Georgia game and fish [Vol. 4, no. 2 (Feb. 1969)]

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~GA'ME&FISH
February 1969 Volume IV Number 2

CONTENTS Seminole Sentinel

J. Hall 1

Grand Bay

Marvin Tye 3

United We Stand

Dean Wohlgemuth 5

Would You Believe?

Charles Marshall 8

The Name of the Game

Wilson Hall 10

Outdoor World

15

Sportsmen Speak

16

Sportsman's Calendar

17

Tide Table

17

Lester G. Maddox
Governor

George T. Bagby
Director, State Game & Fish Commission

COMMISSIONERS

James Darby Chairman
Vidalia-1st District William Z. Camp, Sec. Newnan-6th District
Richard Tift Albany-2nd District
William E. Smith Americus-3rd District Charles L. Davidson, Jr.
Avondale Estates-4th District

Clyde Dixon Vice Chairman Cleveland-9th District Rankin M. Smith Atlanta-5th District J. B. Langford Calhoun-7th District Judge Harley Langdale Valdosta-8th District Leonard Bassford Augusta-lOth District

Jimmie Williamson Darien-Coasta I District
TECHNICAL SERVICES DIVISION Jack A. Crockford, Assistant Director
Leon Kirkland, Fisheries Chief Hubert Handy, Game Management Chief Charles M. Frisbe, Supervisor, Marine Fisheries RobertS. Baker, Special Services Coordinator
LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION Bill Cline
Deputy State Chief, Atlanta David GoL''d
Deputy State Chief, Brunswick
GEORGIA GAME & FISH STAFF
Jim Morrison, Editor
Dean Wohlgemu th Staff Writer
Marvin Tye, Staff Writer John Culler, Staff Writer
J. Hall, Staff Writer Ted Borg, Photographer
Georgia Game and Fish is the official monthly magazine of the Georgia Gome and Frsh Comm1ssion, published at the Commission's offices, Trinity . Wash1ngton Buildi ;], 270 Washington St ., Atlanta, Georgia 30334. No advertiSing accepted . Subscriptions ore $1 for one year or $2.50 for three yeors. Printed by Stein Printing Company, At/onto, Go. Notification of address change must include both old ond new address and ZIP code, with 30 doys notice No subscnption requests will be accepted without ZIP code. Articles and pl1otographs may be reprinted. Proper credit should be given. Contribu tions ore wplcome, but the editors assume no responsibility or liability for loss or domoge of ort1cles, photographs, or illustrations . Second-class postage paid at Atlanta Go

ARE "WI LD" DOGS TH EPROBLEM?
During the past three years, Gam e and Fish has led the way in waking up Georgia's sportsmen and the public in general to the damage being done to wildlife and livestock by out of control dogs. Recent surveys of wildlife rangers show that the already critical problem is increasing.
At last, something is being done about it. Public opinion has been crystallized, and the demand for corrective action has been heard in the appropriate quarters.
Last year, the House Wild Dog Study Committee was created by a resolution offered by Representative Howard Rainey of Cordele. chairman of the House Game and Fish Committee. Raine y also served as chairman of an interim study committee in 1967 that resulted in a complete recodification and modernization of Georgia's game and fish laws.
Rainey's committee conducted a series of public hearings throughout Georgia to sound out public opinion on the problem and its solution. As a result, it drafted a committee report on the problem calling for corrective legislation. The committee drafted two bills for introduction in the General Assembly this year. Both measures and their provisions should receive the serious attention of legislators and sportsmen alike.
Following publication of the article "Hounds of Hell" in our December is,;ue, letters and comments by readers indicated that several important facts didn't receive enough emphasis.
One of the most important is that while "wild" dogs are a growing problem in Georgia, most of the damage now being done to wildlife and livestock is caused by domestic dogs that are "owned" by someone. Usually mongrel "yard dogs," the animals often are ill-fed, poorly kept possessions of low income persons who are scarcely able to feed their families, let alone a pack of mangy animals. Frequently, these persons keep little or no control over the meanderings of their animals in search of food, and do not hesitate to abandon such dogs if the owner moves or grows tired of "feeding" them. Such dogs provide a constant source of supply for Georgia's growing wild dog population, replacing animals that starve to death in the woods and don't survive.
It is this problem that a dog license and fee such as that proposed by the Study Committee and the Georgia Animal Damage Advisory Committee would be most valuable in solving. Thousands of such unwanted animals would be removed from the population immediately if their owners are required to pay a license fee for each dog. in addition to h aving it vaccinated and purchasing a collar for each dog with the owner's name and address. This value of the fee and license and identification require-
Contim!ed 011 Page 14
ON THE COVER: Georgia's early spring (or late winter) fishing in North Georgia is for the greenish-bronze walleye. frequently called pike. Walleye are most plentiful in Hartwell, Lake Burton, and Blue Ridge, where they are caught on spawning runs up tributary streams. Yellow or white jigs bounced off the rocks make the best lures. Painting by Duane Raver.
ON THE BACK COVER: Georgia's third largest and mmt colorful woodpecker, the yellow-bellied sapsucker. Sap<>uckers drill a straight line of holes around a tree. then come hack later to eat the sap and insects that have been attracted to it. Sapsuckers are distingui<>hed from other woodpeckers by the white stripe on a black wing. This one is a male. as shown by the red patch on the throat. Photo by Dan Sudia of Atlanta.
PHOTO CREDITS: Ted Borg I. 2. 3, 4, 5. I. & b., 6 t. & c .. 7. 8, 9. 17; Wilson Hall 10. II. 13; Ollie Knott , Ga. Forestry Commission 6 b.; Jim Morrison 14; Don Pfitzer, U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 5 t. r.;

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Lt. Wilkin estimates t~at aboLft ?5 percent of his time is spent patrolling the danger-

ous waters of Lake ~emma/e. W1lkm checks.an angler's license while his fishing partner

looks on apprehensively. Gordon assured h1m that everything was legal however Dogs

aren't required to have fishing licenses!

'



Writing a citation for a boating violation is just one of the myriad duties of a Wildlife Ranger, but Gordon Wilkin, who was recently selected as Georgia's Ranger of the Year, is quick to tell you that they're not all as unpleasant as that one was. In fact, Gordon is high in praise of the citizens and sportsmen in the counties where he works. They are equally quick to tell you of their respect and esteem for him.

Each year, one of the more than 150

Wildlife Rangers of the Georgia Game

and Fish Commission is selected as out-

standing because of the work he has

done and his efforts in the promotion

of wildlife conservation in the state. In

naming Gordon Wilkin as Georgia's

Ranger of the Year at the conference of

th e Southeastern A ssociation of Game

ami Fish Commi ssioners at Ma ryla nd, State Game and

FBi :a; hl t i mCoo rme~

missio n D irector G eorge T . Bagby

commended him on the outstanding

performance of his duties.

In later ceremonies, Wi lkin was prese nted a certificate o f comme ndation as Ou tstanding Law Enforceme nt Officer in Georgia, and a check for $50.00, by the Shikar-Safari Int ern at io nal Awa rds Committee. which each yea r selects commendable conservation offi ce rs throughou t t hl: Uni ted States a nd fore ig n coun tries.
Ea rl ier, Ranger Wilk in had received further d i~tinction, He wa s promoted to
the rank l,,- lie utena nt , and commis-
sioned A ssi ~tdli Ch ief o f the Dawson

District. In addition to his duties as Wildlife Ranger of Decatur County, Lt. Wilkin has supervisory responsibility over Miller, Early, Seminole, Grady, Thomas, Mitchell and Baker Counties.
Gordon Wilkin graduated from Miller County High School in 1941. While in school, he played football, basketball, baseball, won the State Championship for pole vaulting in track. and still found time for his favorite hobbies. hunting and fishing. After graduating, he enlisted in the Navy and was attached to the Marine Corps as a medical corpsman, serving in the Pacific.
Following his discharge from the service, Wilkin was offered a football scholarship at the University of Georgia. He declined this, instead taking a job with the City of Atlanta Recreation Department. Later, he attended South Georgia College at Douglas. Prior to his employment with the State Game and Fish Commission in I 960, Lt. Wilkin owned the Quality Dry Cleaning C ompany in Colquitt.
As a Wildlife Ranger. one of Lt. Wilkin's primary responsibilities is the area of Lake Seminole. A large portion o f his time is devoted to patrolling the water and the miles of shoreline. In addition to the numbers of fishermen who regularly flock to the productive lake, Wilkin says there is excellent hunt ing for quaiL dove, waterfowL deer a nd small game in the surrounding area. It keeps him busy checking on hunters and fi sherm en, enforcing boating safet y regulations, a nd assisting the sport smen

2

who come to Lake Seminole from all parts of the country.
That he does a good job is evident from the comments 'of those who know him best. Jack Wingate, owner of Wingate's Fishing Camp at Lake Seminole, is most complimentary.
"He's a good man, J. This is a dangerous lake. It'll kill you if you get careless with it. Gordon knows that, an' you're just not gonna get very careless with him around. He's done more than anybody I know to promote boating safety and calm down the few 'nuts' you'll find around any lake. He's a worker too. He roams, day an' night, an' he knows what's goin' on. There've been several of these smart night hunters an' fishermen usin' nets that thought they had him foxed. They thought different, though, when he eased up on 'em when they never thought he was around."
Jack told of one group of deer hunters who were "jacklighting" deer on one of the many islands in the lake. Gordon discovered their boat pulled up on the beach of the island, well after midnight. He towed their boat away, and was waiting for them when they finally swam back to shore. Jack chuckled. "I sure would'a like to have seen those guys' faces. It was colder'n H ... too!''
One thing that stands out among any comments about Gordon Wilkin is his fairness. "He's the fairest fellow I've ever seen , J. And he's that way with everybody, says Jack Wingate, who has been cited by Wilkin for a violation on one of his fishing boats! Herb Wyatt , biologist for the Commission who frequentl y works with Gordon, told me. "J, he'll make a case against me or you or the Governor just as fast as he would against anybody else. He's fair, and he's impartial!"
Lt. Wilkin states he is grateful and especially proud of the folks in his area because in his words, "They are good sportsmen. Most of 'em know what the Game and Fish Commission is tryin' to do and why it's important. I get a lot of support and cooperation, both from the citizens. the sheriff's department. and the other law enforcement agencies. It sure makes my work easier to know that folks are interested and want to obey the law."
G o rdon Wilkin lives at Colquitt with his wife Barbara. who is librarian at the Miller County High School. There have two children, Rhonda. 10, and Wayne, 20. who recently graduated from Gordon Military College and entered the University of Georgia as a Junior. As the final compliment , it appears that Wayne has inherited hi s dad's love of the outdoors and is following in his foot steps. He is majoring in
,... wildlife management at the Universit y.

By Marvin Tye
"He's coming your way," Charlie Marshall yelled. J raised my shotgun and tried to locate a rabbit fleeing in my
direction. I hesitated a second too long and the rabbit was out of range. This was the third that we had jumped in this
short afternoon hmt on the Grand Bay Public Hunting area near Valdosta. A short time later I got another chance and didn't hesitate to fire, adding one more cottontail to our bag.
All of this couldn't be termed spectacular hunting by any means. We figured we had pretty fair success for hunting an area such as this without dogs.
3

Charlie, Game and Fish photographer Ted Borg, and I were visiting this area to evaluate the hunting, photograph the area and obtain a few cottontail specimens for Charlie's use in a game cleaning story to be carried in this issue of Georgia Game and Fish.
The Grand Bay Public Hunting Area, formerly a part of Moody Air Force Base, was created early in 1968. It consists of 5,866 acres of National Forest land in Lowndes and Lanier Counties, primarily flat pine and dense palmetto with hardwood creek bottoms. J. L. Rentz, Lake Park, Ga., is the area
Edge type cover is ideal for quail. Quail hunting on Grand Bay is good, but not the best in the state. Biologists hope to improve it by controlled burning, planting food plots and other management meth ads.

manager. The area offers hunting for all species of small game which can legally be hunted in these two counties. There are no developed campsites, but camping is permitted. The nearest state park is Reed Bingham off Georgia Highway 37 between Adel and Moultrie.
South Georgia Regional Game Supervisor Frank Parrish rates rabbit hunting good, squirrel hunting excellent, and quail hunting fair. Frank says Grand Bay is a public hunting area in the strictest sense of the world. No permit is required for hunting the area. Hunters may go on and off the area without checking in or out and hunt small game by any method legal in the two counties. Dogs may be used for hunting quail, rabbit or any other small game. Raccoon hunting is allowed, and is rated as good. Shiner Pond on the area offers some duck hunting, but that is rated by Parrish as fair to poor. Good dove hunting can sometimes be found along the edges of the abandoned Bemis Landing Strip.
There are a couple of house sites on the area that have native coveys of quail. The area is not really large enough to produce excellent quail hunting. The quail population can be

increased by proper management pro-

grams such as controlled burning. Deer

were stocked on the area in 1963. Al-

though the deer population is not yet

large enough to permit hunting, fawns

have been spotted on Grand Bay and

the number of deer seems to be in-

creasing. Deer hunting will probably

be allowed when the herd grows to

huntable numbers.

New signs are being placed at the

entrances to the area. Yellow signs

mark the boundaries. To reach the

Grand Bay Area from Valdosta, take

Georgia Highway 125 to Barretts Com-

munity. Turn east at sign and follow

dirt road 2 miles to management area.

Other entrances to the area are found

7 miles southwest of Lakeland, Georgia

on U. S. Highway 221 and 10 miles

northeast of Valdosta on U. S. High-

way 221.

The Grand Bay Area is the 25th

major hunting area to be established in

Georgia and the third to be established

since 1967. There are now a total of

673,566 acres of public hunting areas

in the state.

~

I

An abandoned landing strip on the Grand Bay area has now reverted to wild grasses and weeds. The edge of this field is good quail habitat.
Hunters working the edges of cover are likely to jump rabbits at any time. Hunting with dogs is allowed on Grand Bay, and is usually more productive.

Good hunting for cottontail rabbits, quail and other species,
is found on the new Commission area.

4

Sportsmen's Federation Convention

By Dean Wohlgemuth

Jim Cline, 4-H Club member from Cherokee County, was the Youth Conservationist of the Year winner for the entire state. In addition to a handsome trophy, young Cline received a Sears Roebuck automatic shotgun, which was presented by Gov. Lester G. Maddox.

James Silver, former regional director of the U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, Southeastern Region headquartered in Atlanta, was the recipient of the Sportsman's Federation's Wildlife Conservationist of the Year award. Silver, now retired, lives in Florida.

New officers elected by the Georgia Sportsman's Federation at the annual convention in Macon, are from left, Clyde Greenway, Tucker, first vice president; Tommy Holliman, Thomaston, president; and Jim Adams, Tucker, executive secretary. Holliman, who succeeded Adams in the top spot, was also Adams' predecessor.

Accomplishments during the past year by conservation groups in the state were pretty well summed up in the overall theme of this year's convention of the Georgia's Sportsmen's Federation, held in December at Macon.
The Federation's theme was " Band Together For Conservation," and a highlight of the program was a panel discussion with high officials of various conservation agencies sitting on the panel.
Agencies represented on the panel , with the support of the Federation, won

a major conservation battle late in the year when the State Mineral Leasing Commission refused a bid to mine phosphates in Georgia's marshlands. Most of the represented agencies, as well as the Federation, strongly opposed the mining proposal.
In addition, cooperation between the sportsmen and some of the represented agencies, has resulted in the drafting of a proposed bill to curb the wild dog problem which annually robs sportsmen of a great deal of wildlife.
These two are the best examples of combined efforts on the part of several organizations for the benefit of conservation, during the past year.
Such efforts were reflected in the resolutions passed during the Federation's business meeting. In their resolutions, the Federation called for:
- "The General Assembly to enact adequate laws to protect the coastal wetlands of Georgia;"
-"The General Assembly to enact suitable laws for dog control;"
- " (The Federation to) Oppose all further restrictive firearms controls but recommends that violators of present firearms control laws be required, upon conviction, to serve the maximum sentence provided by law without probation or parole;"
-"The State Board of Education and the Department of Education be requested to provide financial and staff assistance to the existing program of summer courses for teachers in natural resource use.
"BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board of Regents of the University System, and the governing bodies of other colleges and universities in the State, initiate a program of instruction in natural resource use for all education majors in their respective institutions, and that the necessary funds and personnel for such urgently needed programs be provided as soon as feasible."
Tommy Holliman, Thomaston, who had served as the Federation president for more than 3 years, was once again elected to th e organization's h; ghest office. Jim Adams, Tucker, who succeeded Holliman two years ago, and held th e post since, was elected executive sec retary. Clyde Greenway of Tucker was re-elected first vice president.
Speakers on the program included Governor Lester Maddox; Donald Zinn, President of the National Wildlife Federation; and Robert Ha nie, Executive Director of the Georgia Natural Areas Counci l.
Panel me mbers .nc luded Ray Shirley, Director of the Geo rgia Fo restry Commission; Jack Croc kford, Assista nt Director of Geo rgia Game and Fish Commission; David Almand, Wildlife

Specialist, Cooperative Extension Service; Forest Durand, U. S. Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, C. Edward Carlson, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service; H. E. Ruark, Georgia Forest Research Council; Bob Oertel, Soil Conservation Service; Dick Gray, Georgia Parks Department; and Jim Doherty, Water Quality Control Board. Pete Farrar, Southeastern Field Representative for the National Wildlife Federation was moderator of the panel.
Forestry Director Shirley of Atlanta received the Federation's top award , the Governor's Award as Conservationist of the year, for his efforts during the past year toward conservation.
Others receiving awards were: Jim Silver, Atlanta, wildlife conservationist of the year; Miller Dial, Walnut Grove, soil conservationist of the year; Harold Heffner, Commissioner of Roads and Revenues, Gilmer County, Ellijay, water conservationist of the year; Ollie Knott, Georgia Forestry Commission, Macon, forest conservationist of the year; Sam Dunaway, U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Service, Winder, conservation communications award; Paul Nesmith, legislator of the year; and Georgia Conservancy, Inc., Norman Smith, Chairman, Decatur, conservation organization of the year.
Youth awards by congressional district were: 1st- Andy Burns, Effingham County; 5th-John Verner, Fulton County; 6th-Lynn Gable, Carroll County; 7th-Rise Spearman, Haralson County; 8th-Royce Roberts, Echols County; 9th-Jim Cline, Cherokee County; and I Oth-Linda Craig, Oconee County. Cline was also the state youth conservationist.
National Federation President Zinn, in his report, told the Georgia Sportsmen that he was "pleased that conservation education programs are being pushed" in Georgia. He added that most conservation agencies are now doing an excellent job in this field. "There are no (conservation) problems that cannot be overcome if we master four obstacles," he said. He listed these as ignorance, greed, apathy and emotion.

Andy Burns, Effingham County 4-H Club member and a district Youth Conservation Award winner, demonstrates how to build a nesting box for wood ducks to members of the Georgia Sportsman's Federation.
Below: The Georgia Sportsman's Federation's highest award, the Governor's Award for Conservationist of the Year, was presented to Ray Shirley, left, Director of the Georgia Forestry Commission, by Gov. Lester Maddox.

6

Left: The Federation's Communications Award was presented to Bill Baab, outdoor editor of The Augusta Chronicle.

Below: "That's not an outhouse!" Jack Crockford, Assistant Director of the State Game and Fish Commission, uses the model wood duck nesting box which was part of Burn's demonstration as a podium for his address to Federation members.

7

By Charles M. Marshall

John Henry and me. We had it all to bush or tree. He would grasp the limp

Game Biologist

ourselves.

body behind the front legs with his

Believe it or not, it can be done! You too can field dress a rabbit without cutting the skin if you have guts enough to try it. Fortunately, rabbits are easy to come by, and there are plenty of bushes large enough to bide behind if you want to try it without some "I told you so" rabbit hunter looking over your shoulder. I didn't have this problem years ago when I first was exposed to this method.
As a youngster, who had graduated from a single shot .410 to a corresponding 20-gauge, I frequently hunted the fields and fence rows of southwest Georgia with an old Negro man named John Henry.
John Henry was a "pea patch" farmer who kept an old plug mule to work his garden and two acres of corn planted parallel to the Cooleewahee Creek Swamp . A couple of hogs and a few yard chickens provided domestic

Rabbits were plentiful in those days and still are in that part of the State. I shall never forget how Hump would go into a thick briar patch or fence corner and push a rabbit out into more open country where John Henry or I could get a shot.
John Henry usually got most of the shots. Although he had the best gun, I'll always believe he discussed each hunt with Hump and told him where to put the cottontail out. It sure seemed that way. Time after time the rabbit wou ld not move into range or in the open until the old man could shoot.
He had an ancient 12-gauge Winchester lever action repeater with a 32" full choked barrel. This gun was purch ased years before, when he harvested an exceptionally good cotton crop. It had killed more than its share of rabbits, birds and squirrels for forty years running.

right hand and squeeze hard . The left hand then was placed below the right and it too was used to compress all t~ insides toward the rear of the rabbit. At this point the hind part of the abdomen was twice normal size.
Now he prepared for action! John Henry spread his legs about 18" apart and flexed hi s knees. The rabbit was lifted above his head while still being compressed with both. hands. Then as if he were calling on magic powers, he would sling the rabbit towa rd the ground, stopping his forearms at his knees and holding the rabbit very tightly in his big rough hands. When he straightened up-would you believe?there on the ground behind him lay all of the insides of the rabbit. The quick stop caused intestines, heart, liver, and lungs to be expelled through a tear near the anal opening.
John Henry hadn't always stripped his rabbits as he killed them. In fact, he

meat for him and his wife, Mattie.

During the several seasons I hunted had never given it a thought until Mat-

Both of their families had lived in the with John Henry, I accepted all of his tie told him that the meat tasted better



general vicinity si nce their parents were hunting methods as standard procedure. if the rabbits were dressed immediately

freed after the War Between the States. It didn't occur to me until years later after being shot. This stands to reason ,

During fall and winter, most of the that his method of field dressing rab- because the shot cause small passage-

old D arkie's interest centered around bits was unique.

ways which provide avenues for the in-

rabbit hunting "while the sickness won't When Hump jumped a rabbit, John testinal contents to seep through and

in 'em. " He owned a small mongrel dog Henry would shout "dah he go boy" ruin the best eating part of the rabbit,

named Hump, the envy of all rabbit and raise his gun. That old rifle-like the loins. Following Mattie's advice, all

hunters in west Dougherty County. Fun- shotgun would bark and a rabbit would rabbits he killed were cleaned imme-

ny thing though, very few people hunted roll over, dead. John Henry would pick diately by conventional methods, that is,

rabbits down there. But this just suited up the rabbit and lean his gun on a opened with a knife and the intesti nes

pulled out by hand. It was a cold messy job when the temperature hovered around freezing. But it was worth the effort, ince rabbits made up a good portion of the fa mil y diet during the middle thirties.
One rainy November morning, however, he forgot his knife and had no way to open the rabbit. Being a man of few actions, and a little on the lazy side, he surel y didn't want to walk all the way back to his bouse to get a knife.
An old reality of which he probabl y had never heard , came into pl ay, necessity is the mother of invention . He thought " there mus be some wa y to gut dis here rabbit wid out a knife." Mashing the rabbit, he tried to break the lower abdo min al wall but it wouldn't break or tear. So, he proceeded to sling the rabbit hoping the centrifugal force wou ld help him. It did , but not like he expected . A rip appeared in the ski n below the anus, and the contents had passed through the opening, coming to rest about 15 feet to hi s rear.
John Henry didn't know the proper terminology for explaining the procedure, but he could get the message across o anyo ne could understand what he mea nt. He continued to use this method of field dressing rabbits until the year he passed away.
After my rabbit hunting companion was no more, my interests soon changed to other things like cars, motorcycles , girls, etc. Therefore. I contacted very

few rabbit hunters until the past sev-

eral years. Recently, I have discussed

John Henry's rabbit cleaning method

with a large number of hunters, but

very few have ever heard of it, much

less used it. Jn fact, not many believe

it when they hear about it. They usuall y

laugh and give you that "What kind of

a nut is this?" look.

Thinking th at your wife might agree

with Mattie that field dressed rabbits

taste better, and / or that you mi ght want

to demonstrate your know-how to an-

other hunter, we accompanied this sto y

wit h step by step pictures of the pro-

cedure.

With very little practice, you can

gut your rabb its with one quick mo-

tion. The cavity will rem ain clean be-

cause it has not been opened and ex-

posed to hair of other rabbits or bits

of trash in your game bag. Rabb its

cleaned in this manner wi ll cool much

faster, and are not nearl y as heavy to

car ry during the remainder of the hunt.

rt should be pointed out that if a

large rabbit is encountered , a small cut

in the skin between the legs will make

the job a lot easier.

John Henry is long ince dead , an d

no doubt Hump is hunting in the land

beyond , but the memory of a teenage

boy walking afield with these two com-

panions is sti ll fresh in the mind of thi s

pen pusher. My relationship with this

old , black, toothless Saint and hi s cur

dog has made me a more ski llful woods-

man and a much better man.

~

When you're leveling down on a rabbit, chances are you've forgotten about putting him on the dinner table. But what about afterward? Using this simple technique, you can field dress rabbits on the spot without a knife, and preserve the best eating flavor of the rabbit.
8

The first step is to pick the rabbit up and squeeze hard behind the front legs with your right hand.

Now slide your left hand ahead of the right and squeeze the insides toward the rear of the body.

Keep holding the rab~ it in both hands after squeezing the insides to the rear and lift it cver your head.

Next, bring your hands down hard and fast, then stop abruptly and let the rabbit swing between your legs, compressing the insides in the rear of the rabbit.

Presto! As the continuous swing stops between the legs the rabbit's intestines fly through the air behind the hunter as field dressing is completed!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charles M. Marshall, 41, game biologist for the Georgia Game and Fish Commission, has become the newest author to join the ranks of volunteer writers for Game and Fish Magazine. He finds he enjoys working with words.
For the past year, the Commission has kept Charlie busy in his office at the Walton Fish Hatchery, working with data processing, data collecting, harvest surveys and setting up various game management research projects along statistica I lines.
This doesn't allow him as much time as he'd like for hunting and fishing, but when he gets the opportunity he likes all types of hunting, fly rodding for bass, and sometimes bream.
Charlie's first venture was the recent account of how to skin a deer with a golf ball ... a story that brought wide interest and comments from all around Georgia and many other states. Success was sweet enough to attract him to doing a bit more writing on the side, as much as the game management bus iness will allow.
First joining the Commission in the mid-1950s, Charlie returned to the Univers ity of Georgia for post graduate work. He received his first Bachelor of Science degree there in 1954, and a year later had two more BS degrees, in wildlife management, agriculture and forestry. He received his MS in wildlife management from the University in 1967. While working toward his masters, he was employed by the university for seven and a half years, until returning to the Commission about a year ago.
His first four years with the Commission were spent largely in working on a squirrel research project on Goat Island in the Savannah River on upper Clark Hill Reservoir.
The native of Albany, Georgia, loves to tinker with mechanical things, such as cars, and recalls that he felt going into his line of work woul d be ideal because of his love for outdoor sports ... bu t now he finds time for these hard to come by. Marsha II says he spends more time paddling the boat for his wife Shirley to fish than he does fishing himself. They also love to camp as much as oossible. Their ol dest son Sam, 19, is a student at Truett-McConne ll C01 lege at Cleveland, Georgia . Mitch , 15. attends Athens High Sr:hool in Athens, Georgia , where the Marshalls live.
9

The Name oftheGame

By Wilson Hall
"We're all of us put in this world together," my grandfather once told me, "all of us humans, the squirrels, the fish , the trees, and even the grasshoppers and the 'tater bugs. The Lord made us all and He put us all here to inhabit this earth and live in it together."
He was a short, square man, my grandfather was, with handle-bar mustaches and an old slouch felt hat. He could follow a pair of mules from sun-up to sun-down and then follow a pack of black and tans through the woods all night. "I don't want no pizon on my 'taters," he told me on another occasion. "I feed my 'tater bugs to the quail, and then in the fall I eat the quail." And he did, too, the hard way. with an old pointer and a single shot twelve gauge that couldn't afford to miss often or risk a second shot.
In his own way, and he never darkened a school house except to drop off or pick up a child, he understood what the teacher-students at Shorter and Valdosta Colleges were taught in intricate detail during a three weeks course held there during June; that we all, "humans, squirrels and 'tater bugs," depend upon each other for existence. In the very acts of living and dying, we propagate and deter each other; we help and we hinder each other. And it behooves all of us to look after each other and the natural resources we share in common. For to destroy one section of the relationship is to destroy the whole thing. The name of the game is ecology in conservation, and we all play it, either by posi tive or negative efforts.
Since we all play the game, it would be nefit all of us, sportsmen and nonsportsmen alike, if we could attend this Institute. But this, of course, is impossible, and so we do the next best thing. We send our teachers who will teach our young, and hope that some day the word wi ll get around, that Nature is in balance, and that nothing, not even

man, is immune to destruction if he upsets that balance.
Students of the Natural Resources Institute discover rather quickly that by polluting our streams and air, by allowing our lands to erode away, we are allowing the ecological relationship that holds the living world together to deteriorate and thereby threaten our very existence. Controlled forestry has its effects on wildlife , as do impoundments of water, and how these are controlled makes a difference as to whether the effects wiii be beneficial or detrimental.
Actually, the Institute is unique when it is compared with the convePtional school. It is unique, first of all, in the attitudes of the students. Those of you who have been confronted with the next higher grade when September ends summer, know the conventional attitude of the student to school, but to students who love the out of doors, and to whom learning is pleasure , not work. the Institute is a vigorous and rewa rding experience.
The Institute differs, also, in that it is not a classroom course. Many sessions are held in classrooms in order to take advantage of slide projectors. maps, movies a nd laboratory facilities, but many classes on geology, geograph y, soils, and minerals are taught from the ditch banks and road cuts, where instructors point out strata, telling what it represe nts both historic..1ll y and in terms of modern man and his prese nt day actions. Here, they learn th at th ere is life in the soil , needed by man, animals, and plants.
The y learn that living is done according to rules imposed by Nature, and that the quicker we learn the rules and play by them , the sooner everybody. including the bird<> and bees, comes up a winner. They learn that the man who derives his income from pi ne trees. for examph, and who plants all of his land in pines, cannot ex pect to hunt squirrels, deer, or other animals which depend upon hardwoods fo r a

Above: One of Georgia's two summer courses in natural resources for teachers is held annually at Rome's Shorter College, directed by Dr. Phillip F-C. Greear, chairman of the school's biology department. Studying a topographical map helps to explain how watersheds and airsheds work.
Far left: To learn about the value of Georgia's natural resources, there's no better place to start than from the ground up. Starting Georgia's youngsters off early with teachers who appreciate the need for conservation is the purpose of Georgia's Natural Resource Institutes.
11

part of their sustenance. He can have both, however, by balancing his needs against theirs.
Other tim es, the classroom was a moving bus from which the instructor pointed out the strata in the road cuts, or pointed out the contaminated air in the valleys below. One day, when the air was sultry and not moving, indeed , had not moved for several days, the class followed the cloud of polluted air from the industrial site up one valley, crossed a mountain some twentyfive miles away, and saw the sulfurous cloud sitting heavy and thick in the other valley. A dialogue at this point pointed out the real problem that exists between man's needs to fulfill his own requirements and at the same time satisfy Nature's.
"Dr. Greear," one student asked of the Institute Director and Head of the Biology Department at Shorter, Philip F-C. Greear, "Why don't they filter it?"
"It costs thousands of dollars, and takes several years to get the equipment built, installed, and into operation," Dr. Greear said. "If they were given the order to clean up or close up tomorrow, many of the big plants would have to close shop."
"Wouldn't we be better off without them, then?" another student asked. It was a sultry day, with the air not moving, and heavy enough to breathe, even without the sulfides in it.
"No," Dr. Greear answered. "We must have their product in order to maintain our society and culture. The answer is not to destroy, but to find a harmonious way for us to live together." And so went the theme of the Institute. The hunter who loves his gun does not want to see the steel mills closed so that the air and streams are cleaner. He wants to find a way for himself and his gunmaker to live in harmony with the game which he is going to hunt. But the answer to this problem is intricate and tangled. It may be left to our children, the students of the Institute teachers, to solve.
One day the classroom consisted of seven boats lashed toget her in the cente r of Lake Marvin in Floyd County , wh ile th e sun beat down unmercifull y and the sun tans got darker and darker while no tans got redder and red der and everybody sweated. C. B. O'Neal, a biologist for the Georgia Game and F ish Commission, taught methods of studying a lake's biological life and oxyge n content, which is so essential to a lake's life . The classrooms of boats were operated by wildli fe rangers and other employees of the Game and Fish Commission, and they moved the boats ahou t the lake while th ey collected fish speci mens hy "telephoning." Actually, the device used was much more elaborate that. '1e old and illegal telephone.

It was a sweep of several electrodes connected to a generator which furnished enough power to knock out a fish and send it floating to the top of the water where it was collected, identified and accounted for in the lake's fish population. Such a device allows for a rapid and exacting .accounting.
Later, the boats anchored around a central boat where C. B. explained the need for oxygen in water, how it gets there, where it is most abundant, and where it is most scarce. He established the hypolimnion (that level of a lake where the water stratifies and does not circulate, growing too cold for a fish's comfort and too short on oxygen to sustain his life). Here he discussed problems associated with the hypolimnion and how they are corrected. "There's food in the hypolimnion," C. B. said, "if only the fish could get to it."
C. B. pointed out that hypolimnions are problems made mostly by man's impounding the water. In Nature, water usually keeps itself moving, aerating itself by water fall s, shallow rapids and thermal circulation in ponds. Experimental work is being done at Lake Allatoona, he pointed out, with a bubble machine to eliminate the hypolimnion problem, and thereby furnish more living space for the fish , which will in turn furni sh more sport for us.
That same day, the Institute stopped by the Arrowhead Fish Hatchery , newly acquired by the Georgia State Game and Fish Commission as part of their continuing effort to help maintai n the ecological balance between Man and wildlife. Here the hatchery tanks became a classroom while C. B. explained how hatchery fish are bred, raised, and released.
On one occasion, when the classroom was a real, honest-to-goodness college classroom, the State Water Quality Control Board representatives explained the need for Man to maintain the cleanness of his waters. Fil ms and talks by J. C. Meredith and Ed Hall revealed that there are in this world (not, thank goodness, in Georgia) rivers that are dead. Hall showed movies of rivers that had raw sewerage, detergent, slaughter house slops, and other assorted pollutants added to them at such close intervals that they could not recover and cleanse themselves. The fish in them died and they had a froth on top that almost hid power boats moving across their surfaces. Tap water foamed in the glass. Blood worms, river slugs, and rattail maggots were the onl y inhabitants of these waters.
"Thank goodness that's not in this country," someone said.
But it could easily be here. H all pointed out. T he Etowah River is only now beginning to recover from the millions of tons of min ing silt that were

poured into it , and even now, within only ten miles of where it joins the Oostanaula River to form the Coosa it receives part of the raw sewerage from Rome and is contaminated by both chemical and heat pollution from industries along the shores. Rome has built a sewerage disposal system, part of which is now in operation , and the industries have begun to clean up their contamination, but the process is slow. The situation at Rome is indicative of many other situations over the state, many of which are worse than at Rome.
Hall pointed out another area of pollution in the state, the Savannah River. "It is too polluted to allow oysters to be harvested," he said. "And it has the compounded problem of having its sewerage wash back up river as the tide comes to the full."
"In the future," Hall warned, "we'll have to begin to worry about a third and more dangerous kind of contamination, that of radio-active waste as power plants switch from coal to nuclear power."
If fi sh can't live in it, if we can't drink it, and if the wildlife along its shores can't depend upon it for food and water, the river becomes merely a running sewer, the Institute was told. A source of life and food can become a mere conveyance to carry away waste matter. It will be like having all the ways to spend money with no source of income. In a situation like this, man is not doing his part in maintaining the balance between himself and Nature. He is destroying one of the three basic elements necessary for him to maint ain existence. He may not recognize it until his drinking water foams at the tap , or he cannot eat his fish and oysters, or his rivers smell too foul to fi sh in. But for his own existence, he cannot wait until it is too late to learn it.
The importance of man's relationship to Nature was the theme also when the lumber yard of a saw mill became the classroom. Here the Institute learned that plants play a gigantic part in the cyc le of life that includes us all. They learned that plants hold the soil, keeping it from washing away int o the rivers and seas. They learned that plants make soi l by converting th e sun's energy into hydrocarbon compounds with the minerals which they draw up from the earth. As the trees drop leaves, as they die and decay, they produce that top soil whi ch we cannot get along without. They give us our oxygen back after we breathe it out as carbon dioxide. And they learned to beware those oxydized compounds from which Nature cannot free the oxygen. These are man-made, and they are thieves to Man. ani mals. and plants.
"It's a delicate balance," Dr. Greear says. "We exchange respiration wit h the plant world. We breathe out carbon

dioxide, and the plants breathe it in. They breathe out oxygen which we breathe in and exhale as carbon dioxide, which the plant world breathes in ... and on and on forever. If we die off, so will the plants. If we kill off the plant world, we too will die off. If we destroy the oxygen, we will both die."
Man would not destroy himself this way, one may argue. But even now the Wilderness Society is having to fight , day by day. to maintain what wilderness there is left in this country, to keep it from being cut over and developed . Our state and federal governments have seen the need to establish water quality control boards to help clean up and maintain our streams and rivers. In the Cohutta Mountains of this state, hunters destroyed the whole deer and turkey population without worrying about the consequences. Only a small remainder of this country's buffalo herd remains, and this may be just as well. since man created the dust bowl from the range on which they grazed. The carrier pigeons are gone. The last auk was killed in early June of 1844, and the eggs in the nest were destroyed. The bounty still exists on some animals in this country. indicating that there are specific attempts to break the ecological cycle. Man 's handling his game and wildlife in the past was an eye opening experience for the Institute students, but the work being done by the state of Georgia to remedy these past crimes gives them hope that one day many of our other ecological imbalances will be solved.
"Education is the answer," Dr. Greear says. " Men do not, for the most part, knowingly destroy what they want to preserve, and they will not destroy themselves if they know what they are doing. But too many times. people do not know the ramifications of thei r actions."
Dr. Greear believes that an ecological approach to conservation is th e onl y sensible approach. "It is not the purpose of science to conquer N ature. as has been the hi storical interpretation of it," he says . " But rather it is our purpose to understand Nature. and guide ourselves accordin g to its rules. The uni ve rse is one interrelated communit y. which is mutu all y interdependent. and fo r us to annihilate one part for the comfort o r greed of ourselves i<; to eventuall y alter or annihil ate ourselves.''
Responsi ble a nd kn owledgeable people agree with the idea of th e Natio nal Re5ources Institut e a nd support it. The Gco~g i a Ga me and F ish Co mmi ss io n furnis hes speakers and pe r<;onnel to help conduct th e classes. The F loyd Cou nt y W ildlife Associat io n hosted a fi sh fr y to entertai n a nd comme nd the Shorter Instit ute. The W ater Quality Control Board of Georg ia fu rnished. speaker:.. movies. and slides for cla<;ses. And scv-

era! private industries gave their sup-

port either in the form of speakers and

mate rials or in the form of scholarships

for students to attend. The Floyd Coun-

ty Wildlife Association furni shed one of

the $ 150 schola rships for thi s year, and

one was furnish ed by Local 32 19 of

the Communications Workers of Ame r-

ica . Bud Hi gg ins, pres ident of the F loyd

Count y Wildlife Associati on, a nn oun ced

th at he is determin ed th at uni on locals

from over the state will furni sh at least

fift ee n schol a rships fo r next yea r.

" We a re all in thi s world together,"

as my grandfather said . and science ha<;

add ed th at ri gh t now, it is Man who

has the capa bil ity to destroy us all. And

so it is Man who has got to learn how

no t to destroy us; it is l\1 an who has

got to learn how to get along with the

rest of the ecological worlcl -" with the

sqti rre ls, and fish, and 'tater bugs."

(Groups "ho wbh to contribute finan-

cially to the scholarship fund of the In-

stitut es or teachers " ho wonld like to

a ppl y fo r a scholar~hip for this smnmer's

co nrse may do so h) "riting .Tim \ lorri-

so n, C h :1 irm:m, G(orgia Natural Uesource

Education Counc:l, c/o State Game and

Fish Commission, 401 ~tate C:1pitol, .\t-

l:mt:J, Ga. 30334.)

~

Top: Fish biologist C. B. O'Neal shows students how walleye are raised at the Commission's Arrowhead Hatchery, near Rome. O'Neal is holding a tiny fingerling in his hand. This summer's institutes will be held June 16-July 3 at Rome and June 23-July 11 at Valdosta.
Above: On one field trip, teachers learn how Game and Fish Commission biologists and wildlife rangers use an electric shocking machine to capture fish for stocking and for biological surveys. Other state and federal conservation agencies help instruct during the Institutes.

13

the
outdoor world

Darby Is New Game and Fish Chairman

New Officers
I

James F. Darby Jr., Vidalia, has been

elected chairman of the Game and Fish

Commission. He previously served in

this post in 1965.

Darby succeeds Rankin Smith of At-

lanta, owner of the Atlanta Falcons,

professional football team.

Clyde Dixon of Cleveland was named

Vice Chairman , and William Z. Camp of Newnan was re-elected Secretary.
The 11-man governing body elects of-

New officers of the State Game and Fish Commission for 1969 from left to right are Clyde Dixon, vice-chairman, James Darby, chairman, and Bill Camp, secretary. George T. Bagby, right, is the Commission's Director.

ficers each year. One commissioner is

appoi nted from each congressional district, for a term of seven yea rs.
During Darb y's last term as Commission Chairman, the General Asse mbly passed a bill increasing hunting and fi shing license fees by $1.00 each, relievi ng a serious financial strain for the State Game and Fish Commission.

Dixon is Executive Vice President of th e People's Bank in Cleveland. The nati ve of Clarkesville is the Commission's newest member. joining the board about two years ago. His business interests include an insurance agency and an automobile agency. He represents the ninth Congressional Di s-

WILD DO GS Con tinu ed fro m IFC
ments possibly exceeds that of raisi ng income to pay for dog control efforts.
Secondly, it should be pointed out that any dog. regardless of hi s breed or ownership. is a potential killer of wildlife and livestock , if allowed to roam freely. especially at night. Many dogs

Darby, a businessman with interests trict.

have a "Jekyll and Hyde" personality,

in building supplies, banking, construc- Camp, from the Sixth District, is unknown to their owners. For this rea-

tion , farming and tobacco, was first Tax Commissioner for Coweta County. son, the State Game and Fish Commis-

moved to the Commission in 1949, rep- He has been on the Commission since sion feels strongly that Georgia needs a

resenting the First Congressional Dis- 1961.

law that specifically prohibits dogs from

trict.

-Dean Wohlgemuth running loose, except when they are

under the direct control of the owner

"Tha nks, Fellows!"

while hunting, etc. or when they are on the property of the owner or a consent-

ing landowner. This provision and other

sections of the law will not be enforce-

able without requirements of licenses.

tags, collars, pounds, dog control offi-

cers with clearly defined authority, and

misdemeanor penalties for violators. If

undesirable dogs aren't taken out of the

wood s, new laws will fail.

Such provisions won't affec t most

legitimate dog owning sportsmen, who

already are accustomed to penning or

leashing their dogs when they are not

used for hunting, inoculating them for

rabies and providing identification col-

lars. The mod est fees being proposed

are not high enough to bother serious

sportsme n, who wou ld spe nd much

more on a box of shotgun shells with-

out blinking an eye. In the case of

hunters who use packs of dogs, hunters

in th e group who don 't ow n dogs should

be happy to share in the cost of their

upkeep. just as they now buy dog food.

etc. for th e dog owner. To do oth erwi se

Oi!liumllltlg!t~o::.in,gtJiil

'""" ----~-
Gamf: and Fish Commission

Chairman

Rankin

Sm i th

re c ei ved

a

" token

of

appreciation" from his fellow board members. presented by Comm issioner Charles

Davidson (!). and Governor Maddox. Said Smith, with a wide grin , " Th is symboliz es

my efforts for the past year with the Falcons, the Game and Fish Comm ission, and

the in surance business'" He will continue to represen t the 5 th Dis trict on the

Commission.

would be to be identified as a miserable freeloader , which th e m ajori ty of such hunters certainl y aren't.
Now is the time for responsible dog own ing sportsme n to take the leadership in ca ll ing for enforceable lcgi~lation that will solve th e prohlem. - J.l\f.

14

Sportsm~
Speak... .~ -'"

GUNS Thank you for your opposition to the deluge of anti-firearms laws. We have been and still are, being bombarded in the press and over the air with twisted propaganda. The aim is to ultimately forbid possession of all guns. Law respecting persons could not own weapons, but the criminals would not be stopped. Most people think enforcement of present laws would cut down on the crime rate.
Jesse H. Wootton Atlanta, Georgia
BACK TALK I have been reading your magazine si nce it was started. Being a sportsman, I am very glad to see you editors kid back at such people as J. M. Maloney (No address given) in the Sportsmen Speak section of the October issue. Also, I am delighted in seeing Mr. Bagby taking a stand for the great sportsmen of our state. Keep up the great work.
Thomas W. Schunhoff Valdosta, Georgia
DOGS I just finished reading the story, " Hounds of Hell", published in Volume No. 3, No. 12, December 1968. It was a very interesting article. However, when I reached the proposals as recommended by the Georgia Animal Damage advisory committee, that blew it. It really took a lot of study for any committee to make a hair brained recommendation as set forth therein. It appears to be the word of the day. Tax anything or anybody just to raise revenue regardless of who or what it affects. It's now killer dogs so tax everybody that owns a dog. Why didn't the committee place the blame where it belongs? On uncontrolled breeding and irresponsible individuals instead of making a fuzzy headed recommendation as set forth in the article.
Place the cost of the killer dog control on the people that benefit by it most. Namely deer hunters, stockmen, farmers, land owners, and hunt clubs, and not just on the dog owners.
Here are some questions I believe must be considered when suggesting a dog tax for this purpose. Has anybod y ever seen a trained bird dog attacking or chasi ng deer or cattle? Can anybody imagine a deer being attacked by a pack of Chihuahua or miniature Poodles?
This is what makes the recomm endation of the committee so asinine as the proposal would tax the honest ci t izen that owns any dog. I suggest the co mmittee reconsider their proposals.
I firmly believe it is not the registered or pure breed dogs that kill but are the ones caused by uncontrolled breeding and those dogs in the hands of irresponsible people. Those are the ones that should bea r the cost for a dog control unit.
Edward C. Bond Columbus, Georgia

See the editorial on the inside front cover, "Are 'Wild' Dogs The Problem?"
I have just finished reading "Hounds of Hell" in the December Game & Fish. I am in sympathy with the Game and Fish Commission and the livestoc k owners of Georgia. Several times while hunting I have witnessed stray dogs chasing deer. The most recent chase occurred in Putnam County during the past season. Four unkept, uncollared and ultra-mixedbreed dogs emerged from the woods across the gravel road from where I was sitting. All halted in front of me in the road with tongues dangling and noses sniffing-obviously trying to find a scent they had lost. I could have shot all four easily, and I wanted to. However, the disposal problem prevented me. You are right when you say that something must be done. Nevertheless, the proposals offered by the Georgia Animal Damage Advisory Committee are unacceptable to me.
I would like to discuss my objections to each item of their proposal and offer a simple solution to the whole problem.
The first item of the committee's proposal would require that all dogs over three months old be vaccinated by a registered veterinarian and that the owner receive an annual tag for his dog's collar after the payment of a $2 fee in addition to the veterinarian's fee. I must admit that it would be desirable to have all dogs vaccinated. But just for the sake of clarity and not for the argument, this situation is analogous to the gun control controversy. If every single gun (dog) were registered (vaccinated) a few criminals (wild dogs) might be captured after committing a crime (killing a calf). But you stated that your objective was prevention. Do dogs instinctively, somehow mysteriously know that the bothersome little tags around their necks will get them into trouble and so cause them to resist the temptation? I doubt it. Oh! You say that the owners will take extra precautions to see that their dogs are behaved since they are wearing their shiny $2 tags. But that speculation is not realistic since those owners that would go to the trouble and expense of registering their dogs in compliance with the proposed law are the most conscientious dog owners to begin with, and would control their dogs under any circumstan ces. Thus, the law would result in mere harrassment of reputable dog owners, just as would gun registrati on harrass honest gun owners, and would not in the least affect th ose guilty of committing the crimes you seek to prevent. The dogs that are causing the trouble are not the dainty Fren ch Poodles lyin g in th e laps of housewives or the valuable hunting dogs belonging to sportsmen; they are the castaways of heartless people who think that it would be cruel to dispose of an animal rather than giving it a "fair" chance in the wild. An other sou rce of wildlife damage is more malicious yet It is caused by unsportsmanlike hunters who deliberately turn loose unidentifiable dogs of all descripti on for th e sole pu rpose of running a deer past their stands. Th ese dogs are old hunting dog

relics and strays rounded up prior to the
hunt-all of no value, and never is an attempt made to recapture them. They are put back into circulation once more.
Besides _being a nuisance to lap dog owners, thIS vaccination provision would cos~ considerably and severely inconvenience owners of hunting and working dogs. First of all, the members of these groups of dog owners own many dogs each; some fox or coonhunters might keep twenty or more dogs, and usually handle the vaccination tasks themselves, to abate costs. If you add the $2 tag fee to the usual $5 fee a vet charges to stick a dog, you find that the bill can add up quickly. And again it must be pointed out that these dogs would be vaccinated anyway and the mongrels still left untouched.
Next, the committee would require that all dogs be made identifiable by a collar and nameplate or by a tatoo. Well, once again the cared-for dogs are a step ahead
of the law, and the mutts escape. The committee points out that only
duly authorized officials would be permitted to dispose of a dog; a landowner only being permitted to do so when his stock is being attacked. Here lies their greatest error and the solution to the problem. How many wild dogs could fifty dog wardens dlspose of, considering all the legal hassling necessary? Not enough to make up for their checks! Thi s might be a good project for HEW to look into, but f or ridding Georgia of wild dogs it's ridiculous. The only way to control these dogs is to give landowners the authority to deal with them firsthand. Only the landowner knows the extent of the dog problem and has the opportunity to effectively cope with it And just think, no fees, pounds, wardens, departments, pa perwork or confusion. Oh! Off bl ows your hat and you exclaim, "It's wholesale murder of man's best friend!" The comm ission stated that no bounties would be paid in order to avoid " ... massacres of innocent pet dogs." I am not in favor of bounties either, but not because I fear a massacre. With cats it might be different, but most men would rather shoot their mother-in-law than shoot a pet dog. I can see it now; alcoholics and addicts haul ing in Poodles and Pekingese alike in desperate effort s to buy a fi x! Just think what the effec t would be on the blood banks!
That committee must have gone to Washington and taken a co urse in political bungling to dream up such a co mplicated scheme of fees, tags, wardens, pens, and fin es as they did. Why not set
a precedent in lawmaking? You may not
replace the com mon law, but by s1mply giving landowners a measure of discret ion in controlling wild dogs you will have a simp le, inexpensive, and workable plan.
Wallace J. Majure II Doravi lie, Ga.
P. S.: I would like to see th is letter printed in the Sportsmen Speak section of the Game & Fish . However, you may use it in any way you wi sh, bu t if you do dec ide to print it, I would like a perso nal reply with your comments.

15

DOGS First, let me express my appreciation to the State Game and Fish Commission for what they are doing for the people of Georgia. When a deer hunter goes to an area that permits hunting such as the much appreciated timber companies, he scouts the area for deer si~ns and finds makeshift tree stands na1led in almost every area where there are good deer signs. Often a few men will go to these good hunting areas prior to deer season and build stands all over the woods. Many of the timber companies and land owners permit hunting on their land now, but I wonder what they will do when they find these big nails and spikes, that damage power saw chains. I have also seen many trees damaged by hatchets where hunters blazed a trail to these tree stands. I usually go into a hunting area about 30 minutes before sunrise get onto my stand and wait. On several occasions, I have heard people driving around and putting out hunters along roads and firebreaks. Then I hear the dogs barkin& an.d trailing deer about daybreak. Th1s 1s taking place in counties where deer dogging is not allowed. I respect the laws made by the Commission and try to abide by them. I realize hunting laws are made with the sportsman in mind for the present and the future. Once in bow and arrow season, I heard someone put out a pack of dogs not far from my stand. One of the hunters walked right under my tree stand, down a logging road, with a high-powered rifle in a no deer dogging county, one month prior to gun season. Another major problem, as you are well aware, are wild dogs. Once, my hunting partner and I were walking down a creek in Jones County in bow and arrow season. Two dogs started barking and growling at us. The do~s finally ran off and we looked down mto the creek and there was a seven-point buck with his head partly submerged under water. There were no arrow wounds or anyplace where he had been shot. The buck's ears were torn and stripped. The dogs had eaten part of one hind quarter of the deer. I have often seen dogs trailing deer under my tree stand. In Wilkinson County, several days back, I saw a pack of wild dogs. They came out onto the road, saw the car and dashed back into the woods. There were three German Shepherds, one white bulldog, and two others. They were acting very wild, and were several miles from a house. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter of problems, that I feel, are important. You may print any part of this letter.
Frank G. Ussery Warner Robins, Georgia
FOX HUNTERS Before I could feel qualified to answer your letter of November 27 and make ob-
servations on your article, "The Fox ... or
The Hunter?" m the Septemper 1968 issue of Georgia Game & Fish, I felt I should do some research by talking to Georgia hunters, fox and otherwise.
After talking to several hunters and analyzing our ISC paid memberships in Georgia, I am sure there are more than 2000 foxhound owners in your state. Mr. Wallace Dempsey of Cave Spring has assured me he supplies dog food to many more than the number you have published. If you had 11,000 in 1966, you

could have 5% more now. Mr. Frank Dunn of Morgan and Mr.
Dempsey have advised me predator ca lis are used in all 154 counties in your state and have made a serious inroad in Georgia fox population. You admitted this on page 5 in an offhand way. They back up their statement with the suggestion you should see Mr. Robert Coleman of Georgetown. Predator call hunters are not only killing foxes in his community, but have shot a valuable foxhound . There are hunters in the counties of Fort Gaines, Murray and Whitfield who will lay their fingers on such practice.
In aII states the true outdoor sportsman will tell you that predator call hunters are the type who want to sit on their -with falsehoods on their lips, with the advantage on their laps, and will tell you when they pay their money for a license to hunt that that entitles them to shoot whatever and whenever they please and as many as they wish.
I have been briefed on your wild dog hearings. This is a problem in all of the states. Georgia isn't alone. We know this problem will exist in all states until there is a law on the books that will properly punish the undesirable citizens who will drop pups on the back roads to forage for themselves. Then it becomes survival of the fittest. Be assured foxhunters in Georgia and all other states who care for their hounds are desirous in eliminating this problem. Many is the time wild dogs have done damage but someone's foxhounds get the credit.
I am enclosing an adding machine tape of figures taken from only 112 of our Georgia members {none from the organized hunts) which shows an average investment of $1,884 and annual expenditure of $706 per member. Multiplying these figures by your 11,000 reported foxhunters {some say 12,000), you will come up with an investment of $37,680,000 and annual expenditure of $7,766,000. The enclosed registration card shows you how
we get the number of hounds and the investment and annual expenditure figures. Our figures show the average number of hounds for each hunter is 9.
I, too, am confused. I cannot understand how 119,000 deer hunters can spend so much annually to deer hunt in Georgia over a short season. Most deer hunters own a rifle, hunt out of their pleasure car, not all feed hounds and the majority hunt not more than two days a season.
Georgia has lost 9,000 fox hunters in less than two years. I am checking with the fox hunting magazines to see if their subscription list is less. Note the photo of the mounts for the four organized hunt members. Horses, tack and gear cost over $25,000. Be assured all states do not put the fox hunter "low man on the totem pole."
In conclusion, we are enclosing our brochure which shows why we are organized and what our program is, and call your particular attention to the phrase, "I'll respect your hunting; you respect mine."
Sincerely, C. J. Ireland Chairman International Sportsmen's Committee Boston, Virginia
Both the number of fox hunters and deer hunters and their expenditures cited in our article were taken from statistical
surveys carried out by game management biologists of the State Game and Fish
Commission. The procedures used and

the findings have been certified as statistically sound by both North Carolina State University's Institute of Statistics and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, as a part of a joint federal aid-state research project.
The expenditures covered were limited to money spent during the period of the hunt or directly on it. Unlike Mr. Ireland's figures, they did not include total cost of vehicles, horses, etc. that are used for other purposes.
A more recent survey shows that the number of deer hunters in Georgia has now increased to 130,000, placing deer hunting in third place in participation behind squirrel hunters {145,000) and quail hunters {139,000). Rabbits have slipped to fourth with 120,000.
Incidentally, there are 159 counties in Georgia, not 154. There is no county named Fort Gaines, the name of the county seat of Clay County.
POLLUTION I read "Georgia Game and Fish" with much interest. I am particularly interested in fishing in streams, such as Briar Creek, Ogeechee river and others. In the past few years I have heard many com-
plaints about the few fish caught out of such streams. At one time there was an abundance.
Some say trapping is the cause, others say poisoning washed in from farmers fields and others say pollution from mills. This is not only true in Georgia streams but also in S. C.
I do not know what the remedy is but, as an old fisherman, I would like to see something done to bring back the fishing in these streams.
J. A. Stafford Augusta, Ga.
The State Water Quality Control Board and our fisheries biologists advised us that Briar Creek and the Ogeechee River are not polluted. There are two textile plants on the Ogeechee River and its tributary, the Canoochee, but pollution from these sources is not considered serious at the present time.
The primary problem with the fish population in coastal streams is tied in with periods of hi~h and low water. During years with sprmg droughts, such as last year, fishing ordinarily suffers considerably because the fish do not have the area to feed and reproduce in as they do in wet years. This condition sometimes causes effects on fishin~ for several years afterwards. The solution is beyond the knowledge of our biologists to correct, but we are attempting to work on possible solutions. This is a slow process.
I am a subscriber to your most interesting and informative Magazine. As an owner of a fish pond in Georgia, I could not help but be impressed by the attached article in our local newspaper on the subject, "STRONG PESTICIDE KILLS FISH."
No doubt, you and your organization are already acquainted with the subject matter and are on the alert to use your influence, wherever and whenever necessary, to prohibit its use in the State of Georgia and particularly in areas where the drainage of such pesticides into a pond will completely destroy its fish population. I suspect there are pesticides already in use in Georgia that are highly toxic to fish.
P. J. Pate Jacksonville, Fla. Our fisheries biologists have long been aware of this problem, and the pesticide

16

manufactu rers are doing a much better jo b of informing purchasers of their products about cautions in their use.
Your passion for water conservati on has surpassed your journa listic responsi bi lity of veri fy ing fa cts before publ ish ing the m. 1 am referring to Mr. Robert Rone's letter in t he July issue of Georgia Game and Fish. Mr. Rone stated t hat " ... Fishing tri p to t he Ogeechee River, I was appalled at the chem ica l f oam ... I was told t hat the ch emicals were released by a paper mill sh ortly up th e river." There is no paper mill located anywhere on the Ogeechee River or its major tributary, the Canoochee .
1 real ize that it is in vogue to push wa ter conservat ion, and I am certai nly in favor of water conservation mysel f . However, t here are enough fact ual cases in Georgia wi th ou t making up new ones. You have done a disservi ce to both t he pa per industry, a leadi ng industry in cleaning up it s mi ll eff luen t s, and your fine magazine.
Th omas Ec k Pratt svi lle, Alabama
Mr. Eck is correct in saying that there are no pulp mills on either river. The Georgia Water Quality Control Board says all pulp mills in Georgia now either have water pollution treatment facilities or have designs or construction of them unde rway.
The opinions and statements of fact ma de by reade rs in letters to Sportsmen Speak are their own, not necessa rily those of the staff of Game and Fish Magazi ne or the State Game and Fish Commission. However, we offer our apologies to the pulpwood industry for not check-

ing into the matter and bringing up the po ints made by Mr. Eck.
MORE DOGS I have been reading the troubl e with dogs, and fee l I shoul d report t hat I had twelve goats killed by dogs on January 4th this yea r. I did see three of th e dogs, and they did not seem t o be wi Id. They were fat as if someone ha d been feeding t hem. My farm is in Greene County at Union Poin t.
Roy English Athens, Ga.
Sportsman's
Calendar
SEASONS NOW OPEN
OPOSSUM Season-Oct. 14, 1968 through Feb. 28, 1969. Bag Limit-None.
QUAU. Season-November 18, 1968 through March I , 1969. Bag Limit- 12 daily, possession limit, 36.
RABBITS S. Ga. Season-November 18, 1968 through February 28, 1969. S. Ga. Limit- 10 daily.
RACCOON N. Ga. Season-Oct. 14, 1968 throu gh Feb. 28, 1969.

Bag Limit-One (I) per person per night. S. Ga . Season-No closed season. No bag limit.
SQU IRREL Season-Oct. 14, 1968 through Feb. 28, 1969. Bag Limit-10 D ai ly.
TURKEY S. W. Ga . Season-November 18, 1968 through M arch I , 1969 in Baker, Calhoun, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Miller , Mitchell, Seminole, and Thomas counties. S. W. Ga. Bag Limit- Two (2) per seaso n.

SMALL GAME MANAGED
HUNTS SCHEDULED
( F o r detai led information o n each individual a rea, write the State Game a nd Fish Commission, 401 St a te Capi tol , Atla nta , G a. 30334.)

DATES

AREAS

SPEC IES

Reg. season

Lake Seminole, All WhHesburg, Allatoona, Altamaha Cohutta. Grand Bay, Brunswick Pulp and Paper Co.

PRIVATE PRESERVES
There are approximately 24 privatelyowned hunting preserves in Georgia offering native and pen-raised quail shooting for a fee during a special October 1-March 31 season. Some preserves also offer duck, pheasant, or dove shooting. A list of names and add resses of currently licensed hunting preserve operators in Georgia may be obtained on request from the State Game and Fish Commission's Atlanta office.

TIDE TABLE

FEBRUARY, 1969

FEB.-MARCH 1969

MARCH, 1969

HIGH WATER

LOW WATER

Day

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

I. Sat. 7:12 6.8 7:36 5. 7 1:00 1:36

2. Sun. 7:48 6.9 8:06 5.9 1:42 2:18

3. Mon. 8:24 7.0 8:42 6.1 2:24 2:54

4. Tues. 9:00 6.9 9:18 6.3 3:06 3:30

5. Wed . 9:36 6.8 9:54 6.5 3:48 4:06

6. Thurs. 10 :18 6.6 10:42 6.6 4:24 4:42

7. Fri. 11:00 6.4 11:30 6.6 5:12 5:24

8. Sat. 11 :48 6.2

6:00 6:06

9. Sun. 12:42 6.6 12:42 5.9 7:00 7:06

10. Mon. 1:24 6.6 1:42 5.7 8:06 8:12

11. Tues. 2:36 6.6 2:54 5.6 9:18 9:24

12. Wed. 3:48 6.7 4:06 5.7 10:24 10:36

13. Thurs. 5:06 7.0 5:24 6.1 11 :24 11:36

14. Fri. 6:12 7.4 6:24 6.5

12:24

15. Sat . 7:06 7.7 7:18 7.0 12:36 1:18

16. Sun. 7:54 7.9 8:06 7.3 1:30 2:06

17 . Mon. 8:42 7.8 8:54 7.4 2:24 2:54

18. Tues . 9:24 7.6 9:36 7.4 3:12 3:36

19. Wed . 10:06 7.2 10:24 7. 2 3:54 4:18

20 . Thurs. 10:48 6.7 11 :06 7.0 4:42 5:00

21. Fri . 11:30 6.2 11 :48 6.7 5:24 5:42

22. Sat.

12:12 5.8 6:12 6:24

23. Sun. 12:36 6.4 12:54 5.4 7: 00 7:18

24. Mon. 1:24 6.1 1:42 5.1 8:00 8:12

25. Tues. 2:18 6.0 2:42 4.9 9:00 9:12

26. Wed. 3:18 5.9 3:48 4.9 9:54 10:06

27. Thurs . 4:18 6.0 4:54 5.1 10:54 11:00

28. Fri. 5:18 6.3 5:48 5.5 11: 36 11 :48

GEORGIA COASTAL WATERS

HOW TO USE THESE TABLES

The ca lculations a re for the o u te r 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 going to fish or swim. The outer bar calculation, plus this correction, gives the correct reading fo r the point desired.

Adjust For Daylight Saving Time By Adding One Hour

CORRECT ION TABLE

The times given are for Savannah River

entrance (Tybee) .

Hrs. Min .

Savannah High

0 44

Savannah (Low) . . .

* 57

Hilton Head, S . C. .

0 10

Thunderbolt .

0 20

Isle of Hope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

0 40

Warsaw Sound .

0 00

Ossabaw Sound

0 05

Vernon View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 35

Coffee Bluff . . . . . . . .

0 55

Ogeechee River Bridge . . . . . . . . . . 3 50

St. Catherine Sound

0 25

Sapelo Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

0 00

Brunswick Bar . . . . .

0 00

St. Simon Pi er . . .

0 25

Frederica Bridge

0 50

McKay Bridge . . . . . .

0 50

Brunswick East Rive r .

0 50

T urtle River Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 55

Tu rt le River, Crispen Is.

1 10

Hu mpback Bridge

1 00

Jekyll Point .

0 30

Jointer Island

.. .

.

55

Ha m pton River Village Creek Ent.

0 20

Village Fi shin g Camp

0 45

Ta ylo r Fishing Camp

. .. .

1 00

Al t am aha Fis h ing Park , Everett, Ga. . 4 00

Two-Way Fishing Camp , S . Altamaha . 2 00

Full

Last

New First

Moon Qua rter Moon Quarter

HIGH WATER LOW WATER

Day

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

I. Sat. 6:06 6.6 6:34 5.9

12 :34

2. Sun . 6:48 6.8 7:06 6.3 12:36 1:06

3. Mon . 7:24 7.0 7:42 6.6 1:18 1:42

4. Tues. 8:00 7.1 8:18 6.9 2:00 2:24

5. Wed. 8:36 7.1 8:54 7.1 2:42 3:00

6. Thurs. 9:12 7.0 9:36 7.2 3:24 3:36

7. Fri . 9:54 6.8 10:18 7.2 4:06 4:12

8. Sat. 10:36 6.5 11:06 7.1 4:48 4:54

9. Sun . 11:24 6.2

5:42 5:48

10. Mon. 12 :06 6.9 12:24 5.9 6:42 6:48

11. Tues. 1:12 6.7 1:30 5.7 7:54 8:00

12. Wed. 2:24 6.6 2:42 5.6 9:06 9:18

13. Thurs . 3:42 6.7 4:06 5.9 10:12 10:24

14. Fri . 5:00 7.0 5:18 6.4 11:12 11:30

15. Sat. 6:00 7.3 6:18 7.0

12:06

16. Sun. 6:54 7.6 7:06 7.4 12:24 12:54

17 . Mon. 7:36 7.7 7:48 7.7 1:18 1:42

18. Tues . 8:18 7.6 8:30 7.8 2:06 2:24

19. Wed . 8 :54 7.3 9:06 7.8 2:48 3:06

20 . Thurs. 9:30 6.9 9:48 7.5 3:30 3:42

21. Fri. 10:06 6.5 10:24 7.2 4:12 4:24

22. Sat. 10:48 6.1 11 :06 6.9 4:54 5:00

23. Sun . 11 :24 5.7 11:48 6.5 5:30 5:42

24. Mon.

12 :12 5.4 6:18 6:30

25. Tues. 12 :36 6.3 1:00 5.1 7:12 7:30

26. Wed . 1:30 6.1 2:00 5.0 8:18 8:30

27. Thurs. 2:30 6.0 3:06 5.1 9:18 9:36

28 . Fri. 3:36 6.0 4:12 5.4 10:12 10:30

29. Sat. 4:36 6.2 5:06 5.9 11 :00 11: 18

30. Sun . 5:24 6.5 5:54 6.4 11:42

31. Mon . 6:12 6.8 6:36 6.9 12:06 12:24

FEBRUARY 2

10

16

24

MARCH

4

11

18

26

To repo rt v io lations or if you need assistance in the Coastal Area-Call-State Game & Fish Commission , Br unswick , Georgi a, P. 0 . Box 109 7, Phone 265-1552 , Sava nnah 233-2383 , Rich mond Hill 756-36 79 .