationists, and ordinary citizens were almost unanimous in their opposition to leasing State bottom lands.

lands, we would not hesitate a moment in rejecting this proposal to destroy onetwelfth of our State's finest natural resource are1;1 forever. Based on anticipated use, the loss in economic benefit to the State of Georgia by the year 2020 will amount to $60,000,000 annually!
I want to emphasize that the figures I have given are for destruction of onetwelfth of the Georgia coast only. They do not cover the much larger area that most likely will be polluted by any mining operations involving underwater dredging. We do know that there are currents in this area from the sea that will probably return any items dumped in the ocean to the shore. Research by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers has already demonstrated that sediment deposited in the ocean by Georgia rivers is carried southward along the shoreline by tidal currents. This means that siltation from mining in Chatham County waters probably would choke aquatic life in thousands of acres of marshlands and estuary areas in the counties to the south. Probably, they would coat them with killing deposits of lifeless material.
These matters are to be greatly feared by themselves. The exact methods KerrMcGee proposes to process the phosphates and where this will be done have not been clearly revealed. There are further possible threats of water and air pollution from chemical, thermal, bacteriological, or siltation processes that could be extremely difficult to treat.
Regl).rdless of that, it is a proven fact that dredging in the shallow offshore waters and filling of the surrounding marsh areas would completely destroy the production of seafood and most sportfish in the areas involved. Areas covered with inferior subsoil or inert rock or other material will not produce aquatic organisms. Thus, the dredging will destroy the food chain of important aquatic species tl:lat fish and shrimp feed on . By the same token, the wintering ground of 9,100 ducks and uncounted marsh hens would be destroyed .
Today, the marshes and estuaries of Chatham County and the rest of the Georgia coast produce a bountiful annual crop of seafood and recreation that is harvested by our people. These estuaries will continue to produce this crop for harvesting every year, year after year, for a million years, unless like the Indians of Manhattan Island, we trade it off for a chest of trinkets. Each year, the value of this harvest that we reap from the sea on our shore will increase in value, unless we exchange it for a short term harvest of cheap phosphates and a foolish housing project.
Unlike phosphates, our marsh resources are renewable. Their story is the same as that of the man who owned a sheep. Each year, the man sheared the

sheep of its fine wool, selling it year

after year after year. But one day he

decided to kill the sheep and sell its

skin instead for a little more money.

When it was too late, he realized his

mistake. Will we wait too late to realize

our mistake? Will we, too, kill the goose

that laid the golden eggs of the Golden

Isles?



It should not be necessary to point

out that making dry land of the marshes

will end forever the production of

shrimp and aquatic food in the entire

Wassaw Sound. This has been amply

demonstrated in Connecticut, which has

lost more than two-thirds of its estu-

arine wetlands since the turn of the

century. At the current prices, Con-

necticut's two million dollar a year

shellfish industry would have been

worth 48 million dollars a year today,

if Connecticut marshes had been pre-

served.

Georgia has a chance to prevent

the mistakes of its fellow states. Our

marshes are relatively unspoiled. While

they can be preserved today, once de-

stroyed, they can never be rebuilt. They

are . not building any more marshes.

The only way to create a marsh is to

preserve it while it still exists.

Our State talks a lot today about

tourism as a booming new industry of

the future. Our Industry and Trade De-

partment spent $730,515.00 last year

to promote tourism in Georgia, along

with many thousands of dollars spent

by local chambers of commerce and the

regional planning and development com-

missions, including those of Chatham

County. This money is an investment

for the future, but it will be wasted if

the attractions which we are advertising

today are destroyed tomorrow.

It is estimated that by 1976 alone,

there will be five and a half million

persons passing by Chatham County on

their way south or north on I-95 and

U. S. 17 and 301. If each of these per-

sons could be induced to stop one night

and spend $20 each in Chatham County

or elsewhere on the coast, the approxi-

mate 400 million dollar retail sales of

the six coastal counties could be in-

creased by 200 million dollars, or more

than one-half! Tourism is a profitable

new industry, but these tourists are not

interested in stopping to see a phosphate

mine or a subdivision. They are inter-

ested in the beauty of the Georgia

coast, the quality of its fishing and

hunting, and the delicacies of its

kitchens. As a recreational area, our

undisturbed marshes represent money

in the bank for Georgia's future . We

can't afford to draw it out now, for a

ridiculously low interest rate.

In short, it is obvious that Georgia's

marshlands and estuary areas are too

important -to allow them to be ex-

ploited and ruined by a short term

mining and land development scheme.

These areas are already too valuable to risk losing now. The need for them will be far greater in the future to provide our rapidly increasing population with recreation and seafood.
More nutritious and desirable food will be produced over a longer period of time by the undisturbed marshes than will ever be created by the application of phosphates to dry land. That such a mining proposal should even be advanced in the age of an oversupply of phosphates is ridiculous.
I know what this company proposes to get from the State of Georgia, and what it plans to pay for it. As I revealed at the first hearing of the Mineral Leasing Commission in Atlanta, Kerr-McGee proposes t-o pay the State of Georgia little more than two million dollars in the next 20 years for fill material that is worth at least 124 million dollars. This is less than two per cent of its value. It well may be worth more than 650 million dollars, based on the rates that the State Highway Department pays for fill material on road construction projects.
We also know that the phosphate market is glutted. Kerr-McGee admits this in their own annual report. In this same report, they admitted that it is cheaper to buy phosphates from other producers than to mine them. Because of this, Kerr-McGee cancelled plans for. construction of a phosphate mining and milling complex in Florida.
If phosphates are not worth mining, then let's consider what kind of a housing project would Chatham County get. First of all , it would get a subdivision with lots too expensive for the average Georgian to buy, even though he would pay to fill them in . Do you belie ve that this out-of-stat e company will spend th e money it reaps from this housing development in Georgia? The purchaser might have access to the sea, but what would he fish for there, or hunt there? Would he like swimming in the chocolate brown waters left by dredging? Would he care for the odor of drying marsh muck on adjacent areas still being filled in?
W ould he feel secure living there? From 1700 to 1955 at least 54 hurricanes and thousands of tropical squalls struck the coast between Jacksonville and Cape Hatteras. One of these hurricanes killed 335 people in Savannah in 1881. At the same time, T y bee Island disappeared beneath th e ocean . It has disappeared before. It may disappear again.
If this happens, what will happen to these fine new subdivisions on Little T ybee Island, on Cabbage Island, and on Wilmington Island? Will the people on them be able to escape in time, if, like T ybee, their exit road floods before the islands themselves do? When flooding occurs, who will pay the bill for

eroded causeways and streets. broken

telephone poles and downed wires,

clogged water and sewer systems.

wrecked automobiles, and ruined homes?

Where will Kerr-McGee be then ? Are

there no better places to build sub-

divisions in Chatham County?

Will there be erosion of the shore on

these wo nderful new highgrounds. when

the protective buffer zone of the marsh

has been replaced with houses built on

sand? Any qualified hydrologist can

predict what will happen if shallow

Wassaw Sound is deepened 70 to 120

feet. Because waves are simply circular

currents. they can never be higher than

the water is deep below them. If there

are 30 foot waves on Wassaw Sound

during a storm now. how high will they

be if the water is 120 feet deep, instead of 30?

Tn his book Estuary a nd Coastline

Dynamics, Ippen shows the effect of in-

,

creased water depth on wave height. With a 25-mile per hour wind, waves

in 120 feet of water are twice as high

as they are in only 30 feet of water. In

a hurricane wind of 70 miles per hour,

waves in 120 feet of water are three

times as high as they are in 30 feet of

water.

What will be the effect of these higher

waves on the shoreline? Can houses and

buildings near the shore already con-

structed be considered safe? What

about these proposed new subdivisions

with no protective marsh buffer in front

of them? What about traffic on the In-

tercoastal Waterway, or shrimpers try-

ing to leave their home port of Thun-

derbolt through Wassaw Sound, their

normal ro ute to the sea? What will hap-

pen to Wassaw Isla nd , and its ma rshes?

In a hurricane, gigantic waves will

pound the shorelines, crashing over any

economica ll y feasible bulkhead likely

to be built there. The resulting damage

and shore erosion will stagger the

imagination. Once tidal currents and

tides in Wassaw Sound are so drastically altered, many shipping channels

may rapidly silt up, creating additional

expense to maintain them . Adjacent

real estate may well erode away. back

into the sea.

Is Kerr-McGee worth this risk? Are

phosphates that valuable? Do we need

a subdivision that bad ? Can we afford

to lose the marshes of Chatham? How

can the a nswer to any of these ques-

tions be a nything except a resounding " o!''

Along with thousands of my fellow

citizens. I feel that it is the duty of the

State Mineral Leasing Commission to deny the leasing of this State-owned underwater land to Kerr-McGee or any other company.
To the members of the Leasing Co mmission. I make this plea:
Gentlemen , the decision is yours.

But before yo u make it , I plead with yo u to make the decision that will save the Georgia coast for thousa nds of little boys. and little girls, who will want to fish the re. hunt there. swim there. a nd enjoy eating the delicious treats of God's bounty from the sea . I pray th at

yo u will not let them down. (At th e tim e this article went to
press, th e decision of the Mineral Leasing Commission had not been announced, and a court restraining order to block the lease was in the process of being appealed.) >-=-

We're Seeking to Solve
By Dean Wohlgemuth

t

The smoke hangs heavy when dove of the state, but without benefit of ac tuhunters fro m North and South Georgia a ll y being ab le to perform su ch a spl it.

'

get together. Those in the northern ha lf

Jim Scharnagel. game biologist of the

of the state like their dove season earl y, Gainesville office of the State Game and

while their more sou the rly brothers Fish Commission a nd Georgia's repre-

a field prefer to seek their sport as late sentative in a 13-state four-year dove

as the federal law permits.

tud y. i handling the split season study

Whi ch group has the best reasons? as well. H e says that in a n effort to

Both have argu ments on their side. So achie ve the primary objective of the

the big wo rd battle boils down to: season stud y, he has three basic "sub-

"Wh y can't we simply have an early objectives."

season in the northern half of the state.

The first of these is to determine the

a nd a late seaso n in the southern half?" time of the peak population of d ove~

Well , first you have one "little" prob- in the two areas. Secondly, he is analyz-

lem. that being that the federal govern- ing the present kill in each area, and

ment allows G eorgia up to 70 days (this finally . he is attempting to a nalyze the

may vary from year to year). between effect of Georgia hunt ing in other

dates they set which a re usuall y Septem- state into and fro m wh ich doves mi-

ber 1 through January 15.

grate to and from Georgia.

ow. if o nl y a portion of the state

T his is quite an assignment!

were to be open on any day or days.

Many parts of the four-year, 13-state

this would count against the entire study now underwa y overlap wi th

state's quota of 70 da ys. So. in other Scharnagel" split season st ud y. And in

words. if the first 30 days of the season some cases. he extend the work of the

were open onl y in orth Georgia and four-year study to apply it to his split

the final 40 on ly in South Georgia. the season study. He does this, bas ica ll y, by

total of 70 would be used up.

doubling all pa rts of re earch .

H owever, this would mea n th at those That is. when for the fo ur-year dove

hunters in orth Georgia would get study he was assigned to band 4.000

o nl y 30 days to hunt in stead of 70. and doves in Geo rgia this year, he instead

those in South G eo rgia would get onl y attempted to band 8,000 doves ... half

40 instead of 70. If either group wa nted in orth Georgia a nd ha lf in South

more time to hunt. they'd have to travel Georgia. In other words, he is ha ndling

to the other half of the state when the each half of the state as if it were a

season is open there.

separate state entirely.

Of course. each end of the state wants Doves a re trapped, banded and then

its full 70 days. There's onl y one way to do it ... open the entire sta te when the seaso n is opened at all. So. to provide some of the preferred portion of the eason for each section, the season i

re leased . When a dove is ki ll ed the ba nd is to be mailed back by hunters. In orne cases a dove may be tra pped more than one time or his ba nd may be brought to a ttention more than once in

Game biologist Jim Scharnagel records the band number, age and trapping location of a dove. Nearly 8,000 doves were trapped by the Georgia Game and Fish Commission this year as part of

traditional ly split in Georgia . between ot her wa ys. Ba nd ing helps by providing a thorough study of dove hunting in

just about as early as possible. and just as late as possi ble.
Can noth.ing be done to change this? Can't South Georgia have all it's season

information about how much a dove move and how long it takes to get him there. When initially banded. a long wi th recordi ng the ba nd number, a bi ologist

Georgia. The study is being made to determine whether it would be feasible to have separate dove seasons in North and South Georgia.

late and orth Georgia have a ll of its records whether the bird was ma le or

sea on ea r) y?

female and whether it was an adult or

The Game a nd Fish Commis ion is juveni le bird . T he location and date of

deep in the midst of trying to find an band ing is of course a l o recorded .

a nswe r to this question. Georgia re-

In addition to learning about dove

ceived a $22,000 Federa l appropriation movements, fact can be deri ved about

to study wha t affect it would have on the age expectancy of doves. particu-

the dove popul ation to have such a spli t larl y as effected by huntin g. This study

in seasons. The grant cpmes fro m a fed - shows. for examp le that young doves

era l fund et asi de for research on o- are not as cautious a round hunters as

cal led 'Jesser" migratory birds. such as a re older doves. and are more suscepti-

doves, sni pe, and woodcock .

ble to the hunter. Jt a lso indicates th at

T he study is act ually in its second sex appears to have a n effect on the

year. a nd Commi sion game biologists dove's susceptibi lity to the gun. A por-

hope it will be extended a third year to tion of the annual morta lity due to

help obta in more concrete infor matio n. hun ting ca n be deter mined through

At present, data is st ill be ing compi led band ing.

from the first year's study, and at this

It is importa nt to note that generally

stage of the game no conclusions can ~ peak i ng. some th ree out of fo u r doves

be dra wn. T here just isn't enough in- taken by th e hun ter are li ke ly to be

for matio n ava il able to draw fir m con- juve nile bird . Hu nters should not be

clusions .

alarmed by thi . On the co ntrary, such

The hard pa rt of the tudy is th at a ra tio of juvenile-to-adu lt birds in the

biologists a re attempting to determine bag indicates th at the dove popul ati o n

the affec ts of havi ng two separa te 70- is health y a nd normal. and that re pro-

day sea o ns in the two d iffere nt ha lves d uct ion is good.

Georgi a's dove population a ppea rs to of the hunters, askin g how ma ny times seaso n. E ach day's bag is kept sepa-

be in good shape. Tn 1966 , the fir t year a person hunted and how man y birds rate. with the date and location marked

of the stud y invo lvin g 13 states, there he got. T he ca lls we re no t lim ited to o n it.

.,.

were 3.5 1 juveni le doves killed pe r hunters onl y, but were ta ke n at ra ndom

This e nables the biologist to deter-

single adu lt bird . Thi s increased slightl y fro m a ph one d irectory. T his produced mine huntin g resul ts a nd shows the age

in 1967 to 3. 6 juven il es to the adult.

a n idea of the percentage of persons of birds take n a t various times of th e

A laba ma's ra ti o was even hi gher, who hunt doves .

yea r. By stud yin g th e moult of wing

4.18 in 1966 and 5.82 in 1967 . Flo rid a's

In addi tion to such in for mation , per- fe athers. biologists ca n determine a ju-

ratio was a lso hi ghe r tha n Georgia's, go- sons in G eo rgia we re asked other ques- ve ni le bird's age within a wee k.

in g ove r the 5- J ma rk. T owa rd the fi rst objecti ve of the
stud y-find in g what time of yea r th ere are th e most doves in each of the two halves of th e state-s ight counts were made a lon g 22 pe rm a ne nt . esta bli shed routes. Bi o logists counted the doves they saw o n these routes, at regul ar ti mes.
Work o n th e seco nd objecti ve, a na lyzing the ki ll in each a rea, was done th rough a telephone survey. Th is, too, was a porti o n of th e four- yea r stud y that could be appli ed to the split-season or zo ning stud y. T elephone numbers were selected at ra ndom, a nd perso ns we re questi o ned by phone about their dove hun ti ng. So me 4,400 calls we re made in Georgia, in both ha lves of the state combined.
Basica lly, the telephone survey for all states was to determine the success

tio ns to help with the zo ning stud y. They we re as ked what part of Georgia th ey li ved in , and where th ey hun ted. T his was to determine how much traveling hunte rs do to hunt doves . If it is proved th at hunters are willing to travel lo ng di sta nces to hunt doves, two 70da y seasons in the state may produ ce too much hun ti ng pressure on doves . H ere again , howeve r, is one of th e greatest problems of the stud y. H abits of hunters mi ght cha nge considerab ly if the stud y could be o pe rated under actua l conditio ns of havi ng separate se as o n s .
Studi es of win gs collected fro m dove hunters are a n importa nt pa rt of both dove studi es. Ra ndoml y se lected dove hun te rs in each of the 13 states (aga in, Georgia was spl it as if it were two states) were asked to save one wing from every dove they take during the

A dove leaves th e nest at a n age of 12 to 14 days, and starts fl ying at that time. When he's 30 da ys o ld he is full y grow n as fa r as actual weight a nd size i concerned. H e doesn' t complete his initi a l moult of hi s fe a th ers until he is a bout 90 days o ld however. Beyond I50 days, be is considered a n adult bird.
In add itio n to these stud ies, Georgia ca rr ied o ut o ther ex periments. Hun ters were checked in 12 coun ties, ha lf in north Georgia a nd ha lf in south Georgia. T wo coun ties just north of the fa ll line (Colum bus, Maco n, A ugusta) a nd two just south of th e fa ll line. all border in g the line, were selected . T hen, two groups of two co unties fart her away fro m the fa ll line in each half of the sta te we re selected . Fina ll y, t wo coun ties in each extreme end of the state were added.

In these 12 counties, wi ld life ra ngers contacted hunters as they performed ro utine checks of dove fie lds. Hun te rs were asked what coun ty they li ved in, compared to where they were hun ting. Only re iden t hunte rs were asked. Ou tof-state hu nters were of no help . Ra ngers recorded the date of the hunt, the success of each hun te r, a nd in addi tion, they were as ked if they had telephones . T his was to help with the pho ne survey by attempti ng to determine what percentage of hunters have phones.

O ther tha n fin a nci al suppo rt of the projec t a nd provi din g some essenti al info rm ation fro m other sta tes, the federa l governm en t is not actua ll y ta kin g pa rt in the Geo rgia zo ni ng or splitseason stud y.

The moult of a dove's wing betrays its age. Note the fourth
feather from the tip. The short new feather repla ces a
juvenile feather. The dove moults a wing feather a week, from the age of 30 days, until
all wing feathers are adult. This dove is in the seventh
week of moult, la cking only three more to be complete.
No joke, this is a wing bee! All these dove wings were saved by hun ters at the reques t
of conservation agencies from 13 states participating in a study of dove hunting. The wing bee has been held in
Gainesville tor the past two years .

T he four- year stud y in which a ll 13

sta tes are now participating. however, is headed up by the F ish a nd W ild li fe

Service. H eadquar ters of the stud y is

at the Migrator y Bird P opul atio n Station, P atuxient Research Cente r, Lau rel, Mar yland. M il t Reeve is the head of this st ud y.

Jf a ll thi s so unds complicated, it's because it is. But biologists still hope

I

th ey' ll come up with some so lid a nswers.

lf their answe rs are co nvinc ing e nough, perha ps the federa l F ish a nd W ildl ife

Service will deci de that zo ning G eo rgia fo r the pu rpose of dove hun ti ng would

no t have a har m ful effect o n dove popu-

la t io ns.

A nd tha t will be a dream-come-true to many Georgia dove hunters, no mat-

ter which part of the state they're f ro,.m._!.

The frightened doe dashed frantically an employee of the State Highway De- worried too much about the threat of

through the forest, the sound of her partment who lives in East Point. While actual physical attack by wild dogs,

breathing preceeding her approach. working with a surveying firm at the they are concerned about the losses of

Nearly exhausted, she hesistated mo- time, Wood and two other men were wild life species, especially deer, to both

mentarily for a hurried backward clearing timber for a survey in South wild and free-running "pet" dogs.

-~

glance at her tormentors, then stum- Fulton County, between the Chatta-

No one knows what the toll of wild

bled forward again.

hoochee River and the county airport. animals killed by dogs is. Usually, the

But it was too late.

"We had a chain saw and two bush outcome of chases like that labeled Ex-

Bursting from the thicket, the brown axes," Wood said. "We came to a thick- hibit Two is never known to humans.

and black furred demons dashed to her et and when we started the chain saw, Jn this case, the doe managed to get

side, their bared fangs glistening. Sur- a pack of dogs started coming out of up and take refuge in a creek, where she

rounded, the exhausted doe's pitiful the thicket like hornets out of a nest. " was found by wildlife ranger Richard

struggles were in vain. Pain shot threw

"We thought the noise of the chain Roberts of Walton County, investigat-

her body with the first bite, followed by saw would scare them away, but in- ing the report of the chase. Wading the

another, and then another. Bulldog like, stead they attacked us. We had to kill creek, Roberts had the unpleasant task

one cur held a leg. Another snapped at them with the chain saw and axes to of putting the mangled doe out of its

her jerking neck, biting her shoulder protect ourselves. We killed five dogs misery with his revolver, since the suf-

and shredding her ears as blood ran right then , and by the time an hour fering ani mal would have died anyway.

down her brown fur and splattered on the leaves.
By the time the devil dogs began eat-

had gone by, we had to kill four more, for a total of nine that day."

Anyone who doubts that dogs chasing, catching, killing, and eating deer is a

ing her hams out as she lay quivering on the ground, she was ready for death.
Exhibit Number Two. It was a gory, sickening sight that met the weathered farmer's gaze. Checking his herd for new calves that morning, he found one-or what was left of it. The grisly remains of what would have been a prime beef steer left a painful knot in his stomach. His angry eyes glared at the unmistakable dog tracks on the ground.

Wood said that several days later, the crew returned to the spot to finish the job, which they had abandoned because of the previous attacks. "We had to kill three more dogs that day," Wood said. "They were wild, vicious, and hungry looking," he said.
Although Frye and Wood were able to successfully defend themselves from attack, speculation as to what would have happened to a child, a woman, or an unarmed person in such a situation

major wildlife conservation problem hasn't ever talked to any of the wildlife rangers who patrol all of Georgia's 159 counties night and day. True, some counties like Catoosa have few deer, even though it has more than its share of dogs, according to reports from cattlemen of .their damage. In areas with many deer, the dog problem is always present. In many cases, it is the reason for low deer populations, especially in wooded areas with good deer habitat.

Exhibit Number Three.

is a sobering thought indeed.

Even in many of the game manage-

Sound like fiction? The individuals

Actually, attacks by dogs on humans ment areas of the State Game and Fish

involved wish that they were. Unfor- aren't uncommon, but the dogs in- Commission, deer chases can be heard

tunately, these three "stories" are all volved are usually of the domestic va- every day. Since some breeds of dogs

true, and they happened right here in riety, frequently a pet of the person or don't bark while on the trail of a deer,

Georgia in recent months . Some of child that is bitten. Exactly how many many more undoubtedly occur. Reports

them made the newspapers, but most persons are bitten by dogs each year by sportsmen, landowners, and other

of the other thousands of examples in Georgia for various reasons isn't persons in the woods of dogs chasing

didn't.

known , but the State Health Depart- deer are frequent all over Georgia.

Fortunately, the first example is the ment receives more than 500 dog bite

"We didn't have much of a problem

.

least common. There aren't a lot of at- complaints a year for investigation. with dogs chasing deer 10 years ago in

tacks on humans by actual wild dogs, Hundreds, perhaps thousands more are most of the State," says Charlie Mar-

although examples of it have become never reported. In the most publicized shall, game biologist of the State Game

more numerous in recent years. Follow- such attack, two pet dogs killed a and Fish Commission at the Walton

ing publication of the authenticated at- young child of their owner at Fairyland, County office. "The reason was because

tack on Richard W. Frye Jr. of Athens, Ga., in Dade County.

while we've always had a lot of dogs

several other such attacks carne to light.

While most of Georgia's sportsmen running loose, we didn't have any deer

One of them carne from Frank Wood, and wildlife conservationists aren't in large areas of the state before. A

Far left: An actual survey of Georgia cattlemen indicated that more than 8,000 head of cattle, mostly calves, were lost to dog killers last year. The slaughtered animals were worth an estimated minimum of one and a half million dollars.
Richard W. Frye Jr of Athens and the knife he used to kill a wild dog that attacked him in the Oconee County woods on the day before the hunting season began. If the wild dog had attacked a small child or an unarmed adult, the result might have been more serious More than 500 domestic dog bite cases a year are reported to the State Health Department, an ever present threat of a link between rab1es in wildlife, stray dogs, and humans.

dog would have sta rved to dea th tr ying to find a deer to run. But now we have some deer in a ll 159 counties. a nd enough to hunt in more than 125 of them. so now that we have deer. the dogs are running them a nd creating problems."
A game biologist for many year , Marshall has first hand experience with dogs attack in g deer, a have all of Georgia's game biologists. While working wit h the University of Georgia's Cooperat ive Wildlife Di sea e Study. Mars hall first became aware of the prob lem . " I've een the after-effects in Clarke County,'' Marshall said. " I fou nd severa l deer carcasses chewed up there, including one on the University's forestry school property."
The latest deer killings by dogs to disturb Marshal l came just a few months ago. when three mangled bod ies were found on the Game and Fish Commission's Cohutta Game Management Area, part of 23 deer restocked on the a rea tht year in an effort to restore a once flourishing herd wiped out by poachers and dogs.
" [ was personally familiar with five of those deer," Marshall aid. "I spent three lon g hard nights to catch them wit h a dart gun in Southea t Georgia. It was raining one night, and was cold as the devi l the other two."
The bod ies of the three marked deer, ki lled by dogs, were found by the Cohutta area manager, Buford Withrow, who i ~ no stra nger to dog problem . Buford's experiences were recounted in the article. 'Dogged to Death." which appeared in the January '68 issue of Came and Fish. While working on a prelimi nary re earch project on the Commission's Lake Russell Game Manage ment Area, Buford recorded five known and I5 pos ible deer kills by 1 15 dogs in 55 chase during 89 days of ob ervations over a six-month period.
" Our problem in the wildlife profession is that we rea ll y don 't know how

many deer there are out there now," Marshall ad mit . "There simpl y isn't any effective mean known at present for counting wild anim al accurately, so there's no way to measure our losses. We could lose J0 or 100 deer on a n a rea and never mi ss them. We know th at there i a problem , but we don't know the extent of it. It may be greater or less th a n lo ses of domestic li vestock."
H owever, there is hope on both score . Recent adva nces in the cience of aerial photography with specia l camera and in fra-red film s may oon make actua l dee r counting possible by photographin g and identifying heat waves from the a nim als' bodies, even when hidden beneath foliage.
This win ter, the Game and Fi h Comm is ion plans to repeat Withrow's observa tion of dog-deer cha es in greater de tai l, using a game biologi t who wil l be ass igned full time to the Lake Russell Area for six months to make o bservations five da ys a week. The biologist wi ll try to fo ll ow the chases and record what happens at the end of the chase.
Tha t dogs are affectin g deer populati ons on many Commission management areas seems clear. and damage off the " refuge " must be even higher. For instance. Commission game biologi ts say that the John 's Mountain Management Area near Calh oun in
ort hwest Georgi a is capable of proclueing six deer per I ,000 acres on managed hunts. or a total of at least 240 deer for the a rea's 40,000 acres . Ho wever. the annua l kill there is usua ll y 40 to 50 buck . Similarly, the harvest on the popular Blue Ridge Management Area is only two a nd one-half deer per I.000 acres. Dog are the difference.
What happens to the deer population when dog predation is removed? A good exa mple is the Atomic Energy Commission s Savannah River Project in South

Carolina, south of Augusta. Clo ed to the public in 1952. the giant 320 quare mile a rea is surrounded by a barbed wire fence on three sides and by the Savannah River on the fourth. Roads into the area are barricaded and guarded night and day. Security guards with guns constantly pat ro l the area, practicing dog control , along wi th their other duties. Stray dogs were eliminated from the area. Since th ere are no permanent residents inside the pl a nt area, domestic clogs were no longer a significa nt factor in deer reproduction.
As a result of the absence of dogs. poachers, a nd hunting. the skimp y deer popu lation within the area skyrocketed. Soon. plant workers were harassed by deer being run over on area roads at the shift change. and deer became a nuisance. By 1965. it was decided to open the hunting sea on on area deer to reduce their population to less problem levels.
The first year. four half-da y hunts were held two weeks apart. with a limited number of hunters using dogs a nd no bag or sex limit. The re ults were fantastic. On some hunts now, more deer are killed than the total number of hunters participating. One hunter shot nine deer on a si ngle hunt.
Since then. the hunts have been expanded to every Saturday from August through Januar y. A four-to- ix-mile squa re area at a time is hunted. with I50 to 300 dog being turned loose in the area for half a day. producing sharp. intense hunting pre ure for a hort time. Even though such hunts have been held every year inee 1965, the deer kill has remained consistently high. with as many as 16 deer per square mile being harvested on a special study area, including biological stud y speci mens. Previously. deer experts sa id 12 deer per square mile was the estimated total deer population on the better areas, yet no effect was seen on the kill year after year. The average population on the

15

area may be as high as 50 deer per adult does. Five fawns lost out of 40 become exhausted and be killed at the

square mile, an unbelievable popula- breeding does might not sound too sig- end of the chase. Even large bucks are

tion. Yet just outside the project gates, nificant, but suppose our herd was 1,000 no match for a pack of dogs when they J
deer hunting is generally poor, com- deer, 10,000 or 100,000, instead of 100. are completely exhausted.

pared to most middle Georgia areas. That could mean annual fawn losses of How many deer are killed each year

Significant? Yes. Evidence that dog 50, 500, or 5,000 deer! And if those by dogs in Georgia? How many deer

control produces more deer? Yes. Evi- does produced twin fawns their second are there in Georgia? "We can't really

dence that similar pro.tection should be year, the losses could be 150, 1,500, or factually answer either question," says given deer from dogs in Georgia deer 15,000 in one year alone! Each year Charlie Marshall. "We do know that

.,

hunting areas? Yes. But that's not all afterward, the effect would increase. bunters are taking about 25,000 deer a

the Savannah hunts revealed.

Small wonder that deer herds don't year, so the population must be well

A startling discovery was made al- grow as fast in areas with heavy dog over 125,000 by now. But what our an-

most by accident of the effect that hunt- harassment.

nual losses to dogs are is impossible to

ing the Savannah deer with dogs had. These figures only take into account determine."

Dick Payne, now a game biologist of first-year fawn depletion, due to sup- Looking for some other way to meas-

the Georgia Game and Fish Commis- pression of ovulation in harassed deer ure the damage done by uncontrolled

sion, was at that time a graduate stu- under the stress of dog chases. How dogs that could be compared to deer

dent in wildlife management at the Uni- many losses can be credited to abor- losses, Georgia's game biologists hit on

versity of Georgia. As a part of his tions caused by dog races is imposs.ible an idea. Any dog that would kill a calf

graduate studies, Dick conducted a re- to count, since evidence of a lost fawn or a pig would kill a deer, they reasoned,

search project on deer reproduction. can't be seen on does except when they and vice-versa. Why not measure live-

For an entire year, Payne roamed the are examined shortly after their abortion. stock losses to dogs each year? Here was

Project area collecting reproductive or- But on top of lowered reproduction, a workable proposition, since cattlemen

gans from does in an effort to deter- actual fawn killings by dogs might be a and swine herders keep careful watch

mine breeding seasons and other infor- much greater factor in dog predation over their livestock. If any animals are

mation not connected with dogs and than is generally suspected now, since missing, they usually are aware of it,

deer.

fawns represent a much easier target for and frequently know the exact cause of

His study began before hunts started dogs than a doe in good condition. While the loss through personal observation.

on the area, and continued afterward. a chase of a mature doe or buck might Similar conditions simply don't exist in

Now, they have been taken up by Dave last an hour until the animal is caught the wildlife area, where there are no

Urbston, a biologist of the U. S. Forest or escapes the pack, a fawn chase might fences or farmers to keep careful check.

Service, the agency which manages tim- not last more than 100 yards. The fact Working on this idea, the plan was

ber and wildlife on the Plant. But now, that fawns have little scent at birth brought before the Georgia Cattlemen's

the studies have taken on a new, more shouldn't be distorted, since the condi- Association and the Georgia Swine

important aspect.

tion lasts only a few days until the fawn Growers Association , where the pro-

By examining the ovaries of yearling starts moving, following its mother. posal was eagerly accepted. Both groups

does on the area for a color pigment Then too, many fawns may be jumped realized that they had a dog predation

spot, Payne and Urbston were able to by dogs chasing another deer, perhaps problem, but no figures on its extent

determine whether or not a doe had the mother. Evidence of a fawn chase were available.

dropped a fawn in her first reproductive judging from the barking of the dogs Next, the Cooperative Extension Serv-

season, which is frequently at the age of may sound like a short unsuccessful ice of the University of Georgia's

six months. Studies were made of such chase of an adult deer. The remains of School of Agriculture in Athens was

reproductive success on areas in years a fawn dinner are quickly cleaned up in contacted. Through the head of the

before hunts and years after. Some con- the woods by scavengers like raccoons, animal husbandry department of the

trol areas have never been hunted, and foxes, crows, bobcats, and buzzards.

Extension Service, Dr. 0 . G. Daniels, a

samples taken each year from these Another factor is heat exhaustion. current list of all cattle and swine pro-

areas. As a result, several interesting This phenomena is well known to horse- ducers in Georgia with a minimum

facts came to light.

men, who are careful to avoid over- number of brood animals was obtained.

Payne and Urbston discovered that heating their mounts, or allowing them Then, using a table of random numbers,

in areas that had never been hunted in to drink or swim in water while over- questionnaires were sent out by both

recent years, 54.5 per cent.of the first heated. Yet a mature deer fleeing pur- associations to a random five per cent

year does had been successfully bred. suing dogs invariably heads for water in sample o.f each list.

But on areas that had been subject to an effort to lose them, frequently plung- Thus, the 11 ,610 cattlemen in Geor-

heavy dogging during the hunts, the ing into a river or lake while in an ex- gia were narrowed down to a random

rate was cut to 28.1 per cent, almost in hausted, overheated state. Death by five per cent sample of 582 producers

half!

shock or pneumonia is sometimes the who were mailed animal damage ques-

The significance of this figure on deer result, or the animal may be further tionnaires in 1968. 17 of these were

herd growth can be shown by using a weakened if the dogs catch sight of it or returned by the Post Office as unde-

hypothetical example of a herd of 100 wind its scent before it can make good liverable, creating an effective sample

deer after the young of the year fawns its escape. This is especially difficult in of 565 recipients. Of these, 284 cattle-

are dropped in the spring or summer. the two-thirds of Georgia above the men filled out their questionnaires and

Theoretically, there might be approxi- lower coastal plains area, with its many mailed them back within the allotted

mately 60 adult deer and 40 fawns. 20 standing water swamps. This is the only time after a second mailing.

of these fawns might be does. Using reason that deer can successfutly sur- Of the 284 respondents, 118 or 33

the undisturbed Savannah Project fig- vive legal deer dogging in extreme South per cent of them reported some type

ure, 10 of these first-year fawns prob- Georgia around the Okefenokee Swamp of harassment or mortality as a result

ably would produce a fawn. But if the and the coastal region river swamps.

of animal attacks. The entire group had

rate were cut in half by dogging, only While the deer runs swiftly at first, it lost 259 head of cattle. Significantly,

5 would bear fawns. Thus, the total re- soon tires after a long chase by the the cattlemen reported that 199 of the

productive rate of our sample herd slower, but more persistent dogs. Since cattle were lost because of dog attacks.

would .be cut 7.7 per cent, considering the deer cannot climb a tree or hide in 27 kills were credited to buzzards, and

reproduction of twins by most of the a hole, it must lose its scent in water or 33 to all other types of wild animals,

16

including bobcats, foxes , coyotes, accidental shooting, etc. The total monetary loss reported by them was $17,605, not including the cost of maintaining a brood cow another year to produce a new calf. Not all of the losses were calves, although an estimated 90 per cent were. Some brood cows were lost by being run through fences, etc.
A second portion of the questionnaire asked for estimates of time lost by cattlemen in dog control or prevention efforts, but most cattlemen didn't make an estimate.
Shocking loss figures ? Yes, but not nearly as shocking as the figures that are reached by si mpl e expansion of the five per cent sample to represent the total of 11 ,610 cattlemen. Using the stati stically accurate procedure, it is safe to as ume that approximately 4.825 cattlemen had predator problems, 3,884 of them to dogs! An additional 1,117 were attributed to buzzard , and 1,432 to other wild animals. The total monetary lo s was $1,136.642, of which dogs were responsible for a whopping $888 ,058! Since it costs approximately $80 a year to maintain a brood cow an additional year until it produces a new calf, this dog loss figure is probably actually $650,240 more, or a total of $1,538,298!
Clearly, a million and a half dollar economic loss to cattle producers on 8,000 head of cattle is a staggering loss for any industry, especially one with a low a margin of profit for the
producer as the cattle business. Bob Nash. the executive vice-president of

the Georgia Cattlemen's As ociation, says that the loss of one calf means that the average cattleman must feed a brood calf for seven years, producing a calf each year, before he can recoup his lo s and make a profit off the cow again.
A si milar survey conducted in 1967 showed that dogs that year killed more than 5,000 head of cattle valued at $885 ,000. Thus, the dog-cattle problem has almost doubled in a single year, an indication that free-running dogs are an increasing problem in Georgia. Whether or not the livestock losses are greater or smaller than deer

losses is a matter of speculation. While the 1968 survey showed that
damage to the swine industry by dogs is less money-wise than to the cattle industry, more pigs were lost to dogs than cattle. The survey indicated that dogs killed I 1.243 pigs worth $238 ,014, a tidy piece of change for mo t agricultural industries.
"We can't stand this kind of loss," says Bob ash. "Some solution to this problem must be worked out if we are to continue to operate. One man may not lo e anything, another may lose two or three. One man told me last week he had lost I2 head-believe me, that is

A seven member Wild Dog Study Committee of the Georgia House of Representatives is completing several months of research into the dog problem, with plans to recom mend a dog control law to the next session of the General Assembly meeting in January. Public hearings were held by the Committee in Atlanta, Valdosta, and Ringgold.

How many deer are killed by uncontrolled and wild dogs each year in Georgia? If the annual toll of thousands could be computed, sportsmen would be amazed. 96 Georgia wildlife ram~ers in 102 Georgia counties estimated they had lost
more than 2,000 deer to free-running dogs last year.

too heav y a los ." "When yo u put it all together as a n
industry. the loss is tremendous, whe n yo u consider the fac t that these calves may be worth from $25 up to $250 per ca lf. o it does a mount to a lot of money. "
"Some people would say th a t thi is ju~t in certain counties where there are more cattle."' a h says. "I realize that the cattle business doesn't run up and down orne of these mou nta ins. where there's r:othing but trees. l realize th at in the pine cou nt ry of Southea t Georgia th at the re' very little cattle there, but in the a rea whe re we do have cattle, we do have a problem 1\ ith these dog . Some areas \IOu ld show a lot heavier loss tha n other . For instance. in orth we t Georgia, we had a considerable lo s-more th a n $ 100.000, all attributed to clogs. While we had less catt le killed in ortheast Georgia, that a rea suiTered the greatest monetary l os~. becau\e of the concentration of regi stered cattle wi th a higher val ue there."
'" I don't th ink the problem i to control hu nting dogs anyplace." a h adds. 'Th e problem is to control clogs th at nobody accept any responsibilit y for. Wh en yo u look at these. you find that the number is probably a lot larger than those for whom someone actually con tro ls and feels respon ibility for. We're ta lking about dogs killing cattle. but we're not say in g they're lo t to coon dog or fox dogs. We're not against any one group of people in the
. tate." " ow. a ll the cattleman is actually
a~king for is for the people who own a dog to be responsible for the actions of that dog. If a co1 gets out on the road and yo u strike that cow with yo ur car. the owner of the cow is liable for the damage to your car. I even have to carry insurance for that. But if the owner of the car owned a dog who

killed my cow in my pasture, the dog owner isn't li ab le. And if 1 kill your dog, you could sue me for destroying your personal property!"
ash is not alone in his call for action. The director of the State Game & Fish Commission, George T. Bagby, has called for legislati ve action. "During the past few years, we have become increa ingly unable to adequately control the dogs that are harming our wildlife resources," Bagby says. "We have reached the stage where we must have help in order to protect the wildlife for the people of Georgia."
"lt is now necessary for this department to try to grow a much wildlife as is poss ible on each acre of habitat that this state has to offer, in order to provide for the increasing numbers of sportsmen in this tate. As time progresses and habitat acreage decreases, the fight will grow more important each yea r. "
'We wa nt to protect the interest of the legitimate dog-owning hunter and in no way create too great a hardship for this sportsman," Bagby aid. "At the same time we must adequately protect the wildlife that the non-dog hunter utilizes."
'From report of our field personnel , it is felt that the greatest threat to our wi ldlife resource comes fro m abando ned dog th at are left to fend for themselve . These dog ultimatel y begin taking wi ldlife and domestic livestock out of nece sity. It i either do this or tarve. When they have become adapted to living off the la nd and the landowner. they begi n to reproduce in greater and greater numbers," he said.
"It is now necessa ry that a ll State age ncies band together to combat thi. menace that not onl y takes a heavy toll of wild life each year, but is becoming a n increasingly greater a nd greater problem to the la ndowner." Bagby sa id .
Game a nd fish department official from Alabama. Florida. orth arolina. Sou th Carolina. a nd Tenne ee say that simil ar dog proble ms exist within their respective tate . The problem in Georgia i statewide. With hunting now a
22.000,000 business in Georgia. it is a serious problem. Each deer in the bag represents a lmost $400 in expenditures by Georgia hunters, yet two or three worthless mongreb can de\troy that animal in a few minutes. The loss i unmeasurable.
"We need some legislation," Charlie Marshall says. 'We need some way to control the numbers of these free ra nging dog~ that we see. Preve ntion is the best way to break up a chase before it begins. There ought to be a fine for dropping dogs or turning them loose. Something mu st be done soon. or we'll be covered up with dogs if they keep increasing like they have in pas t yea rs."
"Our men on the game management

areas should have the authority and backing of the law and the people to control dogs on management areas wit hout any critici m ," Mar hall added.
What kind of a dog law should Georgia have? Well , there are more suggestions from various interested groups than Carter had pills. It does seem clear that the present arrangement of leaving dog control and rabies vaccination requirements up to local county boards of hea lth hasn't worked. Out of Georgi a's 159 counties, onl y I 00 counties have a rabies vaccination requirement. and only 35 have a dog pound, so the other 65 probably aren't actively doing much about dog control. Thus, 124 of Georgia's counties have inadequate programs at present.
One of the proposals that seems to bear the most promise is the one worked out by the Georgia Animal Damage Advisory Committee. a group composed of representatives of the State Health Department, State Agriculture Department , State Game and Fish Commi sion , Cooperative Extension Service. and other interested group .
Under the law propo ed by the Committee. a stare wide req uirement that a ll dogs over the age of three months be vacci nated would be enacted . At the arne time th at the dog wa vaccinated by a regi stered veterin arian, each dog owner would pay a $2.00 fee per dog for his a nnual dog licen e. If two-year vaccine is used . a two- year license could be purchased for $4.00. There would be no difference in the fee for male dogs a nd female . spayed or not. The dog license fee would be in addition to the reg ular ve terinari an fee for vaccination, which would be et by the state. although it could be set by the county board of hea lth .
After the fee was paid a nd vaccination completed. the veterinarian would i sue a numbered tag to the dog owner. who would see that his clog wore the tag at a ll times. except while the dog was under the direct supe rvision of the 01\ ne r. Thu , the clog would not be required to ha ve the tag and a collar on whi le participating in a how. on a lea h. in a pen, hunting, or otherwi e under the direct control of his owner.
However, the clog tag would not be a licen e for the clog to run at large without supervision, and any dog found loo e all\.! a menace to human or anima l health Vvould be subject to capture a nd impoundment, and its owner liable for a mi demeanor harge.
Dog owner could be required to either have their name and address on the dog's collar. or tatooed on hi ear.
All reaso na ble effort would ce made to capture the dog. In some cases, other mea ns might be nece sary. Howeve r, dog control officers or wardens would not be authorized to kill dogs by shooting them without specific authorization

18

by the local board of public health or other authorit y in the case of individual problem a nim als. In such cases, onl y law enforcement officers a nd not members of the general public would be authorize.d to kill dogs. Trapping a nd po isoning programs would not ordinaril y be used , except in certain hi ghl y limited speci al situations where adequ ate controls could be utilized .
Ca ptured dogs would be taken to a dog pound located in easy dri ving dista nce of each county in the state , a nd held for a minimum of three to eight days before huma ne disposal. Pounds would be operated in a sanita ry a nd hum a ne fashion , and inspected regula rl y. Individuals claiming dogs would pay a pound fee of at leas t $5.00, plus $ 1.00 per day, with a higher fee for second offende rs. All released dogs would have to be promptl y vaccinated if they did not have a current tag.
o bounties would be paid on dogs, since thi s would encourage massacres o f innocent pet dogs. Money collected from the dog license fee and the pound fees would be used to offset state expenses in the program . Although such fund s would go into the State general fund as most other types of revenue do , they probabl y would pay for the cost of the program.
At present, the State Health Department issues about 350,000 vaccination tags a year to dog owners. A ssuming th at the total number of dogs licensed remained at least as high ( it might increase with stricter legal requirements), at $2. 00 each , from $500,000 to $700,000 pro babl y would be raised , enough to hire 50 dog wardens at $4,700$5,200 a year, 50 helpers at $4,308 per yea r. and two helpers for the 22 new pounds that would be required , also a t $4,306 per year, plus tra vel expenses and operating expen ses of the pounds.
Proba bl y a speci al appropri ation of $ 100,000 would be required by the General Assembly to get the program sta rted by constructing 22 addition al pounds at approxima tel y $5,000 each . With the 35 existing pounds, the 57 pounds would provide one pound th at could be reached from a nywhere in the state without driving across more tha n one count y. Counties or cities with existing acti ve dog control and ra bies programs would be exempted from the provisions of the state law, unless they choose to merge with the state program.
In addition , funds from the dog licenses. etc. could be used to set up a special indemnity fund for cattle, swine, a nd sheep growers suffering losses due to dogs whose owner cannot be ascertained. This program perhaps could be administered by the State Agricultural D epa rtment by its inspectors, simila r to the chlorea a nd brucellosis indemnity funds now administered by the department for cattle or swine destroyed be-

cause of di sease. Livestockmen could also be authorized to kill dogs caught in the act of killing their stock. Dog owners would be liable for damages.
What state department should administer this dog control program ? W ell. there's an old saying about bein g elected dogcatcher th at's still prett y valid . Everybody agrees that something needs to be done, but nobod y is reall y volunteering for the job themselves. In most states a nd territories dog control is handl ed under the state health depa rtment as a part of the rabies control program ( 22). In 14 states and territo ries, the problem is the joint responsi bility of the state hea lth depa rtment a nd the state agriculture department. Four states leave the program exclusivel y to the agriculture depa rtment, fi ve have given it to local gove rnments, usually the police or sheriff's department, a nd two have added it to the duti es of the state fish and game age nc y. Five states have no ra bies law at all. The la rgest combined number, 36, thus leave it to the state health department as the most logical agency, sometimes handled through county health departments.
Exactl y what depa rtment will ha ndle the dog cont rol program or whether a new, sepa rate "dog control depa rtment" should be set up for it, along with the ex act provisions of the new law, will proba bl y be la rgely determined by seven men .
The seven men are all members of the Georgia House of Representatives Wild Dog Study Committee, created at the end of the last session by a special resolution authored by Representative Howard Rainey of Cordele, who is also chairman of the House G a.me a nd Fish Committee. In addition to Chairman Rainey, other members of the commitmittee appointed by House Speaker George L. Smith include 'Kent Dickinson of Douglasville, a sportsman, deer hunter and member of the House G ame and Fish Committee; Brunswick attorney Richard M. Scarlett; fish camp operator and farmer Dewey Rush of Glennville, Burton M. Wamble of Cairo, a member of the Georgia Livestock Association ; cattleman a nd deer hunter (with legal dogs) Henry Reaves of Quitman, and Jack W. Shuman of Pembroke. Shuman and Scarlett are also members of the Home Game and Fish Committee.
In addition to their own personal interest in hunting and fishing, most of the committee members own dogs of their own, a nd a re full y sympathetic with fellow dog owners who a re anxious to see that an undul y restrictive law is not passed which will work a ha rdship on legitimate dog owners, especi all y dog hunting sportsmen .
Many of the committee members own cattle of their own , and have experi-

enced losses themselves to uncontrolled dog packs. While the dog problem is a complica ted, sometimes touch y issue, a sta ble, level-headed committee has been wisel y selected to deal with the problem. While the exact provisions of the bill that the y will recommend to the Janu a ry session of the General Assembl y have not been fin alized , there is every reason to believe th at they will come up with a workable, effective law that will not undul y restrict an y legitimate dog owner, while creating a program to deal with the estim ated 300,000 G eorgi a stray dogs in both rural a nd urba n a reas.
Of course, when the bill is actually introduced , adequate publicity will be give n to the provisions of the bill , copies made avail able to interested persons for comment, a nd the provisions of the bill clo el y ex amined a nd debated on the Hou se a nd Senate floor, as well as in committee sessions.
The Committee has alread y held three public hearings on the dog problem in Atl anta, Valdosta, and Ringgold. An additional hearing may be held to discuss provisions of the proposed law itse lf.
At an y rate, now is the time for inte rested dog owners, sportsmen , wildlife conservationi sts, livestockmen, health, agriculture, and game and fi sh officials to express their opinions on the proposed law, both to the committee members, and to their own local elected state representatives and senators, as well as the Governor. Both advocates and opponents of any such law should make their feelings known to these men , along with any comments on specific provisions of such a law.
Members of the General Assembly will take their positions on the bill both on the facts found and presented to them by the stud y committee and by the amount of interest a nd opinions expressed to them by their own constituents. If few interested individu als bother to let their elected representatives know how they feel about the bill , such a lack of interest one way or the other could be considered evidence that the public felt no need for such a law. Legislators a re responsive to the opinions of their co nstituents. They count a nd read personal letters, post ca rds, phone calls, pe rson al vi sits, and petition s.
Wh at G eorgia decides to do will be closel y watched by many other states, especi all y the five border states and many others of the country where the dog problem has too long been swept under the rug a nd made a taboo subject. The time has come for the whispering to stop, and for the dirty laundry to be hung in public, after a ood washing at the legislati ve laundry{ The future of Georgi a's deer hunting, livestock industr y, and dog owning sportsmen depends on a fair solution now. ~

1(\

Editorial
Even if the State does not already own all such marshlands that are flooded by the tides, many such areas may remain in public ownership because of a lack of grants to private owners, or non-payment of taxes.
The Brunswick lawyer says that he doesn't know a si ngle lawyer in coastal Georgia that will certify a title to marshlands. He also points out that Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation will not issue titles on lands between the high and low tide marks on the Georgia coast, apparently in the belief that such lands may already belong. to the state. Such state ownership is already established in Alabama and several other seaboard states, but is unclear in Georgia.
In the event that large acreages of marshlands are indeed privately owned , H arris believes that if their title is clearly established , owners could be persuaded to donate marshlands to the State or to private charitable founda-
tions, in return for a tax deduction. Without a clear title, organizations such
as the Ford Foundation refuse to accept
gifts or to purchase marshlands for
preservation.

Should it be necessary, Harris would authorize the State of Georgia, through the State G ame and Fish Commission or the proposed Coastal Wetlands Control Board, to purchase marshlands from their owners for permanent preservation in their natu ral state. This would be a voluntary provision, although laws of some states provide for condemnation and purchase of lands involved in court cases where the court rules that refusal to issue a filling or dredging permit constitutes taking private property without just compensation.
Considering that Georgia has ap-. proximatel y 350,000 acres of marshlands valued at a minimum of $10 per acre in unaccessible areas, officials of the State Game and Fish Commission believe they could acquire most of the lands th at would have to be purchased or that would be voluntarily for sale with a one million doll ar appropri ation each yea r for ten yea rs, with any unspent funds left from the program being returned to the state treasury, or used to buy hunting and fishing areas if marshlands were not available to utilize them .
Such a program would undoubtedly acquire the largest portion of marshlands that would be so important to

preserving seafood production and recreational uses. Smaller, but more valuable trac ts adjacent to existing highwa ys or industrial and residential areas would not be worth purchasing. Pollution problems in such areas in some cases wo uld make such small marshes unsuitable for recreation al or seafood production . In such cases, permits for fillin g or dredging probably would be readil y given.
The State Game and Fish Commission is fully committed to preservation of the coast. The Director of the State Game and Fish Commission, George T. Bagby, and his staff are full y prepared to support such legislation , and to participate in any acquisition program. The Commission already owns several thousand ac res of marshl and , along with the va rious federal age ncies.
As a result of the outraged public response to proposals of the Kerr-McGee Corporation of Oklahoma to destroy at leas t a twelfth of the Georgia coast, aroused public opinion will support legal efforts to preserve Georgia's coast. Such action is also strongly backed by biologists and other scientists who are familar with its unique character.
Clearly, the time to act is now.-J.M.

OUTDOOR WORLD ~

sion, Parks Department and others. Although the course is science oriented, it is presented in an easily understood,

Sportsman's

down-to-earth manner, and the material is invaluable to teachers of all

Calendar

subjects. A major part of the course is

the field trips which are taken as each

Teachers Apply for

new subject is introduced, giving the students an unforgettable opportunity to see first-hand the origins, uses and

RUFFED GROUSE Season-Oct. 14, 1968 through Jan. 31 ,
1969.

Resources Institute

problems involved with the natural re- Bag Limit-3 D aily, possession limit 6.

Georgia teachers who are anticipating a summer of classwork instead of a

sources of Georgi a. The field trips are elaborately planned

OPOSSUM Season-Oct. 14, 1968 through Feb. 28,

scholar's vacation , mi ght do well to and executed , and range from finding 1969.

investigate enrollment in th e Georgia fossil specimens, observing a forest fire- Bag Limit-None.

Natural Resources Tnstitute, a threeweek course for teac hers, held each summer at Shorter College in Rome, Georgia and at Valdosta State College.

fighting demonst ration with ae ri al chemical bombing, determining the fish population of a lake with an electric shocking boat (see photo above), even

RACC OO N N. Ga. Season-Oct. 14, 1968 through
Feb. 28, 1969. Bag Limit-One (I) per person per night.

-.

The dates for this summer's Institutes a trip deep into the Okefenokee Swamp

have been set for June 16-July 3 at Shorter, June 23-July 11 at Valdosta.
The institutes, which are open to classroom teachers at all levels from

for students at the Valdosta Institute. Teachers who enroll in the course
may be eligible to receive either graduate or undergradu ate credit, and the

SQUIRREL Season-Oct. 14 , 1968 through Feb. 28,
1969. Bag Limit-10 D aily.

elementa ry grades to college, and to Institute may also be used to fulfill re-

BEAR

principals, librari ans, supervi sors a nd quirements for renewal of teaching cer- Season-November 4, 1968 through Janu-

all personnel directl y invol ved in the tificates. Teachers desiring credit to- ary 2, 1969 in Brantley, Charlton, Clinch,

fi eld of education , may be attended ward the M asters in Education degree Echols, and Ware counties.

wit hout cost .to the students. Scholar- should ap pl y fo r admission to graduate

DEER

ships, valued at $150 each, are provided school at Valdosta State College, or ar- Season-November 2 through November

for all teachers selected to attend the ra nge to have credits transferred to 12, 16, 23 , 30, 1968 or January 2, 1969,

course.

the institution in which they are cur- depending on area regulations.

The N atural Resources Institutes cover a wide range of subjects, includin g soils, water, air, forests, wildlife and recreation . Each subject is taught by specialists in that field from a responsi-

rently enrolled. To apply, or to recei ve further infor-
mation concerning the Natural Resource institutes, teachers may write the Georgia Natural Resource Educa-

QUAIL S eason-November 18, 1968 throu gh
March I, 1969. Bag Limit-12 daily, possession limit, 36.

ble state or federal agency, such as the tion Council , 401 State Capitol, Atl anta,

RABBITS

Soil Conservation Service, Game and 303 '34 or to the Regi strar at either col- N. G a. Season- November 18 , 1968

Fish Commission, Forestry Commis- lege of their choice.

J. Hall. through January 31, 1969.

20

N. Ga . Bag Limit-5 daily. S . Ga. S easo n-November 18 , 1968 throu gh February 28, 1969. S. Ga. Bag Limit- tO daily.
TURKEY S. W. Ca . Season-Novembe r 18, 1968 throu gh March I, 1969 in Baker, Calhou n, Decatu r, Dou ghert y, Early, Grady, Miller. Mitchell. Seminole, and Thomas counties. S. W . Ca. Bag Limit- Two (2) per seaso n. S. E. Ca. Season-November 23 , 1968 throu gh Dece mber 7, 1968, in Camden County. S. E. Bag Limit-One (I) turkey gobbler.
SEASONS OPENING THIS MONTH
DOVES Season-Dec. 6, 1968 throu gh Jan. 15, 1969. .Bag Limit-12 D ai ly. possession limit 24.
DUCKS, MERGANSERS AND COOTS Season-Dec. 7, 1968 through Jan. 15. 196 9. Bag Limit-Ducks: 4 D ai ly. including no more than 2 wood ducks. I canvasback. or I redhead, 2 black duck s. a nd 2 mallard s. P ossession lim it 8 , including no more than 4 wood ducks, 1 canvasback or 1 redhe ad, four black ducks. and 4 mall ards. Merga nsers: 5 Da il y, including no more th an 1 hooded merga nser; possession limit 10, including no more than 2 hooded mergansers. Coots: I0 D aily, possession limit 20.
GEESE AND BRANT
- Season-Dec. 7, 1968 through Jan. 25 , 1969. Bag Limit-Geese: I D aily, possession limit 2. Bra nt : 6 D ai ly, possession limit 6.

COMING EVENTS Annual Convention of the Georgia Sportsmen's Federation , Dec. 7, 8. Dempsey Hotel, Macon, Ga. on-me mbers invited at regul ar re gistration fee.
STATE MANAGED AREA HUNTS

MANAGED DEER HUNTS SCHEDULE

PRIMITIVE WEAPONS (EITHER SEX)

D a res Dec. 16-2 1

A reas Piedmont Exp. Station

BU CK 01\'LY

Dates In Season Nov . 4-J a n. 2
Dec . 2-7 Dec . 16-2 1

Areas
Altamaha and Lake Seminole Brunswick Pulp and Paper Company (Specia l regulatio ns apply to each t ract of this a rea. See Ma naged Hun ts brochure for de ta ils .) Waycross State Forest Suwanoochee ( permit required. no fee )

ALTAMAHA WATERFOWL AREA (DARIEN)
Butler Island Managed Blind Duck Hunts: Tuesdays and Saturdays only, Dec. 7. 1968 throu gh Jan. 15. 1969. Hunting hours 30 minutes before su nrise to 12 noon , E.S.T. After ov. I, application to hunts not filled in the October drawi ng will be accepted on a first come. first served bas is. For information on which hunts are filled . call the State Game and Fish Commission at Brunswick. area code 912, 265-1 552.
All letters of application must speci fy the date requested with a second choice if desired in the event the first date is filled. All applicants must enclose a fee of $5 per day per person in check or money order paya ble to the Georgia G ame and Fish Commission. Applications should be addressed toP. 0 . Box 1097, Brunswick , G a.

SMALL GAME MANAGED HUNTS SCHEDULE

( F or det a iled info rma ti on on each individual a rea, write the State G a me a nd Fi sh Commission. 40 1 State Capitol. Atlanta . G a . 30334.) No permits requ ired. except Butl er Isla nd ducks.

DA T ES

A REAS

SPECI ES

Reg. season

La ke Seminole. All (except

Whitesburg.

raccoons)

A ll at oona.

Alta ma ha (except

Butler Island).

Coh utt a, Grand

Bay . Brun swick

Pulp and Paper Co.

(except during dog

deer hunts)

Dec. 7-J a n. 15 Altamaha ( Butler Waterfowl Tues. & Sat. Island)

Dec. 6-J a n. 25 Swallow Creek. G rouse. Squirrel.

Fri. & Sat.

Coleman River Rabbit

Dec. 6-7. 13- 14 Lake Burt on

Squirrel. Grouse

Dec . 4- 14

Piedmont Exp.

Dec . 28-J an. 3 I Sta.

Wed. & Sat.

Quail. Squirrel. Rabbit. Doves (In season)

Dec . 4. 7. II. Ceda r Creek 14. 18.2 1
J a n. 4. 8. II , 15. 18
Wed . & Sat.

Quai l. Squirrel. Rabbit. Doves (In season)

Dec. 6-7. 13- 14 C hatta hoochee

G rouse. Squirrel. Ra bbit

Dec . 5. 12. 19. Bull ard Creek 26
J an. 2. 4. 9. II. 16. 18. 23. 25 . 30

Qua il. Squirrel. Rabbit. D ove, & Snipe ( In season)

Dec. 30-J a n . 4 Suwanoochee

Squirrel. Quail. Rabbit

Dec. 6-7. 13- 14 Blue Ridge

Grouse. Squirrel

J an . 20-25

Ara bia Bay

Quai l. Squirrel. Rabbit

Dec . 4-2 1

OakyWoods

J an . 1-Feb . I

Wed. & Sat.

Qua il. Squirrel. Rabbit

Dec . 4, 7

Clark Hill

J an. 4. 8, II

Quail. Squirrel.
Rabbi t. Doves, Ducks ( In season)

D ec. 6-7. 13- 14 Warwom a n
Dec. 12. 13, 14 W ayc ross State Forest

Gro use. Squirrel Q u a il

DECEMBER 1968
HIGH WATER LOW WATER

TIDE TABLE

Day
I. Sun . 2. Mon .

A.M. HT . P.M. HT . A.M. P.M.

5:30 7.2 5:54 6.4 11 :42 11 :48

6:18 7.4 6:36 6.3

12 :30

Dec. -1968
GEORGIA COASTAL WATE RS

3. lues 6:54 7.5 7:12 6.3 12:30 I :12

4. Wed . 7:30 7.5 7:42 6.2 I:12 I :54

5. Thurs. 8:00 7.5 8:18 6.0 1:54 2:30

6. Fri.

8:36 7.4 8:54 5.9 2:30 3:12

7. Sat. 9:12 7.3 9:30 5.8 3:12 3:48

8. Sun . 9:48 7.1 10:06 5.7 3:48 4:24

9. Mon . 10:30 6.9 10:48 5.7 4:30 5:06

10 . Tues. 11 :18 6.8 11:42 5.8 5:1 2 5:48

II. Wed .

12 :00 6.6 6:00 6:36

HOW TO USE THESE TAB LE S
The calculations are for the outer bar. Find the reading for the desired tide. In the table below find the number of minutes to add to correct for the place you are goi ng to fish or swim . The outer bar calc ulat io n , plus this correctio n. gi ves th e correct reading for the point des ired

12. Thurs. 12:30 6.0 12:54 6.6 7:00 7:30

13. Fri.

I :30 6.2 1:48 6.5 8:00 8:24

14 . Sat. 2:24 6.6 2:42 6.5 9:00 9:18

15. Sun . 3:30 7.0 3:42 6.5 10:00 10 :12

16. Mon . 4:30 7.4 4:48 6.7 II :00 II :06

17 . Tues . 5:30 7.9 5:42 6.8 II :54

18. Wed . 6:24 8.3 6:42 7.0 12:00 12:48

19 . Thurs 7:18 8.5 7:36 7.0 12:54 1:48

20 . Fri .

8:12 8.5 8:30 7.0 1:48 2:42

21. Sat. 9:06 8.3 9:24 6.9 2:48 3:36

22 . Sun . 10:00 8.0 10:18 6.7 3:42 4:24

23 . Mon . 11 :00 7.6 11:18 6.6 4:36 5:18

24 . Tues. 11 :54 7.2

5:30 6:12

25 . Wed . 12:18 6.5 12:48 6.7 6:30 7:06

26 . Thurs. 1:18 6.4 1:42 6.3 7:30 8:00

27. Fri .

2:12 6.4 2:36 6.0 8:30 8:54

28 . Sat. 3:06 6.4 3:36 5.7 9:30 9:42

29 . Sun . 4:00 6.4 4:24 5.6 10:24 10:30

30 . Mon . 4:54 6.6 5:18 5.6 11:12 11:18

AdJuSt For Daylight Savmg Time By Addmg One Hour

CORR ECTION TABL E
The times give n are for Savannah River entrance (Tybee).

Hrs . Min .

Savanna h (High).

0 44

Savannah (low)...

57

H1lton Head . S . C ..

0 10

Thunderbolt..... . . . . . . . . . 0 20

Isle of Hope .

0 40

Warsaw Sound. . .

0 00

Ossabaw Sound.

0 05

Vernon V1ew ..

0 35

Cof1ee Bluff. ... . . . . . . . . . . 0 55

Ogeechee River Bridge. .

3 50

St. Cat he nne Sound. . . .

0 25

Sapelo Sound.

0 00

Brunsw1ck Bar.

0 00

New Full

Last First

Moon Moon Quarter Quarter

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31. Tues. 5:42 6.7 6:06 5.6

12 :00
DECEMBER 4 13 19 26

To report violations or if you need assistance in the Coastal Area-Call-State Game & F1sh Commission. Brunsw ick . Georgia . P. 0 . Box 1097. Phone 265- 1552, Savannah 233-2383 , Richmond Hill 756-3679.