Outdoors in Georgia [Nov. 1977]

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George Busbee
Governor
Joe D. Tanner
Commissioner
BOARD OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Donald J. Carter Chairman
Gainesville-- 9th District Lloyd L. Summer, Jr. Vice Chairman
Rome--7th District
Leo T. Barber, Jr. Secretary
Moultrie-- 2nd District Dolan E. Brown
Twin City-- 1st District Alton Draughon
Pinehurst-- 3rd District George P. Dillard
Decatur--4th District Mary Bailey Izard
Atlanta-- 5th District James A. Mankin Griffin-- 6th District J. Wimbric Walker
McRae--8th District Walter W. Eaves
Elberton-- 10th District
Sam Cofer
St. Simons Island Coastal District Leonard E. Foote
-- Waleska State-at-Large
James D. Cone Decatur-- State-at-Large
A. Leo Lanman, Jr.
-- Roswell State-at-Large
Wade H. Coleman
Valdosta-- State-at-Large
DIVISION DIRECTORS
Parks and Historic Sites Division Henry D. Struble, Director
Game and Fish Division
Jack Crockford, Director
Environmental Protection Division J. Leonard Ledbetter, Director
Geologic and Water Resources Division Sam M. Pickering, Jr., Director
Office of Information and Education David Cranshaw, Director
Office of Planning and Research David Sherman, Director
Office of Administrative Services James H. Pittman, Director

OutdOOrS it) Georgia

Volume 7

November 1 977

Number 1

FEATURES

The Sands of Time

Susan K. Wood 2

Hunting Optics

Gib Johnston 8

Wisps of the Marsh

Bill Morehead 13

Recreating a North Georgia Christmas

Patricia Lee Carter 17

The Ring-Necked Duck

Gib Johnston 20

.... When Hunting, Thou Shalt

Steve Ruckel 22

Big Deer Contest

26

DEPARTMENT

Outdoors Inventory Outdoors Quiz

28 Ranger Phillip Moss 33

ON THE COVERS: Fall comes to the mountains. Photo by Jimmy Valentine.

Phone-656-5660

MAGAZINE STAFF

David Cranshaw Aaron Pass

Editor-in-Chief Editor

Susan K. Wood
Bill Morehead Rebecca N. Marshall Dick Davis Bill Hammack
Rhett Millsaps . . .

Managing Editor
Writer Writer Writer Writer
Circulation Manager

Liz Carmichael Jones
Michael Nunn Bob Busby Edward Brock
Bill Bryant Jim Couch

Art Director Illustrator
Photo Editor Photographer Photographer Photographer

Outdoors in Georgia is the official monthly magazine of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, published at the Department's offices, Room 714, 270 Washington Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30334. Publication Number 217140. No advertising accepted. Subscriptions are $5 for one year or $9 for three years. Printed by Williams Printing Company, Atlanta, Georgia. Articles and photographs may be reprinted when proper credit given. Contributions are welcome, but the editors assume no responsibility or liability for loss or damage of articles, photographs, or illustrations. Second-class postage paid at Atlanta, Georgia. 31,000 copies printed at an approximate cost of $16,500. The Department of Natural Resources is an Equal Opportunity employer, and employs without regard to race, color, sex, religion, or national
origin.
Change of address: Please allow 8 weeks for address changes to become effective. Send old address as well as new address (old mailing label is preferred).

What About The Rest?

Editorial

As this is being written, it is the last day of summer, 1977. This morning, a brisk autumn
nip in the air reminds us that soon the leaves will be turning, hunting season will be upon us (it will be in full swing by the time you read this) and multitudes of other seasonal activities will hold our attention.
To most people, fall is synonymous with foot-
bal. Almost a national religion, thousands of fans cheer hundreds of players at high school, college and professional games on cool nights and balmy afternoons every autumn. I'm an addict myself, and regularly read the sports page for the latest football happenings. This morning I noticed the Falcons have signed linebacker
Andy Spiva, late of the St. Louis Cardinals,
-- University of Tennessee, and Chamblee High
School. Great local boy makes good and comes home to boot. I sincerely wish Mr. Spiva and the Falcons success this season.
I also got to thinking about Spiva's former teammates from Chamblee and even the guys
from other high schools who met Mr. Spiva in a
hurry as they tried to carry the ball toward the
goal line. What are they doing now? Probably most, like me, are reading about him in the
morning paper.
This leads me to question the direction of
most high school athletic programs in their ferocious intensity on competitive team sports with seemingly little attention to individual activities. Most high schools go all out to field football and basketball teams. Only slightly less emphasis is placed on baseball and track. Soccer is a grow-
ing sport at many schools these days. Now the
virtues of these traditional team sports are well known: they mold character, build confidence and discipline, and develop the principle of selfsacrifice for the greater good. Laudable motives all, but what do the participants bring away which will help them develop fulfilling recrea-
tional outlets for the rest of their adult lives?
Facing reality, we must admit that very few
high school athletes get to compete at college
level and even fewer make a successful career
in professional sports.
Where in normal adult life does the high school team player find an outlet for the intensive and specialized training received in football

practice (or in basketball, baseball, track, or

soccer) other than being a superior spectator.

Even the current softball craze takes twenty

players, and that takes some organization. Also, how about those poor souls and less

than perfect physical specimens who couldn't

run a 10.0 hundred, didn't weigh 150 pounds or

more and couldn't sink a dunk shot with a six foot step ladder. They who were judged unfit by

The Coach and spent their physical education

hours doing such rewarding things as calis-

thenics, laps, hopeless gymnastics or perhaps in

lackluster "choose-up" softball or basketball

games on the other end of the athletic spectrum.

It seems such a waste of time and effort. There

should be a place in our formal educational sys-

tem for the development of individual skills in

activities that could be pursued as a hobby

through adult life. Golf and tennis are examples,

as are the courses in outdoor skills offered

through the Department of Natural Resources'

Outdoor Education Program. These courses in

marksmanship, hunting safety, boating, fishing,

survival and camping are typical of the outdoor

skills which don't end participation with a high

school diploma or an end of athletic eligibility.

This is not an anti-team sport diatribe, nor is

it a suggestion to abolish high school football.
As stated previously, there are some real values

to be gained by participating in competitive

team sports. It is, however, a suggestion that we

increase the diversity of our public school phy-

sical education programs in consideration of the

fact that the bulk of the student body never gets

any closer to actual athletic competition and

team membership than a stadium seat. The alternative to "choose-up" softball, touch

football, etc., is formal training in physical ac-

tivities, including outdoor skills, which have

some relevance to the recreational outlets pro-

vided by normal adult life. This alternative

would provide a diversified physical education

program which could have real value to the indi-

vidual by assisting in the development of a

richer, fuller, more rewarding adult recreational

experience.

P

Noverpber 1977

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Outdoors it? Georgia

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep Through my fingers to the deep. .
from "A Dream Within A Dream"
by Edgar Allan Poe

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By Susan K. Wood

Jim Couch
Timfe

The tide ebbs and the tide flows. Day after day, in and out, back and forth. And just as the tides are ever-
changing, so too the entire beach system is dynamic. Never the same tomorrow as it is today.
Perhaps this is part of the magical lure of the beach. Each year, thousands of visitors flock to the ocean's
sandy shores to enjoy the sand and surf and take home a golden vacation memory. Vacationers drive for hours
to spend a few days in an oceanfront motel where the day begins with a walk across the sands to watch a glorious sunrise over the ocean.
Catering to these vacation dreams of ours, motels, condominiums and parking lots line the white-capped blue ocean where towering dunes and sea oats once held their vigil, standing sentry between ocean and land.
Recklessly perhaps, we have invaded the beaches, creating serious problems. Erosion plagues many motellined beaches along Georgia's Golden Isles. Take, for example, the north end of lovely Jekyll Island which was
probably eroding even before construction began. But rock seawalls and other structures form an abrupt boundary to the beach now, making accelerated erosion
a problem today. Or take the Tybee Island-Savannah Beach area. Construction of ocean-front motels, park-
ing lots, stores, piers and seawalls which today line the beachfront was one reason for large-scale erosion problems there. The Beach Nourishment Project to rebuild Tybee's beach required 1.9 million cubic yards of white sand to rebuild the eroded area, at a cost to Georgians of $1,815,000 by 1976.
Because of the dynamics of the beach ecosystem, because of nature's intricate "sand-sharing system," changes in dune and ridge structure, sand bars and offshore depths cause dramatic changes in the shoreline. Erosion and accretion result, creating major changes in surprisingly short time spans.
As Dr. George Oertel of the Skidaway Marine Re-
search Institute explains, coastal beaches, sand dunes and offshore sand bars form this sand-sharing system. Winds and waves are continually moving fine granules of sand, millions at a time. During calm weather ("low

Noverpber 1977

Jim Couch

The ebb and flow of tides, wave action, wind and numerous other factors determine the erosion and build-up
of beaches.
Artificial structures, such as the snow fence at right, have a decided effect on natural sand movement.
energy conditions") sand from offshore sandbars washes and blows ashore, creating layer after layer of sandy
beach (accretion). From the beach, sand is blown
further inland and is trapped initially by beach straw and other debris. Salt-tolerant plants begin to grow, forming small dunes. These dunes eventually join together to form ridges, which act as wall-like barriers to protect inland property from storm destruction.
During storms, sand from the beach is washed back to sea by intense waves and high winds. Battered by
hurricane-force storms, some sand dunes may also be
-- washed back to sea. The result is erosion of beach less
sand on which to stroll or sunbathe or play volleyball. But this self-perpetuating natural process occurs
when all is in equilibrium. That equilibrium is in a delicate state of balance. Seawalls, groins, bulldozing and dredging disrupt the fragile equilibrium. As Dr. Oertel explains, any intrusion which impedes the natural shar-
-- ing of sand the ebb and flow of sand, if you will
disrupts the system and can cause dramatic erosion or
accretion.
"For example, groins, while designed to trap sand, building it up on one side of the wall, often create a corresponding erosion downstream. Seawalls are built

Outdoors ir> Georgia

Bob Busby

.v;
Noverpber 1977

As dunes grow in size and develop vegetative cover, they become more stabilized. Even
so, they are still vulnerable to unnatural
intrusion and damage.

/-
Bob Busby

to break the force of crashing waves," continues Oertel, "but where does the high energy of the waves go? It has to go somewhere. It is usually forced back to the beach itself, often causing erosion at the base of the seawall.
This is an example of what happens when we tamper
with nature's system of balance." But Dr. Oertel points out that erosion is not neces-
sarily bad. "Erosion is bad only when it affects someone's condominium or hotel (as on Jekyll or Tybee).
On Ossabaw Island, erosion has exposed some lovely
driftwood. No, erosion is not always bad; it's just a part
of the natural system.
"People think erosion means that one day they won't have a beach anymore. But that's not true either. As long as erosion is natural, the beach will always be there. Only its relative position will change. Only when we build seawalls do we put limits on the beach."
Experts are quick to explain that a number of fea-
tures are critical to the important sand-sharing system.
"Dune plants are one of the more important elements,"
notes Oertel. "Plant roots are a binding factor, holding
-- dunes together. If these plants sea oats are one ex-- ample are destroyed, the building up of dunes can be
slowed down, and the dunes that do form might remain weak.
"The shapes of offshore bars and shoals are also
important because they determine the actual flow of tides and, so, can effect the building up of beaches. This

Jim Couch

Extreme beach erosion such as this usually results from extreme intrusion.

is why dredging and channeling can sometimes be so detrimental." Any changes in the beach environment
that hinder the free flow of sand through the sharing system can bring on problems like unexpected erosion and
accretion.
Dunes are the feature of the sand-sharing system most prone to destruction, whether by thousands of little feet walking over them or by a bike path or by a bulldozer. Dunes are vital for several reasons, but perhaps the primary purpose they serve is in protection of
inland property. When a hurricane approaches Geor-
gia's coast, dunes are the last line of defense, the buffer for the coast, its people and their livelihood.
The development of these dunes is a fascinating ex-
A ample of nature's system. typical dune is born when
the spring high tide deposits marsh wrack (decaying marsh plants) and other debris along a line normally untouched by high tides. This marsh wrack, also called beach straw, begins to trap wind-blown sand which soon
forms a mound above the now-buried debris. Plants, notably beach croton, Salsola, Ipomoea stolonifera and a
host of others, begin to grow in the layer of moist, buried organic material. As the plants grow, their root systems anchor the bottom layer while the plants themselves
trap more sand, thus forming another mound level. This
process is repeated over and over, with the resulting dune getting higher and more stable with each layer.
The higher the dune, the better is the resulting protection from storms that batter Georgia's coast.
The dunes themselves are very fragile. If the vegeta-
-- tion that anchors these mounds of sand is destroyed if -- the sea oats are picked, for example the stability is
diminished and layers of sand steadily blow away. As
Dr. Oertel points out, "Generally, people take the shortest route to the ocean, and that's across the dunes.
What harm can that be? Well, these narrow footpaths become a passageway, a channel for wind currents. The
wind blowing through these channels accelerates, creating a 'blow out' right through what was the dune.

"Footpaths are the simplest intrusion to the dune system, but even they create large problems in a short period. Bulldozing and driving cars on the dunes, these greatly accelerate this 'blow out'."
Dune destruction is not necessarily of man-made variety. Cattle on St. Catherine's and burros on Ossabaw Island graze on the Spartina patens and Uniola panicurlata and other dune vegetation, thus weakening dunes and making them susceptible to erosion.
Some efforts at rebuilding dunes have been successful,
particularly the use of snowfencing. Erecting of these fences along potential dune ridges, though, can be expensive and doesn't guarantee success. But if conditions
are right, snowfences can build up substantial dunes in just one season.
Georgians have only recently begun to understand the sand-sharing system and its impact on our coast.
Many feel that we've already tried too often to manipu-
late the beach ecosystem with costly results. They realize that our shore is too valuable a resource to be risked even for temporary monetary gain.
Glynn County and Savannah Beach are the only two local governments in Georgia that have beach and dune
protection laws on their books. Ed Stelle of the Bruns-
wick-Glynn County Joint Planning Commission, a vocal proponent of a state shore protection law, explains Glynn County's decision to push for a shore protection
ordinance:
"In the early 1970s, St. Simons was getting pres-
-- -- sure lots of pressure for development. In fact, one
company bought eight acres of beachfront property and got the zoning line changed to allow condominiums to be built on the beach there. Well, the Glynn County Board of Commissioners placed a moratorium on beach
-- development no construction permit would be given
past that original line. While we don't know what would
Wind can move considerable quantities of sand in a
surprisingly short time.
Outdoors it? Georgia

have happened to that beach if those condominiums had been built, we do know that sand dunes are now form-
ing in that very area.
"We asked at the time if there weren't any state laws
regarding beach development. There were none. Well, then, could the state assist in the development of shore
protection ordinances? Jimmy Carter governor at the
-- -- time authorized a study of the beach protection prob-
lem, headed by Dr. Eugene Odum and Dr. George
Oertel and Dr. Tony Cantanese. . . . "We in Glynn County got our beach and dune ordi-
nance adopted in early 1973. Oh, the economic pres-
sures (vs. the ordinance) have been tough, believe me
and they'll continue to be. "But, our local ordinance is specific to shores found
on Little St. Simons, St. Simons and Sea Island that have dunes. It's not applicable to any other areas."
Stelle and others claim that other coastal localities have not yet seen the pressures of development seen in the heavily populated, tourist-prone areas of Tybee and Jekyll. Thus, Georgia's coast is still relatively "natu-
-- ral" especially in comparison to our neighbor Florida.
However, development pressures will come to these
other areas, and, experts warn, unless comprehensive
shore protection legislation is in effect, the problems we
have seen already in Georgia will be multiplied. Florida

had no state laws to protect its beaches until recently,
and over-development occurred in many places, de-

stroying the sand-sharing system. It cost Florida taxpayers roughly $5,100 per mile for technical studies to implement protection. So, in Georgia's case, time is money.

Georgia's beaches present a beautiful, vital, yet
fragile environment that many Georgians too often take for granted. Our still-natural Georgia beaches and
dunes provide critical nesting places and habitat for the loggerhead turtle, Eastern brown pelican, royal tern, Wilson's plover and a variety of other species. (See
July 1977 OIG for more on the threatened loggerhead.)
Those same beaches and dunes supply nutrients to coastal waters and serve as a buffer against sea-spawned storms. And, of course, Georgia's beach is a treasured

vacation retreat.

Understanding nature's sand-sharing system and its

fragile, interrelated elements, we realize that to tamper

with such a self-perpetuating system invites serious

problems. While we may implement corrective mea-

We sures, we cannot replace nature's balance.

must

avoid repeating costly mistakes and so insure that we

can always enjoy a sunrise stroll along the edge of

lapping waves. Protecting the beach now is the only

answer.

^

Bob Busby

Novcrpbcr 1977

Hunting
Optics

By Gib Johnston
Photography by Bob Busby
Yesterday (or was it the day before?) when I was much younger and life was simpler, some things were
just not necessary. Binoculars were for girl watchers or bird watchers or sailors, sunglasses were for the rich and aloof, and telescopic sights were for gangsters or sissies.
Things have changed. Binoculars are still useful for the above mentioned activities but are also a joy while hunting; sunglasses are worn by truckers, cowboys, housewives and hunters; and rifiescopes are almost as important to a hunter as his rifle. So a closer look at
these optics is in order.
Binoculars
Selecting a pair of binoculars is a very simple matter
provided the buyer knows some basic things. Binoculars are, quite simply, scientific instruments and can be very
expensive, so there are certain things to look for in purchasing your first, second or even fifth pair.
The numbers so prominently engraved in large, white figures on the body of the instrument are meant to sim-
X plify, not mystify. The number preceding the (such as 7 X 35mm) means that the binocular will make a
distant object seem that much closer. An object 1400
feet away, for example, will look like it is only 200 feet away.
The number following the X (7 X 35mm) is the
diameter in millimeters of the objective (or front) lens.
These numbers are factors in determining how much
light gets to the eye.
Contrary to popular belief, a higher number (greater power) does not necessarily mean a better quality binocular, or a more useful one. Binoculars not only enlarge the viewed object but also exaggerate movements like hand

tremors. After a short period, such slight movements can

A become annoying and fatiguing.

seven-power (7X)

glass is probably the best magnification the average per-

son can use without too much discomfort. Six and eight

power are also good. Anything nine or above is not rec-
ommended without additional support for the instrument.

Field of view (578' at 1000 yards) is a matter of

individual choice. This figure gives you the width of the

scene at a given distance. In this case, the greater the

field of view, the better.

Field of view and power are the simplest two of several more complex elements of binoculars. While many
people may have a cursory knowledge of field of view,
few have any knowledge whatsoever of definition and resolution. This is where the quality of the lenses and prisms becomes apparent. Differences in definition and resolution account for the difference between cheap and expensive binoculars. Careful comparison should be your guide here. Reading a distant newspaper with a few different price-range binoculars of the same power
will show amazing differences. How close to the edge
of the field of vision are the words still clear? Excessive
edge "fuzziness" is a sign of poor optics. Do the colors
of objects change? They shouldn't. Good optics are
carefully designed to prevent eyestrain even with ex-
tended use. So while good quality optics cost, they are

worth the extra price.

Good binoculars will be properly aligned at time of
purchase, but a jolt or careless handling can change this.
Look through the binocular for thirty seconds or so and then look away and focus your eyes on some near object. Discomfort in refocusing could mean a slipped

Outdoors it? Georgia

prism. Focus the glass on a distant straight line, then

slowly move the binoculars away from your eyes while

continuing to look at the line. Does the line remain con-

tinuous from one lens to the other, or is there a small jag

in it? The line should not jag. Eyes cannot compensate

for this up and down misalignment so fatigue and eye-

strain could result. Try several binoculars until you find

a good pair, then buy that pair.

The amount of light that can be transmitted by any

optical device is dependent on ( 1 ) optical quality, (2) coating, and (3) size of the objective lens.

Modern binoculars have some type of hard coating

on the optical surfaces. This coating material cuts down

on the reflected light and allows more usable light to

pass through. Binoculars that are not 100% coated on

optical surfaces should not be considered. Coating is

easy to see since the coated lenses have a definite blue

or gold color. However, all surfaces that should be

coated cannot be seen.

Hold your binoculars about a foot away and you'll

notice a bright spot of light on the eye lens. This spot is

the "exit pupil" and is very important in determining the

capability of the instrument to transmit light. The size

of the spot is directly related to the magnification and

the diameter of the front lens. Without measuring, the

exit pupil can be determined by dividing the power of

the binocular by the diameter of the objective lens. For

X example, using the example of a binocular rated 7 35,

-- divide 35 by 7 to get the size of the exit pupil

5. An

5mm exit pupil of

is a good basic instrument. Less than

three is useful only in the brightest situations, and since
the eye can only open to about 7mm, larger than 7mm

is not useful.

Finally, before you make your selection, think about
the purpose for the binoculars. How much are you will-
ing to spend? Is size or weight important? Binoculars are a lifetime investment, and careful selection will bring hours of pleasure. Just remember, quality costs.
Well-known brands like Zeiss, Bausch and Lomb, Leitz, Canon, Bushnell and Nikon will guarantee quality and can save untold time and effort in the long run. Binocular prices run from $20 to $350 plus.
Sunglasses The human eye has the ability to adjust for any light
situation up to a point. Of course, the pupil won't open enough to allow us to see in the dark nor will it contract enough in very bright conditions to prevent fatigue, eye-
strain and discomfort. Our eyes account for 25% of our
physical energy, and eyestrain and fatigue materially

Noverpber 1977

(A bove) First quality binoculars like these Zeiss mini binoculars
command top prices and
deliver top performance and service. In optical gear "you get what you pay for."
(Left) A $200 binocular
and a $30 one look alike. Construction and optics make the difference. Careful examination will prove which is the real
bargain.
Zeiss Binoculars Chucks Firearms
-- Scopes Oshman's Northlake
Mall
-- Shooting Glasses The Sun
Glass Hut, Northlake Mall

increase this percentage. Tinted glasses reduce strain. Sunglasses can be found in almost any store in a
myriad of shapes, colors, sizes and prices. In this case, as with binoculars, there is little economy in low prices. However, good, serviceable glasses do not necessarily cost more than $8-10. Bad sunglasses are worse than
-- none at all so be sure to investigate several pair to get
the best in your price range.
Some of the things to look for are: lens material, lens color, frames and other special features.
Lenses are available in two materials, plastic and glass, in any color, and various degrees of density.
Plastic and glass are both excellent but have good and bad features. Glass is heavier than plastic but does not scratch easily. The only important choice is that the
-- lenses are distortion free no flaw or distorted image is
acceptable.
Lens color is important. Gray lenses do not distort color so are best, but green and brown are acceptable. Avoid pink, blue and gradient lenses (those that are dark at the top and get lighter toward the bottom). The new variable lenses that are dark in the sun and lighter in the shade do not react fast enough to be useful.
Polarized lenses are good.
Frame material is a matter of choice, but good quality will last much longer, will not break at a critical time and make the extra expense more economical in the
long run.
Shooting glasses in a yellow tint are good to add contrast to the scene, but a word of caution: these are not
10

night vision glasses and should not be worn at night, especially when driving. Yellow lenses, or any other tinted lenses exclude light.
To choose a lens that is dark enough put on the
glasses and look into a mirror. If your eyes can easily be seen, the lenses are not dark enough. Lenses should
exclude about 80% of the light to be effective.
If glass lenses are selected, be sure they are heat treated to be shatter resistant. This is extremely important for shooting glasses.
Expect to pay $7-8 for plastic lenses, and up to $25 for good quality glasses with gold-filled wire frames.
Telescopic Sights The last in the "essential" triad of optical equipment
-- for the hunter is a telescopic sight or riflescope. (This
term is actually a misnomer since "riflescopes" are commonly seen on hand guns and shotguns.)
The necessity of a scope is debatable. Many hunters scorn them until the passing years make aid in seeing
the target very desirable. In other parts of the country where 100 and 200 yard shots are ordinary, a scope is essential. But here in Georgia, the average deer is killed from about 20 yards, so scopes are not as essential as they are handy.
Consider these things: 1. With a scope you'll see better under all conditions. As with binoculars, scopes make the target seem closer, therefore easier to see.
2. The human eye cannot focus on the rear, front iron sight and on the target at the same time. With a rifle scope the sight is projected upon the target. 3. Scopes
Outdoors ip Georgia

make hunting safer. The target can be clearly and more completely seen. The lower portion of the target is not obscured by the iron sight. 4. More accurate shots are possible since the target is made larger by the scope.
Selecting a riflescope involves the same principles as does selecting other optical equipment. Optical quality is of utmost importance but can be negated by poor construction. As in binoculars, a good, serviceable scope can be had for $50 or less, but real economy does not come cheap. As in all things, extra features cost more, and it is up to the individual to decide if they are worth the added expense.
Scopes come in magnifications from 1.5 power to 12 power. Since the field of view gets smaller as power increases, the selection of a scope should be based on the shooting conditions most often encountered by the hunter. The "ideal" for Georgia brush shooting, a 2.5X or 2.75X scope, makes it possible to find the game quickly and hold on a moving target.
For general purpose, medium range hunting, 4X is a
good choice for the hunter who expects to have time to
aim very carefully. Scopes of six power and above are for long range
shooting where the target is stationary.
Hunters who would hunt in various types of terrain prefer a variable power scope. These are available in 1.5X-4.5X, 3X-9X, 2.5X-7X; 4.5X-12X, etc. They
give the hunter the advantage of being able to select the power suited to field conditions at the time.
The relative brightness of riflescopes as in binoculars is determined by the exit pupil which is determined by the diameter of the objective lens. In most scopes this exit pupil is large enough for good vision and often is
larger than the 7mm that is the maximum usable by

the eye. Therefore it is possible that the large "bell"

often seen on scopes adds nothing but looks.

Naturally all optical surfaces of a quality scope will

be coated.
An important feature to consider is "eye relief." This

is the distance from the eyepiece at which the entire

sight picture is seen. Simply stated, eye relief prevents

the scope from being rapidly poked in the eye when the

weapon recoils. Three inches of eye relief is minimum

for safety in high-powered rifles.

The cross hairs so often associated with a telescopic

sight are on a reticle (or reticule) inside the scope just

in front of the eyepiece. These reticles are a matter of

choice and can be changed on good scopes. The wellknown cross hair reticle is, no doubt, very popular but is

not satisfactory in low light conditions and in deep

woods. Here a heavier post or combination reticle is

best.
A good quality scope is a much maligned instrument.

It is asked to perform with absolute precision after being

subjected to the repeated shock of high power rifle

recoil, being dragged through field and forest in all

weather conditions. Since an entire hunting trip is, more

often than not, reduced to one shot, it makes good sense

to get the best scope affordable, the best scope for your

purposes. Be sure that it is well mounted, sighted in

properly and that you can use it well.

Of necessity, all types and variations of optical equipment have not been included here. Good advice on

these items should be sought from shooters, opticians,
bird watchers, or anyone who uses optics regularly.

Each item is'a matter of individual choice and seldom

suits another perfectly. So choose well and enjoy

another dimension of hunting.

^

Only with proper
sighting in can a hunter get the full
benefit and
satisfaction
from a good
quality scope.

Noverpber 1977

11

--

By Bill Morehead Photography by the Author

Georgia's coast in the wintertime is a sportsman's
haven. The rivers and sounds hold hosts of saltwater fish, the marshes come alive at dawn and dusk with waterfowl and the freshwater ponds and lakes are usually warm enough to afford good fishing for bass and
bream.
But most people know these things. Hunters and fishermen who know the coast and who can get away from business and other distractions are not found in
-- coastal coffee shops they are found in duck blinds, in
saltwater dinghies or in bass boats.
As a matter of fact, the known game and fish re-
sources are getting increasingly heavy use, as inland sportsmen mingle with coastal outdoorsmen during the wonderland that is the Georgia coast's winter.
But there is another reason to visit the coast during winter. There is a little-used resource more or less going begging. It is the hunting, through the flooded marsh
meadows, for the wispy windsock known as Wilson's
Snipe.
Wilson's Snipe is also known as Common-, English-, American-, Meadow-, Marsh-, Bog-, Gutter-, and Jacksnipe; also known as the Shadbird, Alewifebird and the
Shad Spirit.
-- Shad Spirit now that's a name I like. I don't know
why the bird has been related in language to the Shad, but any hunter sure knows why it has been related to a
Spirit.
Compared to snipe, shooting at passing doves is easy. Imagine your batting average the first day of dove season, when you are rusty with your gun, your reaction lime is even slower than it should be and all the doves are giving you impossible darting shots. If you can

imagine what your shooting percentage would be on a day like that divide by two and you'll get some idea of what your shooting percentage will be on fleeting snipe, even when it's late in the season and you and your gun are married to each other and your reaction time is what it should be.
Unbelievable? It's hard for me, too, to believe that any bird is tougher to hit consistently than a torrential
dove with a tail wind. Every time I come out of the
-- snipe bogs I feel that it was the mud's fault, the wind's
fault, the sun's fault and that the ridiculously large number of shells I had to shoot for the pitifully few snipe I bagged was a freak, a curio, an anomaly.
For the snipe doesn't seem to be hard to hit. As you
enter a snipe field, (presuming the snipe are still there
and haven't flown to the Bahamas the night before)
-- you see snipe everywhere flying off, landing, winging
their way to the nearest other field.
-- And you flush plenty of snipe when the snipe are
there. Like any migratory bird, they adhere to the heretoday-gone-tomorrow philosophy. Oh, you flush plenty
of snipe. And each flush seems like a simple shot. So
it certainly is not, it simply can't be, your fault that you
miss!
Such an attitude is reinforced when an occasional snipe flushes too close to you, and you point and shoot before the bird gets a stranglehold on the air. During such shots, snipe seem much easier to hit than a bobwhite quail and certainly worlds easier to hit than a passing dove. And you think so until the next five snipe flush similarly, and you miss every one. And then you spot a snipe a thousand feet in the air, diving on you like a kamikaze, and you fire a couple of shots and the

Illustration by Michael Nunn

13

-- dumb bird lands 30 feet away from you unhurt. You
walk over, it flushes, you miss again. And again.
Novice snipe hunters (are there any other kind?)
tend to shoot too much. Include me in. They see a snipe flushing, hear the scaip, scaip of the bird and shoot. The
bird is too far away. It always is by the time you hear its scaip, scaip. Actually the sound is not anything like scaip, scaip. The old Shad Spirit doesn't speak English; he speaks snipe, but it is true that when you hear one talking snipe he is, as they say, "way out, man."
So you get a trap bore shotgun, and you tell yourself
that this time you're going to nail 'em. And as you wade
through the meadows, the snipe choose this day to flush too close. The birds you do hit are mere feather puffs, and you spend the rest of the day punching little tiny
pencil holes in the sky. Fruitlessly.
So you go back to your woodcock gun. This time,
every snipe gets up at least 40 yards away. You could do
better hurling curses at them as they flush. In fact, you do that, and bag as many birds.
Gallinago delicata is well named. New England
-- hunters prize the Wilson's Snipe above all others even -- the woodcock as table fare. It is worth going after
because, incredibly, there are days when you get your
limit of snipe instead of humility.
Where To Go
Last January, I contacted Gene Love, senior biologist at DNR's Butler Island Wildlife Management Area, and
he agreed to take me out for a little snipe hunting. On a

cold Saturday morning, I met Gene at the check-in sta-

WMA. tion on the

We sat around listening to duck

hunters explain why they had and had not shot ducks

when Gene mentioned that a snipe hunting party had
gone to the meadows. We followed. 1 took along my 300mm lens and a gunstock mount
for my camera. I knew enough about snipe to know they

are as hard to shoot with film as with shotshells. Enter-

ing the first meadow, Gene and I spotted the hunters, a

husband and wife team. Walking over to them, we

flushed 50 or so snipe.
Gene introduced me to the hunters, Ed and Margaret

Williams, recently moved to St. Simons from Washing-

ton, D.C. It soon became apparent that Margaret was an erstwhile companion for Ed on his shooting sojourns.

"As a matter of fact, she shoots a darn sight better than

I do," Ed mentioned. Ed and Margaret moved into the meadows while I

positioned myself behind and between them. After a

walk of about 50 yards, snipe began their erratic escape

from the meadows. Shot after shot sounded and, in-

credibly, a few snipe were bagged. "Margaret is a good

shot," I thought to myself.

I walked over to Gene and asked him about the management of the snipe meadows. "You know, snipe are

funny. They prefer their feeding grounds to be just so.

Sometimes we'll flood the fields an inch or so too much,

and the snipe will leave and stay away until the water goes back down to their liking. Not only are they hard

to shoot, but they are finicky.

14

Outdoors it? Georgia

"We allow snipe hunting during the managed hunts

on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The best hunting seems

to come in January and February, and that suits most

people fine, for duck season is usually over by mid-

We January.

get most of our hunters after duck season,

although there are times when we have plenty of snipe

in December."

Noverpber 1977

By this time, both Ed and Margaret were halfway
-- -- through and waist high in one of the flooding
ditches. Ed had told me he was 74 years old, and I won-

dered if I would still be able to walk when I was 74, much less ramble through a snipe meadow.

The snipe were in the meadows by the hundreds that

day. The Williamses got many good shots, and they shot

well. I was surprised when, at the end of their walk

and when they were ready to leave, they only had nine

birds between them. Sixteen would have been the limit

for the two.

"You know, I have hunted, and hunted snipe, in many parts of the world. These Georgia birds are identical in every way to my other snipe hunts. They don't

seem to mind you shooting at them, but they sure do

seem to have a strong prejudice against getting in your

game bag."

Later that morning, I talked to Gene Love about the

presence of snipe elsewhere on the coast. "Snipe are in

the Georgia coastal area in good numbers. Some natural

fields seem to hold plenty of them, at least at times. Our

managed fields certainly do hold birds. If you look care-

fully you can, at least at times, see snipe in many pas-

tures and fields well inland from the coast.

"We do, however, need much more management in-

We formation on the snipe.

are trying to trap and band

some birds in order to secure this information. At

present, snipe seem about as hard to trap as they are to

15

We shoot.

are just beginning this project here at Butler

Island, so I don't know a lot more to tell you just now."

Gene continued with some advice. "For the first-time

snipe hunter, I would suggest he come to one of our

Wednesday or Saturday hunts in middle or late January.

I would also strongly suggest he dress warmly, and if he

or she doesn't bring along a pair of hipboots or waders,

to forget about the whole thing.

"Snipe hunting is hard work. Don't let the Williamses
-- fool you Ed may be 74, but he is agile and in good -- shape. Mrs. Williams well, you saw for yourself what

a hunter and a walker she is."
A day or so later, I saw the wisdom of Gene's advice

on dressing warmly. Again we were out on the snipe

meadows, but this time, instead of the balmy 40 degrees,

now it was a bitter 17 degrees. The sky was a bitter

bright blue, all color and no feeling. Soon there would

be little or no feeling in my hands, either.

The fields had been flooded a bit since the first time,

and we had the unusual experience of breaking through

two layers of ice in the flooding ditches. This time, two

young guys, Thomas Winslow of Brunswick and George

Worn mack of St. Simons, and Winslow's Laborador

puppy were the hunters.

This time the snipe were gone. Instead of 50 flushing

at one time, we got one, maybe two birds at most. The

ground, needless to say, was frozen. The snipe had
-- moved perhaps somewhere inland, where the ground

would be more to their liking.
Gene had told me that Winslow and Wommack were

consummate duck hunters. "They bring in ducks when

nobody else does," he had said earlier. Now, I found

out they were good snipe hunters, as well. Winslow

brought down three birds with five shots. Not only that

but, as they crept up on a small pond, hoping to flush a

stray duck, an unlucky ringbill tried to make his escape.

Now, they would have snipe and duck for dinner.

Making our way back to the car, I noticed the water
on my waders had frozen into sheets, making my waders look glassy. I noticed my camera had frozen up, too.

The shutter snap was sluggish and I hoped that I hadn't
lost most of my pictures (I had).

Back at the check-in station, Thomas Winslow said,

"Bill, there are plenty of snipe here, at least sometimes

(every snipe hunter I talked to used that phrase, 'at

least sometimes'), and it sure is fun." I looked at

Winslow, his nose red, his ears colorless, his waders
-- iced, his hands numbed. I looked at Wommack same -- scene and I looked at the Lab, icicles hanging down

from his belly. Then I looked at me, a 6 foot 3, 235

pound ice cube. Then, I looked at the 16 snipe they

brought in. "Yeah, this sure is great fun!"

^

16

Outdoors it? Georgia

Recreating a North Georgia Christmas

By Patricia Lee Carter
Interpretive Planner
DNR Parks and Historic Sites Division

The traveler from Virginia was cold and tired as he rode on the long, lonely journey to Milledgeville in the dead of a winter night. Besides the discomfort of an aching body and empty stomach, he was miserable. Thanks to one broken wagon wheel and several unforeseen detours, he would not be able to arrive at his desti-
nation in time for his aunt's festive Christmas party.
When the driver yelled that they were stopping at the
Tugaloo Crossroads, the traveler awoke from his dream of Christmas with family and trudged sullenly up the
stairs to the inn, bracing himself for another brief stop
at one more dirty inn with stale bread and sour milk. But when he opened the inn door, his misery turned
to pleasant surprise. Warm smiles and warmer fires
greeted him. One smiling face handed him a tankard of
ale while another led him through a group of dancers to a dining room table stacked with roast turkey, pound cakes and fruits. Faintly aware of the fresh smell of pine, he forgot, for a moment at least, the planned trip to Milledgeville. The traveler had stepped into the midst of a Christmas celebration at Traveler's Rest. The year could have been the 1850s or 1 860s, or it could be 1977.
Traveler's Rest Historic Site is one of the oldest state-
A owned historic sites in Georgia. century before it was
acquired in 1955 by the Georgia Historical Commission, it was a north Georgia home and popular stagecoach inn located near a once-bustling wagon road on a bluff overlooking the busy Tugaloo River (now Lake Hartwell). At one time or another, frontiersmen, foreigners, wagoners, Indians, slaves and a governor of Georgia passed this site, brought by stagecoach, steam-
boat or railroad.

Located in Cherokee Indian territory, the land was first given to Jesse Walton in return for his service in the Revolutionary War. After Walton was killed by Indians near the site, the land was passed to his heirs, then to Joseph Martin and, in 1818, to James Wyly. Both Wyly and Martin were veteran frontiersmen with an eye for good farm land along potential travel routes.
In 1 835 the land was purchased by the man who, in a few short years, would be the richest man in the
Tugaloo Valley. Devereaux Jarrett was an early planta-
tion owner and entrepreneur who influenced many activities around Tugaloo Crossroads. By 1850, Jarrett
had amassed 14,400 acres of land and 68 slaves, and his plantation, equiped with a grist mill, saw mill, cotton gin, black-smithy and tanyard, provided needed services for the people of northeast Georgia. Jarrett the entrepreneur also owned and operated a toll bridge, store, tavern and post office and was a valued financier. Other business interests included gold mining and real estate. His fine house, the only house on the stagecoach road with glass windows, was the only inn on the long road through South Carolina and Georgia where jostled, weary travelers could get "... an excellent breakfast of coffee, ham, chicken, good bread, butter, honey, and plenty of good new milk for a quarter of a dollar." Its reputation for comfort and hospitality spread, and it soon came to be known as Traveler's Rest.
Like other historic sites operated by DNR's Parks
and Historic Sites Division, Traveler's Rest represents a unique time, region and lifestyle in Georgia's past and has been preserved as a reminder of that period. The curator and the interpretive staff at Traveler's Rest tell

November 1977

visitors of the life and times of the Jarretts and Others

associated with the historic site. Research and interpre-

tive efforts at Traveler's Rest have gleaned fascinating

details from yellowed ledgers and letters.

Christmastime at Traveler's Rest, its customs and its

meaning, is particularly intriguing. As the leaves begin

to change and the air turns colder, visitors ask how the

Jarretts and visitors had celebrated Christmas at Trav-

eler's Rest. Luckily, the ledgers and letters found there

offered some valuable clues to answering this important

question.

The musty ledger books from the Walton's Ford

store, owned by Devereaux Jarrett and his son Charles Kennedy Jarrett, revealed that an 1 850s December was

a special occasion. Spices, sugar, candy and whiskey

sales increased during this month. Purchases of addi-

tional plates, cups and pots hinted that people might

have been getting ready for extra company. Several

entries for purchases of calico, linch cloth and nankeen,

along with several yards of velvet, lace and beads, indi-
cated that folks may have been busy making special

gifts. But the ledgers also revealed that some Georgians
-- could afford "store-bought" gifts fine combs and black

silk handkerchiefs. One December 1837 bill showed that Devereaux Jarrett himself made two somewhat

unusual purchases before Christmas: one bottle of

cologne and two snuff boxes.
A letter dated December 17, 1886 from Mrs. Grace

Lucas to her daughter, Mrs. Charles Kennedy Jarrett,

hinted at her plans for a festive Christmas at Traveler's

Rest. This loving grandmother spent hours preparing

for her grandchildren's Christmas and sent some doll

things and ribbons by wagon to Traveler's Rest long

before mid-December. In one letter, Mrs. Lucas offered

to send her daughter more sage for their sausages know-

ing that December was hog-killing time along the Tuga-

loo. She also recommended stitching a sack cloak

trimmed in velvet for ten-year-old Sally Grace and add-

ing some flowers or plumes to an old hat and some

bugles or beads for trim to an old dress. Mrs. Lucas

wrote that she had also borrowed two dollars "which I

intend to get some things with for the children for

Christmas."

So Christmas was indeed a special occasion at this
north Georgia home and stagecoach inn. Last year, plans were made for a re-creation of a traditional Trav-

eler's Rest Christmas. The curator, exhibit attendant and members of DNR's Recreation and Interpretive

Programming Section searched for nineteenth century

items in twentieth century stores and, so, ran into a

We variety of problems.

selected decorations from the

landscape, traditional pine cones and holly and cedar,

and from the products which research had shown grew
on Jarrett's plantation, but some of the most common

ingredients for a hearty nineteenth century celebration,

such as "bounce" and "syllabub," drinks which kept
celebrants warm all winter, would have to be left out.

Nevertheless, the best ingredients remained: the re-

markable structure itself; the 51 -foot-tall American

holly tree just outside; and energetic local people who
were willing to help put on a special program in the spirit of North Georgia of the 1850s. Last year's program on December 19th received an unexpected, yet
-- very welcome surprise the first warm, sunny day in
the middle of a long, bitter winter. Last year, bright bouquets of holly and pine tied up
in red ribbons on the four front doors welcomed visitors to the aged stagecoach inn. Music in the parlor drew them into the old home where ladies in 1850s dress bustled around a room with mantels draped in magnolia leaves, pine, holly and fruit. The handsome Christmas tree from a nearby forest was decorated with yarn dolls, paper stars and popcorn strings and topped by a cornhusk angel. The smell of hot apple cider and ginger cakes made from an 1850 recipe beckoned visitors to the dining room while the warm glow of kerosene lamps and wood fires accompanied them on their tour. Last December's visitors to Traveler's Rest must have wondered how many stagecoach travelers had to spend their holidays here or how the Jarrett slaves had celebrated these special days of rest, or what candies, fruits and toys the young Jarrett children found in their stockings on a frosty Christmas morning. The program brought visitors and staff closer to the people of the past at
Traveler's Rest.
Christmas at Traveler's Rest is one of several special
programs at state-owned historic sites. Open year-round
Outdoors ii? Georgia

Bill Bryant
Francis Wilbanks, curator of Travelers Rest.

(except Mondays, Thanksgiving and Christmas) each

site is a treasured reminder of a portion of Georgia's

past. Programs such as these centered around Christmas
-- reflect the distinct personality of each site its locality, -- its time period and its historic significance because

while Christmas is a cherished and venerated tradition
-- to many, its observance in homes of Georgia then and -- now is never the same.
A schedule of special events and further information
may be obtained through the Office of Information and

Education. Please note that sites will be closed on

Christmas Day.

to

Noverpber 1977

Bill Bryant







CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS AT GEORGIA STATE

PARKS AND HISTORIC SITES

1977

Traveler's Rest ... Off U.S. 123, 6 miles east of Toccoa

December 18

Nineteenth century North Georgia Christmas

as celebrated at the stagecoach inn-plantation

house of an early planter and entrepreneur.

Lapham-Patterson House . . . 626 Dawson Street,

Thomasville

December 18-January 6

A Victorian Christmas in the age of Tiny

Tim, Scrooge, and electric lights.
Vann House . . . U.S. 76 and Ga. 225 at Spring Place

December 2 1 -January 2 Observance of Christmas by the Moravian

missionaries and the first Christmas tree in North Georgia.

Jarrell Plantation . . . Jones County, off the Juliette

Road, 8 miles east of Juliette

December 17-18

Workshop on making Christmas decorations

from materials found on a middle Georgia

farm.

Unicoi State Park . . . Helen

Month of December

Christmas decorations for people and for

animals.

19

Ring-Necked Duck

Art by Liz Carmichael Jones

20

Outdoors ip Georgia

By Gib Johnston
Although classed with the subfamily of bay ducks such as canvasbacks, redheads and scaups, ring-necked ducks are more closely associated
with wooded ponds, marshes, open swamp areas
and other sheltered freshwater habitats than with the coastal bays and river mouths.
In appearance they are so similar to the scaups that there is always some doubt in identification.
The name ring-necked is unfortunate because it
describes an almost invisible chestnut-brown ring around the black neck. These birds are also called "ring-billed ducks" or "ringbills," names
that are much more appropriate since the black
tip of the bill is separated from the blue-gray bill
by a much more apparent white ring. The
American Ornithological Union, however, has accepted the name ring-necked duck as its official name.
This duck's status in Georgia is best described
as "a fairly common transient and a locally common winter resident" which means that the
ring-necked duck is a part-time Georgia bird.
In fact, with the exception of wood ducks and some semi-domesticated birds, any duck seen
here is only a part-time Georgian. Ring-necked ducks seem almost leisurely in
migration. They begin arriving in small wedgeshaped flocks sometime in October, well after some species, and their flights continue into December. The winter is spent in the freshwater areas of the state. Sometime in February, ringnecked ducks start their migration back to their northern breeding grounds, and by the last of March or early April they have all gone.
While ring-necked ducks begin to pair off as
early as October, many unpaired birds arrive at
the breeding grounds. These ducks prefer nesting sites in freshwater marshes, especially those
that are partially surrounded by woody vegetation. The female explores areas of vegetation for
a suitable nesting site while the male waits in the open water.
Nest building and egg laying occur almost in unison. Often the nest does not assume the usual cup shape until about half of the eggs are laid. Ring-necked ducks do not appear to have the
territorial necessity of many other birds, and
nests can be found as close together as eight feet.
November 1977

This lack of aggressiveness allows ring-necked ducks to nest in greater densities than most other
American ducks. The average clutch consists of seven to nine
olive-buff mottled eggs which are incubated for
about 26 days. The male takes little part in the incubation but frequently joins his mate in her brief periods away from the nest.

After the eggs are hatched, the female ringnecked duck will brood the ducklings in the nest for about 24 hours and will continue to do so for four or five days if dry land in the nesting area is

scarce.
The young birds begin to dive for food when only a few days old but do much of their feeding on the surface until they are about half grown. The hen often remains with the brood until they
begin to fly (at about eight weeks). Approximately 64 percent of the brood will survive to

the flight stage.

Two-thirds of the ring-necked duck's diet is
composed of plant material with insects, snails and crustaceans composing the other third. However, these percentages vary greatly from
-- area to area in some areas the food is almost
entirely plant stems, leaves and seeds of various

sorts.

Because of its similarity to scaups in appearance and habitat, the ring-necked duck is not readily recognized by the average hunter and was long thought to be rare in Georgia. Only recently has its true abundance been recognized.
This reasonably common duck of the interior

freshwater ponds and marshes is a fast, erratic flier that can be decoyed easily. Ring-necked ducks offer good sport because their open for-

mation flights are not as vulnerable as close for-

mation flights of other ducks.

^

Ring-Necked Duck (Aythya collaris). Other

common names: ring-billed duck, ringbill.

-- Length: 16-18 inches: Wing: 7.5-8 inches;
Weight: 1 .2-2.0 pounds. Identification: Male black head, chest and back; sides light gray with white markings in front of wing; bill with two
-- white rings; in flight, the only duck with a broad
gray wing stripe. Female brown with darkerhead and back; gray wing stripe; white ring on bill; white eye ring; white belly. Can be seen in Georgia on wooded lakes, ponds and marshes (prefer freshwater areas) from mid-October until

early April.

21

.

When
Hunting.
Thou
Shalt. .
By Steven W. Ruckel
Regional Education Specialist Photos by Bill Bryant

Little did Moses know when he delivered the Ten Commandments to the Israelites that thousands of years later another set of commandments would be neces-
-- sary the Ten Commandments of Firearm Safety. Of
course, people of Moses' day didn't have to worry about firearms. Perhaps they had an unwritten code which cautioned them to "always point their spears in a safe direction" or maybe to "store their bows and arrows separately and out of reach of small children."
We don't know what kind of problems the Israelites
had with weapon-related accidents, but accident records have provided us an insight into modern-day hunting accidents and the need for safety precautions.
By the late 1940s many state conservation agencies had become concerned over the number of hunting
accidents that annually marred their hunting seasons, and several of them set out to reduce the accident rate. With the help of the National Rifle Association and other interested organizations, a number of hunter safety programs were developed and implemented by various states. The core of these programs included a set of safety rules that today is commonly referred to as the
Ten Commandments of Firearm Safety. Since 1950 and
the beginning of hunter safety training, the firearm acci-
dent rate has dropped 35%.

22

Outdoors it? Georgia

When compared with other causes of accidental fa-
talities, firearm deaths rank rather low. In 1975 there were 2,300 accidental firearm deaths (approximately
2% of the total accidental deaths) in the United States.
Of those, 1,400 occurred in the home, while 900 in-
volved a hunting situation.
The reduction of hunting accidents over the past 25 years undoubtedly is a result of hunter education. The Georgia Hunter Education Program started on a limited basis in 1965, then expanded quite rapidly in 1968 once additional Federal funds from the Pittman-Robertson Act became available. Today Georgia's program is headed by Robert S. Baker who oversees a staff of six regional education coordinators and a number of dedi-
cated volunteer hunter education instructors. In Georgia, records of hunting accidents from the
past ten years show that over 40% of both shooters
and victims involved in hunting accidents were between the ages of 10 and 19. This statistic is due largely to a lack of knowledge and experience or intentional disre-
gard of the safety commandments. Consequently, much
of Georgia's hunter education is aimed at this age group.
Two hunters can safely cross a fence or barrier by ex-
changing firearms. (Left)

Regardless of the age group, however, most hunting accidents could be prevented if only the three primary
safety commandments were always obeyed. First, keep the muzzle of the gun pointed in a safe direction at all times. If you are a hunter, no doubt you have seen this cardinal rule violated again and again, and perhaps you
have broken it yourself.
I've hunted quail with those who amble across fields and through pineywoods with a load of number 8 shot pointed in my direction. When reminded of what they
are doing, they usually reply "Oh, it's okay. I've got the
safety on." That doesn't comfort me though, because I know that a safety is only a mechanical device and that
it will sometimes fail to do its job. Just remember that no one will be injured if you always maintain muzzle
control!
Another primary commandment is always treat every
gun as if it were loaded, even if you are sure that it is not loaded. Every year one of the underlying causes of many firearm accidents is the feeble excuse "I didn't
know it was loaded." Really that's no excuse at all,
because it is your responsibility to assume that all fire-
Don't do this! When hunting alone unload gun and lay
it on the ground a safe distance from the point you cross the fence. (Below)

Noverpber 1977

23

Good maintenance is a big
part of hunting/ firearms
safety.
Wise shooters always check the action, and wiser ones check the barrel for
obstructions.

24

Outdoors it> Georgia

Make sure you have the right ammunition for the gun.
Ten Commandments of Firearm Safety 1 Watch that muzzle! Be able to control the direction
of the muzzle even if you should stumble. 2. Treat every gun with the respect due a loaded gun. 3- Unload guns when not in use. Take down or have
actions open; guns should be carried in cases to the shooting area.
4. Be sure the barrel and action are clear of obstructions and that you have only ammunition of the proper size for the gun you are carrying.
5. Be sure of your target before you pull the trigger; know identifying features of the game you hunt.
6. Never point a gun at anything you do not want to
shoot; avoid all horseplay with a firearm.
7- Never climb a fence or tree or jump a ditch with a loaded gun; never pull a gun toward you by the
muzzle. 8. Never shoot a bullet at a flat, hard surface or
water; at target practice be sure your backstop is adequate. 9. Store guns and ammunition separately beyond the reach of children and careless adults. 10. Avoid alcoholic beverages or drugs before or dur-
ing shooting.
November 1977

arms are loaded. So never point them at anything you

don't intend to shoot.

Finally, keep the firearm unloaded with the action
A (bolt) open until ready for use. truly empty gun has

never caused an accident, and certainly with the action

open it's easy to double check to see if it is unloaded.

You're asking for trouble if you have a loaded gun at

home, in camp, in a vehicle or while climbing into or

out of a tree stand.

Georgia's hunter education program is in the process
of being revised and upgraded. When completed, it will
include eight hours of classroom work covering the

safety rules, hunter ethics, wildlife management, guns

and ammunition, gun handling, shooting fundamentals,

archery/bowhunting and survival. Following a written

exam, the final portion of the class will involve a session

on a firing range where students are afforded an oppor-

tunity to demonstrate their ability to operate and safely

handle .22 rifles and 20 gauge shotguns.

Successful completion of the course entitles anyone

12 years or older to an attractive fluorescent orange-
colored shoulder emblem as well as a completion cer-

tificate which is honored in any state or Canadian

province that might require hunter safety training prior

to the purchase of a hunting license.

While hunter safety training in Georgia is voluntary
at present, there are those who would like to see it become mandatory for hunters under a certain age. At

least 23 other states already have mandatory hunter

safety programs.

Hunter safety courses are held throughout the year
by DNR. Often they are organized by sportsmen's clubs,

civic organizations, scouts, 4-H clubs, FFA, recreation

centers and other interested groups as community ser-
vice projects. Any person interested in enrolling in a

class or perhaps in becoming a volunteer hunter educa-

tion instructor should contact:

Robert S. Baker, Chief

Education Section
DNR Office of Information and Education

714 Trinity-Washington Building

Atlanta, Georgia 30334

(404) 656-3534

I doubt that Moses was naive enough to believe that all those "Thou Shalts" would be obeyed all the time,

even though most of the people had to be aware of
them. Likewise, simply knowing the Ten Command-

ments of Firearm Safety will not prevent an accident.
But we in the hunter safety business know that practicing

them will!

fe*

25

Big Deer Contest 1976-1977

The Georgia Big Deer Contest is jointly sponsored by Outdoors in Georgia magazine of the Department of Natural Resources and the Georgia Wildlife Federation. Judging takes place after June 1 each year to evaluate the deer trophies taken in Georgia during the previous hunting season. Winners are chosen on the basis of antler size in two categories, Typical Rack and Nontypical Rack.
All racks are measured by wildlife biologists
of the Game and Fish Division using the Boone
and Crockett system of measurement. Any hunter who kills a buck with an unusually large
rack should take it to the nearest Game Man-
agement Regional Field Office for measurement after the antlers have air-dried for 60 days. The Boone and Crockett system allows for the mea-

surement of all dimensions of the rack and converts these dimensions to a point scale. It DOES
NOT refer to the number of antler points or pro-
jections on the rack. Winners of the contest will attend the Geor-
gia Wildlife Federation's annual meeting where they will be awarded prizes as part of the Federation Awards program. Each entrant in the contest will receive a Master Hunter Certificate noting the hunter's name, date and place of kill, and final score of antlers.
The following is an updated listing of the rules for the Big Deer Contest which apply to the 1 976-77 contest, and the official measuring
stations of the contest. It is advised that all entrants call for an appointment to measure
their trophies.

RULES
Minimum qualifying sizes: typical rack-- 150 pts.; nontypical rack-- 175 pts. Measurements to be taken by a verifying official by the Boone and Crockett measurement system. Any hunter is eligible regardless of whether or not he is a member of an affiliated club of the Georgia Wildlife Federation or a subscriber to Outdoors in Georgia magazine. Hunters need not be residents of the State of Georgia to enter, but only deer taken in the State of Georgia by legal means and in conformity with all state and federal game laws and regulations may be
entered.
Only deer killed during the current season will be considered for the contest
prizes.
Deer killed with a bow and arrow are also eligible, provided they meet minimum requirements. Indicate that archery equipment was used, rather than a
rifle or shotgun.
PHOTOGRAPH: A clear photograph is desirable if it's one that can be kept by Outdoors in Georgia magazine. Please do NOT send a photograph that you want returned. All photographs and entry forms become the property of Outdoors in Georgia magazine. Please identify all pictures by putting your name
on the back. The Georgia Wildlife Federation and Outdoors in Georgia magazine reserve the right to re-measure any trophy rack entered, to interview witnesses of kill date, and to refuse any questionable application.
Before the affidavit can be accepted, the truth of the statements must be attested to before a qualified officer such as the notary public, justice of the peace, sheriff, municipal clerk, postmaster, member of the state or local law enforcement agency, conservation ranger, etc.
8. There is no entry fee for the contest.
9. Split or repaired skulls will not be acceptable.
10. Antlers may not show removed or repaired points.
11. All antlers must air dry for 60 days before measurements can be taken. Each applicant must present to the measurer an affidavit noting date of kill.
12. Address all correspondence regarding these awards to: Big Deer Contest, Outdoors in Georgia magazine, 270 Washington St., S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30334. Deadline for entries is June 1, 1978.

VERIFYING OFFICIALS

NORTHWEST
William C. Collins
Game Management Regional Headquarters
Route 1 Armuchee, Georgia 30105 (404) 295-6041

NORTHEAST Hubert Handy Rte. B, Box 322A
Gainesville, Georgia 30501 (404) 532-5303

EAST CENTRAL Dan Marshall Rt. 2, Box 138-A-2 Thomson, Georgia 30824
(404) 595-4211

WEST CENTRAL
Richard Whittington
Route 3, Box 7A Ft. Valley, Georgia 31030
(912) 825-6354

SOUTH CENTRAL
Frank Parrish Route 1 Fitzgerald, Georgia 31750 (912)423-2988

SOUTHWEST
Oscar Dewberry 2024 Newton Rd. Albany, Georgia 31705 (912)439-4254

COASTAL
C. V. Waters Sapelo Island, (912) 485-2251

Georgia

31327

26

Outdoors it) Georgia

CONTEST WINNERS
1976-77

TYPICAL RACK:
Bill Athon, Americus, 177 5/8 pts. taken on November 8, 1976 in Macon County.

NONTYPICAL RACK: No entries,

CONTEST ENTRANTS
NOTE: The following individuals entered racks taken in the 1976 season which scored above the minimum qualifying score of 150 pts. for typical racks, and above 175 pts. for nontypical racks. They will receive a Master Hunter's Certificate from Outdoors in Georgia magazine and the Georgia Wildlife Federa-
tion.

1976-77 CONTEST WINNERS

TYPICAL:

John Underwood, Hartsfield, 174 pts., November 8,
1976, Colquitt County.

Olen P. Ross, Norman Park, 165 5/8 pts., November

19, 1976, Colquitt County.

Kenny Newby, Jeffersonville, 161 1/8 pts., November 17, 1976, Twiggs County.

Gary L. Hall, Ringgold, 160 5/8 pts., November 29,
1976, Cohutta WMA.

Ricky Fields, Dahlonega, 159 4-/8 pts., December 9,

WMA 1976, Blue Ridge

(Lumpkin County).

Charles Mathis, McRae, 152 6/8 pts., November 17, 1976, Wheeler County.

Steve Cunningham, Blakely, 150 6/8 pts., November 1, 1976, Worth County.

November 1977

27

Outdoors Inventory
CONSERVATION RANGERS
of GAME & FISH DIVISION

Know Your
Local Ranger
Edited by Marilyn Noggle

Colonel Drew Whitaker Chief-- Law Enforcement 270 Washington Street, S.W. Atlanta 30334 404-656-3510
Maj. Joel Brown
Assistant Chief 270 Washington Street, S.W. Atlanta 30334 404-656-3510
Sgt. Steve Black Chief of Investig ations 270 Washington Street, S.W. Atlanta 30334 404-656-3510
Major Bill Cline Northern Region Supervisor Box 786 Calhoun 30701 404-656-6432 404-629-8674
Capt. Fred Shaw Calhoun District Box 786
Calhoun 30701 404-656-6432 404-629-8674

Capt. Robert Carter Gainesville District Route 13, Box 322-A Gainesville 30501 404-532-5302
Capt. Richard Roberts Walton District Route 2, Box 119-B Social Circle 30279 404-557-2227
Capt. V. J. Garrison Manchester District P.O. Drawer 152 Manchester 31816 404-846-8448
Capt. Jimmy Steptoe Thomson District Route 2, Box 138-A-2 Thomson 30824 404-595-4211

If you observe what you believe to be a violation of any of the laws governing hunting or fishing in the state, you should contact the local Law Enforcement
Office of the Game and Fish Division. Telephone num-
bers and addresses of regional offices and local
rangers are listed here.
When making a violation report, you need to give
the following information:
1. Your name, address and telephone number. This makes it possible for the Conservation Ranger to get in touch with you if additional information is needed.
2. The county in which the alleged violation occurred.
An exact location is desirable. Road names and highway numbers are important.
3. The nature of the alleged violation with as many
details as possible.
4. Descriptions of the individuals and/or vehicles
involved.

Major Jack Benford Southern Region Supervisor Route 1, Box 86 Dry Branch 31020 912-744-3288
Capt. Asa Pippin Macon District Route 1, Box 86 Dry Branch 31020 912-744-3288
Capt. Dennis Livingston Metter District P.O. Box 358 Metter 30439 912-685-2145
Capt. Jack Turner Cordele District Route 3 Cordele 31015 912-273-8945

Capt. Gordon Wilkin Albany District 2024 Newton Road Albany 31705 912-439-4252
Capt. Robert Howard Waycross District 108 Darling Avenue Waycross 31501 912-283-6639
Capt. Harrell Poole Coastal District-- Northern Route 1 Box219-R Richmond Hill 31324 912-727-2111
Capt. Paul Leverett Coastal District-- Southern Box 1097-S Brunswick 31520 912-265-1552

28

Outdoors ii? Georgia

Assignment Altamaha Appling Atkinson Bacon Baker Baldwin
Banks Barrow Bartow Ben Hill Berrien Bibb Bleckley Brantley Brooks Bryan Bulloch Burke
Butts
Calhoun Camden Candler
Carroll Catoosa

Ranger
Bobby Kirkland Route 4 Vidalia 30474
E. J. Davis (Cpl.) Route 6, Box 15 Baxley 31513 Patrick Nugent Route 1 Pearson 31642
Call Waycross Law
David Turner Route 2, Box 414 Cairo 31728 Marion R. Nelson P.O. Box 1242 Milledgeville 31061
Robert Sires Route 4, Box 195 Milledgeville 31061
Grover Simmons Route 1 Baldwin 30511 Harold Carter Route 2 Hoschton 30548
Rickey Foster Route 5, Box 230 Canton 30114
Dan Alexander Route 3, Box 253 Fitzgerald 31750 A. H. Hendley, Jr. Route 3, Box 902 Nashville 31639 Ben Weatherly
Joe Allen P.O. Box 263 Cochran 31014 Ronald E. Lynn Route 2, Box 235 Waycross 31501
Call Waycross Law Enforcement
Herman Wells P.O. Box 929 Pembroke 31321 Larry Brown (Cpl.) Route 2 Statesboro 30458 Glenn Whitaker 217 Spring Valley Road Waynesboro 30830 Gerald Kersey Route 2 Jackson 30233 Richard Nix P.O. Box 572 Edison 31746 Jerome J. Guinn (Cpl.) P.O. Box 1007 Kingsland 31548
Robert Hart (Sgt.) Route 1 Statesboro 30458 Fred Baskin (Sgt.) Route 8, Box 354 Carrollton30117 William G. Powell Route 1, Mt. Pisgah Road Ringgold 30736

Phone 912-537-2354 912-367-4884 912-422-7277 912-283-6639 912-377-3896 912-452-5056 912-452-8446 404-778-6196 404-867-9714 404-479-4077 912-423-7670 912-686-3433 912-744-3228 912-934-6833 912-283-7582 912-283-6639 912-876-5036 912-587-5196 404-554-4872 404-775-3623 912-835-2097 912-729-3331 912-587-5920 404-832-9719 404-935-5423

Noverpber 1977

Assignment

Ranger

Charlton
Chatham Chattahoochee Chatooga Cherokee
Clarke Clay Clayton Clinch
Cobb Cobb
(Chatt. River) Coffee Colquitt
Columbia Cook Coweta Crawford Crisp Dade Dawson Decatur Dekalb Dodge

William Knight Route 2, Box 62 Folkston 31537
William Haley Route 4, Box 306 Savannah 31405
Leroy Hackley (Cpl.) Route 1, P.O. Box 494 Cusseta 31805
Larry Hunt General Delivery Menlo 30731
E. B. Veach (Sgt.) Route 5 Canton 30114
Billy Fowler (Cpl.) Route 6 Canton 30114
James Smith (Sgt.) 155 Conrad Drive Athens 30601
Leonard Standley (Cpl.) Route 2 Ft. Gaines 31751
Robert Groover (Sgt.) 2073 First Avenue College Park 30337
Walter Booth (Sgt.) 203 Linnie Street Homerville, 31634
Howard E. Morgan 4363 Steinhauer Road, N.E. Marietta 30060
Philip W. Moss Route 2, Mansell Road Roswell 30076
Harvey McCauley (Sgt.) P.O. Box 221 Broxton 31539
Charles Grubbs 1915 3rd Street Moultrie 31768
James Hethcox P.O. Box 638 Harlem 30814
Henry Wilson P.O. Box 394 Sparks 31647
Walter Taylor P.O. Box 105 Sargent 30275
Cecil Rowell (Cpl.) P.O. Box 12 Roberta 31078
Billy Norton Route 2, Box 74 Cordele 31015
Larry Hunt General Delivery Menlo 30731
Ronald E. Bailey Box 15 Dawsonville 30534
David Green (Sgt.) Route 1, Box 1026 Bainbridge 31717
C. P. Palmer Route 1 Lithonia 30058
Kelly Grimes Route 1 Helena 31037

Phone 912-496-2892 912-964-5221 404-989-3242 404-743-8928 404-479-3395 404-479-5742 404-548-6118 912-768-2975 404-767-3706 912-487-2474 404-926-1020 404-993-6491 912-359-2631 912-324-2578 404-541-1005 912-467-2241 404-253-0018 912-836-3207 912-273-0956 404-743-8928 404-265-3552 912-246-1552 404-469-3768 912-868-5449
29

Assignment

Ranger

Boating Safety

Glenn Caves

(Ocmulgee River) Route 2

Douglas 31533

Dooly

Luther Earl Garrett P.O. Box 138 Vienna 31092

Dougherty

George Bishop P.O. Box 282 Pelham 31779

Douglas

Clyde Walker Box 382 Douglasville 30134

Early

L. W. McDowell P.O. Box 281 Damascus 31741

Echols

Marshall James Box 93 Statenville 31648

Effingham

James Wisner (Cpl.) General Delivery Eden 31307

Elbert

Grady Anderson Route 4 Elberton 30635

Emanuel

George K. Johnson (Sgt.) P.O. Box 996 Swainsboro 30401

Evans

Parks Motlow 109 South Clark Street Claxton 30417

Fannin

G. H. Davis Route 2, Box 138 Blue Ridge 30513

Fayette

Walt Taylor P.O. Box 105 Sargent 30275

Floyd

Louis Barton (Sgt.) Route 1 Armuchee 30105
Robert Gaw
Route 1 Armuchee 30105

Forsyth

James Farris (Sgt.) Route 6 Cumming 30130

Franklin

Robert Deal (Cpl.) Route 2 Carnesville 30521

Fulton

Robert Groover (Sgt.) 2073 First Avenue College Park 30337

Gilmer

George Dooley Box 594 Ellijay 30540

Glascock

Cary Deal P.O.Box 162 Gibson 30810

Glynn

Spence Adams P.O. Box 1097 Brunswick 31520

Gordon

Porter Black
P.O. Box 6 Fairmount 301 39

Grady

Call Albany Law Enforcement

Greene Gwinnett

Charles Copelan (Cpl.) Route 1 Greensboro 30642
Russell Honea Route 2, Craig Drive Duluth 30136

Phone 912-384-2735 912-268-4064 912-294-8056 404-942-4938 912-725-4504 912-242-7747 912-748-7499 404-283-2720 912-469-3430 912-739-4062 404-632-2871 404-253-0018 404-232-2540 404-234-0186 404-887-4948 404-384-4812 404-767-3706 404-635-4645 404-598-3920 912-264-7237 404-337-5335
912-439-4252 404-453-7832 404-476-2665

30

Assignment

Ranger

Habersham
Hall
Hancock Haralson Harris Hart Heard Henry Houston-Peach Irwin Jackson Jasper Jeff Davis Jefferson Jenkins Johnson

W. L. Lovell (Lt.)
Route 1 Clarkesville 30523
Michael Bone Route 3, Box 123 Flowery Branch 30542
John Bentley (Sgt.) P.O. Box 101 Sparta 31087
Max Crook (Sgt.)
Route 1, Box 523 Buchanan 301 13
Kenneth O. Athon P.O. Box 133 Pine Mountain 31822
William K. Hall Route 2 Hartwell 30643
Franklin Crook Route 1 Franklin 30217
Harold Rape Route 3, Box 392 McDonough 30253
Hugh Green Route 1, Box 21 IB Kathleen 31047
L. W.Jones (Cpl.) 606 S. Apricot Street Ocilla 31774
Herman Smith (Cpl.) Route 4 Commerce 30529
John Pettis (Cpl.) General Delivery Monticello 31064
William H. O'Neal 609 Kersey Street Hazlehurst 31539
Bernard J. Arthur Route 1, Box 132B Louisville 30434
Roland N. Dickey Route 1, Box 207 Rocky Ford 30455
Call Macon Law Enforcement

Jones

Call Macon Law Enforcement

Lamar
Lanier Lake Lanier Laurens Lee Liberty

John R. Floyd (Cpl.) P.O. Box 393 Zebulon 30295
Clyde Brogdon (Cpl.) Route 1 Stockton 31649
Glenn Pirkle P.O. Box 152 Clermont 30527
Timothy Letson Box 244 Dublin 31021
Arnold Wilmont (Cpl.) P.O. Box 306 Leesburg 31763
Call Coastal Law Enforcement

Lincoln (Sav. River)

James W.Wallen Route 2, Box 70 Danburg 30632

Phone 404-947-3239 404-967-6414 404-444-5248 404-646-2844 404-663-4516 404-376-7358 404-675-3942 404-957-4664 912-987-0241 912-468-5485 404-757-2618 404-468-6055 912-868-2067 912-625-8394 912-982-2939
912-744-3228 912-744-3228 404-567-3130 912-482-3432 404-272-5753 912-275-1993 912-439-7116 912-727-2111 404-285-2731

Outdoors \t) Georgia

Assignment
Lincoln (Sav. River)
Long Lowndes Lumpkin Macon Madison Marion McDuffie Mcintosh Meriwether
Miller Mitchell

Ranger
Robert E. Cook Route 4, Box 110-1 Lincolnton 30817 Merrill Chapman (Sgt.) Route 2 Ludowici 31316
L. C. Taylor P.O. Box 152 Valdosta 31601
Grady Higdon Route 2 Dahlonega 30533 Jack Hardage (Sgt.) P.O. Box 157 Ideal 31041
Harry Carter Route 1, Box 211-A-l Comer 30629
Larry Deal P.O. Box 324 Buena Vista 31803 Rodney Goodson (Sgt.) Box 155-B Thomson 30824 David C. Cochran P.O. Box 236 Darien 31305
Joe Starling (Sgt.) 8 Lee Street Manchester 31816 William H. George Route 1, Box 85 Camilla 31730
Call Albany Law Enforcement

Monroe Montgomery Morgan Murray Muscogee Newton Oconee Oglethorpe Paulding Peach
Pickens Pierce

Ronnie Arthur Route 1, Box 239F Forsyth 31029
W. H. Anderson (Sgt.) P.O. Box 186 Tarrytown 30470
Ronald Woodson Church Hill Avenue Madison 30650
Phillip L. Hackney Route 1, Box 157-A Chatsworth 30705
Loy McNeal (Cpl.) 3805 Miller Road Columbus 31904
Roy A. Morris P.O.Box 1302 Covington 30209
Jerry Duvall
Box 300, Pinehill Road Watkinsville 30677
Cecil Callaway P.O. Box 284 Lexington 30648
Judge Womack (Sam)
Route 5 Dallas 30132
Hugh Green Route 1, Box 211-G Kathleen 31047
Larry Morris Route 3, Box 82-A Jasper 30143
William D. Hill Route 1, Box 125A Blackshear 31516

Novcrpbcr 1977

Phone 404-359-3810 912-545-9360 912-244-1064 404-864-2235 912-949-2912 404-788-2790 912-982-4420 404-595-2359 912-437-4888 404-846-2547 912-439-4252 912-439-4252 912-994-9275 912-529-4505 404-342-1370 404-695-2639 404-561-9308 404-787-0738 404-769-5354 404-743-5353 404-445-7224 912-987-0249 404-692-5127 912-449-5294

Assignment

Ranger

Pike Polk Pulaski
Putnam Quitman Rabun Randolph Richmond Rockdale
Schley Screven Screven
(Sav. River) Seminole Seminole (Lake) Spalding Stephens Stewart
Sumter Talbot Taliaferro
Tattnall Taylor Telfair Terrell

John R. Floyd (Cpl.) P.O. Box 393 Zebulon 30295
Robert Hopper 312 Stubbs Street Cedartown 30125 John Owings (Sgt.) P.O. Box 482 Hawkinsville 31036 Mark Payne General Delivery Eatonton 31024
Walter Ogletree Georgetown 31754 Bradley Brown Route 1 Mt. Airy 30563
Harrison S. Ruger P.O. Box 352 Cuthbert 31740
Samuel Parrisher (Cpl.) 2402 Ruby Drive Augusta 30906
Dennis Aderholt Box 103, Rainey Road Conyers 30207
Rufus Tondee Box 204 Ellaville 31806
1. M. Gignilliat (Sgt.) Route 5, Box 128-A Sylvania 30467
James Neal, Jr. Box 75 Crawfordville 30631
Leonard Stuart (Cpl.) 211 Rogers Street Jakin 31761
John E. Corley Route 1 Iron City 31759
James Morgan Box 8 Orchard Hill 30266
Kenneth Carter
Route 5, GSP Post 7 Toccoa 30577
George Hancock (Sgt.) P.O. Box 191 Richland 31825
John D. Creel P.O. Box 1414 Americus 31709
Calvin E. Stewart Route 1, Box 129
Woodland 31836
James B. Neal P.O. Box 75 Crawfordville 30631
W. R. Hanner P.O. Box 503 Reidsville 30453
James E. Meeks P.O. Box 1823 Butler 31006
Aubrey Halstead 715 Bruce Street McRae 31055
David A. Darley 503 Cinderella Lane Dawson 31742

Phone 404-567-3130 404-748-2899 912-892-9525 404-485-9995 912-334-2956 404-754-2333 912-732-2752 404-798-5775 404-483-0790 912-937-2630 912-863-4629 912-456-2622 912-793-2910 912-774-2204 404-228-0902 404-886-5959 912-887-2451 912-924-8970 404-674-2684 404-456-2622 912-557-2917 912-862-3967 912-868-5449 912-995-5911
31

Assignment Thomas
Tift
Toombs Towns

Ranger
Charles Evans Route 1, Box 125-B Thomasville 31792 Henry Hart Box 204 Ty, Ty 31795 Mitt Rollins (Cpl.) 102 Lynda Drive Vidalia 30474 Larry Farist

Treutlen & Montgomery
Troup Turner Twiggs Union Upson Walker Walton
Ware Ware-Waycross Warren Washington Wayne Webster
Webster-Cordele Wheeler White Whitfield Wilcox Wilkes

W. H. Anderson (Sgt.) P.O. Box 185 Tarrytown 30470
Edward Friend (Sgt.) Route 1, Box 244, Ralls Road Hogansville 30230
Henry Hart Box 204 Ty Ty 31795
Richard Tyson P.O. Box 137 Jeffersonville 31040
Loyd Stephens (Cpl.) P.O. Box 83 Blairsville 30512
Marlin Taunton Route 3 Thomaston 30286
Ray Plaster (Cpl.) Route 1 Kensington 30727
Edric Bates 712 Country Club Drive
Monroe 30655
Harold McCluney 2103 Burke Street Waycross 31501
Wayne Hutcheson (Sgt.)
603 Hertson Drive Waycross 31501
James Neal, Jr. P.O. Box 75 Crawfordville 30631
O. D. Fouts Route 1, Box 15A Warthen 31094
Terry Sharpe (Sgt.) Route 1, BoxG-42 Jesup 31545
George Hancock (Sgt.) P.O. Box 191 Richland 31825
Rufus Tondee (Sgt.) Box 204 Ellaville 31806
C. R. Dixon Box 437 Glenwood 30428
Hugh Elrod (Sgt.) Route 1 Helen 30545
Thomas K. Swinford 243 Hazel Lane, N.E. Dalton 30720
A.J.Wilson P.O. Box 323 Abbeville 31001
Jack Thurmond P.O. Box 506 Washington 30673

32

Phone 912-226-8249 912-386-2925 912-537-7245 404-532-5302 912-529-4505 404-637-8123 912-386-2925 912-858-2570 404-745-2784 404-647-9730 404-539-2321 404-267-2848 912-452-3244 912-285-8571 404-456-2622 912-552-5432 912-427-2140 912-887-2451 912-937-2638 912-523-5439 404-878-2773 404-226-3359 912-467-3751 404-678-7535

Assignment

Ranger

Phone

Wilkinson Worth

Ronald Gary Fuller Route 1 Irwinton 31042
James Sherling (Sgt.) 811 N. Washington Street Sylvester 31791

912-945-6112 912-776-2102

Rangers as signed to Coastal Marshland, Coastal Patrol and Boating Safety

Coastal Patrol

Will Woodard
1012 Reita Street Savannah 31410

912-897-3139

Coastal Patrol

John Brown 707 Island View Drive Brunswick 31520

912-437-6232

Coastal Patrol

Thomas H. Lane 121 White Magnolia Circle Savannah 31405

912-925-7809

Coastal Patrol

Stanley Vick (Sgt.) P.O. Box 755 Hinesville 31313

912-545-9213

Coastal Patrol

Marce Winehart Butler P.O. Box 843 Darien 31305

912-437-6433

Coastal Patrol

J. W. Mills (Sgt.) P.O. Box 447 Kingsland 31548

912-729-5166

Coastal Patrol

Talmadge Hughes P.O. Box 66 Richmond Hill 31324

912-756-3694

Coastal Patrol

Edward D. Freeman General Delivery Kingsland 31548

912-729-5755

Coastal Patrol

Michael Ray McCoy Box 691 Savannah Beach 31328

912-786-4721

Coastal Patrol

Dennis Davis 1 10 Cedar Grove Road Savannah 31406

912-854-7124

Coastal Patrol

C. W. Hinton, Jr. P.O. Box 301 Brunswick 31520

912-264-8271

Coastal Patrol

Ralph Sheppard P.O. Box 1099 Darien 31305

912-926-7426

Coastal Patrol

Ron Wilson 192 Glyndale Circle Brunswick 31520

912-264-1982

Coastal Patrol

Jerry Rollins
P.O. Box 27 Hagan 30429

912-649-6638

Coastal Patrol

Richard L. Spencer P.O. Box 578 St. Marys 31558

912-948-9606

Boating Safety Lake George

Robert Barry Route 2, Box 47 Georgetown 31754

912-768-2463

Boating Safety

Johnnie L. Bright, III
206 Oak Road Brunswick 31520

912-264-6732

Boating Safety Lake Allatoona

Billy G. Fowler (Cpl.) Route 6 Canton 30114

404-479-5742

Boating Safety Lake Allatoona

Elysia Greenlee Route 1 White 30184

404-382-0594

Boating Safety Lake Allatoona

Terry Lovell General Delivery Cartersville 30120

404-974-7557

Boating Safety

Henry Daniel

West Point Lake Route 1, Hamilton Road

LaGrange 30240

404-665-3159

Outdoors it? Georgia

Outdoors
Quiz
by Ranger Philip Moss

EDITOR'S NOTE: Most of the following ques-
tions are taken from the laws passed during the 1977 legislative session.

1 When may long bows and compound bows
be used for the taking of deer? a. During archery season only b. During firearms season only c. During archery and firearms season d. Never
2. When should a deer hunter file his deer kill
report to DNR?
a. Within 5 days after killing deer b. Within 5 days after closing of the regu-
lar deer hunting season
c. When his hunting license expires 3. How often must a trapper inspect his traps?
a. Every 48 hours b. Every 3 days c. Every 24 hours
4. When may an individual legally possess a
wild animal? a. Only after obtaining the proper permit
from DNR
b. Never
c. When wild animal is found on his or her
property
5. What is a "falconer"?
a. An Atlanta football fan
A b. person who likes birds A DNR c. person licensed according to the
laws who engages in the sport of falconry
6. Shall a visitor to a state park, whether resident or non-resident, be required to have a trout stamp while fishing in impounded
waters owned or leased by DNR?
a. No
b. Yes c. Only if he or she is 16 years old or over
November 1977

Can an individual be prosecuted for hunt-
ing on a dove field that he or she did not
know was baited? a. Yes
b. No, the individual cannot be prosecuted c. No, if he or she did not distribute the
bait
Does an individual violate wildlife laws when he or she uses a light to blind wild-
life?
a. No
b. Yes c. No, if he or she has a hunting license 9. What reptile was recently added to the endangered species list? a. Cottonmouth snake b. Eastern indigo snake c. Coral snake 10. Which of the part(s) of a legally taken
deer may not be sold?
a. Antlers
b. Meat c. Hide
d. Tail
q oi
-
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StfHMSNV
33

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