CJutd()()rs
Ge~rgi8
Marcl) 1977 75c

George Busbee
Governor
Joe D. Tanner
Commissioner
BOARD OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Donald J. Corte r Chairman
Gainesville- 9th District Lloyd l. Summer, Jr. Vice Chairman Rome -7th Di strict l eo T. Barber, Jr. Secreta ry Moultrie- 2nd District James F. Darby Vidalia- 1sl District
Dr. Robert A. Collins, Jr. Americus- 3rd District G eorge P. Dillard Decatur- 4th District Mary Baile y Izard Atlanta- 5th District James A. Mankin G riffin-6th District J. Wimbric Walker McRae-8th Di strict Walte r W . Ea ves Elberton - ! Oth District Sam Cofe r St. Simons Is land Coastal District leonard E. Foote
Waleska-State -at-large James D. Con e
De catur- State-at-large A. lea La n man, Jr.
Ros w e ll-Stale -a t -la rg e Wade H. Col e man
Valdosta-State -at-large
DIVISION DIRECTORS
Pa rks and Historic Sites Divi sion He n ry D. Struble , Directo r
Game and Fis h Div ision Jack Crockford, Dire ctor
En viro n me nta l Prote ctio n Divi sion J . leonard le dbetter, Director
Geolog ic and W a t e r Re so u rces Division Sam M. Pickering , Jr., Director
Offi ce of Information a nd Educa t ion David Cranshaw , Director
Office of Planning and Re se arch J. Clayton Fish e r, Jr., Dire ctor
Office of Admini stra ti ve Services James H. Pittman, Director

Volume 7

March 1977

Number 3

FEATURES

Mega Ba ss Bear! Wil dlife Pro f ile : Fox National Forest
Rec reat ion A rea s Georg ia ' s Mag ic Coast Rock Cl imbing Deer-To ngue DNR 's New Board Chairm an

Bill M orehead 3 A a ron Pass 7
Susan K. Wood 12
Teressa Vi d etto 14 Bill Hammack 21 Mark Willia ms 24 Gib Johnston 27
David Cranshaw 32

DEPA RTME NTS

Outdoors in To uch Letters to th e Edi to r
1977 Turkey Seasons

edited by Bill Ha m mack 30 33 33

ON THE COVERS : G e orgia Sce nes in Spring. Phot ography b y Jimmy Volen ti ne.

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

MAGAZINE STAFF Phone-656-5660

Dav id Cranshaw Editor-in -Ch ie f

Aaron Pass
Write r W riter Writer Writer Write r Write r Priscilla C. Powell

Monoging Ed it o r
liz Carmichael Jones Mike Nunn Bob Busby Edward Brock Bill Bryant Jim Couch Circul a tion Manage r

Art Dire ctor Il lust ra tor
Ph ot o Ed itor Photog ra pher Photog ra pher Photogra pher

Outdoors in Georgia is the officia l montnly ma ozine of t he Georgia Department of Natu ral Resources, publ ish e d a t t he Depo rt me nt' s office , Room 714, 270 Washin ton Street, Atla n ta, Georgia 30334. No a d vertis ing a cce pted . Sub scriptions are $5 for one year or $9 fo r th ree years . Printe d by W ill iams Prin ting Company, Atlanta, G e org ia . Articl s a nd photogr aph s may be reprinte d wh en prope r credit g ive n. Contri bution s ore we lcome, b ut t he e dito rs assum e no re spo nsib ility or lia b ility for loss or damage o f a rti cles, photograp h s, o r illu st ra tions. Seco nd -class postage pai d a t Atlanta, Georg ia . 31 ,00 0 copi es printed at on a p pro x imate co st of $ 16 ,500. The Department of Na t u ral Resou rces is an Equal Opportun ity e mp loyer, and employs w ithout regard to race, color, sex, relig ion, or national origin .
Change of address : Pleae all ow 8 weeks fo r addre u cha ng e s to become effecti ve . Se nd old oddreu 01 well a s new addreu (old moili ng label is pre fe rred ).

Edit()rial

This and That About the Law

Several pieces of legislation which affect the Natural Resources Department and the state's citizens passed this just-ended session of the General Assembly. You should be aware of some of the more important ones.
Perhaps the most widely discussed is HB 792, which placed into law certain rules and regulations of the Department, the criminal enforceability of which had been challenged by the State Supreme Court in its Howell decision a few months ago. This legislation provides that violation of this statute is a misdemeanor and punishable as such. In its wisdom, the legislaturein the best interest of the state wildlife resources-has allowed the Board of Natural Resources to retain authority to set hunting seasons and bag limits for game species.
One of the aspects of the law which gives it some a ditional bite is that part which allows the Natural Resources Commissioner, if he de-

termines that a violation of the law or a rule or regulation has taken place, to have the violator's license revoked for up to two years, or to impose an administrative fine of up to $1,000.
Another important bill deals with surface water management. Broadly stated, this bill gives authority to the Department of Natural Resources to manage the withdrawal, division or impoundment of surface waters through a permitting system. Our state is growing so very rapidly that passage of this bill was absolutely necessary. It is the only way to avoid the negative effects on all water users which could result from the over-use of the state's surface waters.
There are other bills which deal with our Department, and although less controversial, they are certainly important. But the two mentioned here will have a more readily apparent impact on the immediate and long term future of our state.

Maret, 1977

2

Outdoors ir, Georgia

By Bill Morehead
Art by Mike Nunn
There are lots of trophies in the outdoors. Sheafs of papers hold state, regional and world records, and volumes burst with above-average creatures sportsmen have caught or bagged. There are many who hunt and fish only for trophies. There are even some who seek world records-men or women whose inner drive is betrayed by their eyes-with the cat-like pupils of fanatics
This is the story of a trophy of trophies, the world record of world records. It is the story of the trophy, the man and the place. There is no pictorial record of the trophy (at least none that has ever been found), but there is no doubt that the trophy was real, correct and the measurements were accurate. The man who came by this trophy is somewhat obscure. He is dead now, ahd with his death died the mental image of the scene of that electric day in June.
The place where the trophy was bagged could be no thore obscure if it were 40 miles north of Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territory of Canada. But it isn't, it is in the soft, familiar midriff of Georgia.
All of this is perfect-befitting the aura surrounding til.e taking of the most famous world record of all time.
lf it were a script of fiction it would be a mite hokey
and would have to be rewritten less dramatically, to tesemble reality. But since it is true, the circumstances just lie there-not giving a flip whether we believe them
or not. Facts don't have opinions, just existence.
This is the story of June 2, 1932. This is the story of
a 22 lb., 4 oz. largemouth bass, whom nature conceived
and nature grew. This is the story of a country boy name of George Perry, who took with him a rod and reel and a Creek Chub Fantail Shinner and went a'fishin'. And this is the story of the pleasant flowing Ocmulgee ~iver, the favorite of the Creek Indians, whose soft twistings and meanderings through time almost left bthind one of its elbows-a slough that the locals call Montgomery Lake.
This is the story of simply the most famous of fishing world records. No Southerner will disagree that this
Maret, 1977

is the most famous of records, and the occasional outsider who will disagree is hard put to come up with anything like the millions of bass fishermen who pay homage daily in their bass boat shrines to the Messiah of McRae and the Mecca of Montgomery Lake.
Quick-what are the measurements of the world's record deer? Or the Kodiak Bear? Or Atlantic Salmon? Brown Trout? Such questions send devotees scurrying to the record books. But ask what is the world's record bass and how much did it weigh and who caught it and where, and the answer falls easily off the mind. I rest my case.
June 2,1932 Herbert Hoover was in the White House. Gasoline sold for 12 a gallon and was hand-pumped. Cotton in McRae was selling for 5 a pound, and the times were as poor as the mud-skinned shacks, and pockets were as empty as the gourd hanging by the hand-dug well. Interminable hours were spent hoeing cotton, some spent in the shade shelling peas, and few-always too few-were spent fishin'. Such was the life of farm boy George Perry, as it was the life of every other farm boy in the depression South where the air held rainy foreboding and the bank held rainy foreclosures. Dawn can hang hot on a June day in middle Georgia. It is as if the cool night doesn't quite work, and the close mugginess of the summer day gets a headstart-it doesn't seem quite fair, and it never has. June 2, 1932, was a Thursday-an unlikely time for a farm boy and his buddy to get away and go fishin'. But get away and go they did. Never mind that the day was going to be too hot. Never mind that the moon was wrong, the the fishing calendars said Thursday, June 2, 1932 was a lousy day to go fishing. Boys in the depression South went fishing when they went-their time was controlled by the damnable green sprouts growing row upon row that fed the boll weevil and the fat banker-not by the sporting calendars. Where to go? Anyplace to catch fish-and that little slough down by the river was just far enough and
3

isolated The day was spent' ...,.......,"'"''
hot and leadened, seeming to bend the r.vn'"'"'"''~ weary humility , drooping the sullen Spanish moss. Cast after cast went bad. J E Page from McRae, George's fishing buddy, got a back lash in his casting reel. Then Perry got one. Cast after cast and nothing happening means you spend a lot of time watching the little birds hop back and forth from the palmettos to the cypress knees, means you spend time watching the cottonmouth watching you-shivering a bit when you forget he's there and turn around and watch him watch you all over again.
The semi-tropical rainclouds in early afternoon grumbled as th ey sta rted their daily chore. They moaned boredly as they began their foreboding act. The little birds ignored the grum ps of the clouds , as did the two fishermen.
Four o'clock in the afternoon is the time to start fishing , if you haven 't already been fishing for hours and are tired and beaten by the redneck sun and the cracker humidity Then , it's time to think up excuses for going home , especially when you've caught no fish.
And so, J E. Page and George Perry started rowing to shore, with Perry making a few half-hearted casts now and then. Perry landed the Creek Chub against a submerged cypress log. Wham! Splash! Spit! Silence. A bass had taken, then given . But it was enough action to start Perry fishing seriously
As they neared another cypress log, its brown body mou lderin ' in the slough, Perry made another cast. Stunned, George Perry, Farm Boy of McRae, Georgia, realized that 40 or 50 yards of 24 pound test B lack-0-RENO line had been ripped off his reel by some damn big thing in the lake
The Trophy Spawned years ago in some unnamed and unknown tributary of th e Ocmulgee, the little fish dumbly survived its fi rst few days against incredible odds. Its yo lk sac gone, the little female continued to survive
4

.

. . not it th at got too

snapping tuhliwhose worm-like lip teased

little bass into coming too close.

Somehow the female passed its first year Incredibly

alive. Food was abundant. The gentle flow ing Ocm ulgee

was the prime habitat for a largemouth bass. It was

created for thi s river Food was abundan t-but chances

of being food were abundant too. Longnose gar roiled in

the river, bigger bass with steel eyes watched the little

fish. Bowfin-monsters from another time-sha red the

lurking glades with little fish still flopping in their

gullet.

But some have to survive and after a while some get

big enough to have a fair chan ce. When the female grew

to abo ut five pounds , she beca me the eater, wi th less

chance of being eaten-even by the alligato rs.

Now, not even those brutes of saltwater, the spawning

striped bass , would view her as food- th ose silver

speckled deni zens who were meaner, faster and

hu ngrie r than her kind.

And so she grew a nd spawned and grew again.

Not hing much could stop her now She had a fair chance

to li ve her life throu gh , against that day when she would

grow weak from something and that a ll igator would

notice her feeble movements and woul d come over for

a closer look

She was old enough and large enough now for others

of he r kind to speed away at her approach . She

controlled her life, ballasting to coo ler waters in the

summertime, finding th e best log to hide beh ind. And

she was among the first-the first if she wanted to be-

to ease up from the river into the slou ghs where the

submarine springs leaked and th e water was cooler and

purer and where food was always abundant.

And so she was th ere that day , Ju ne 2, 1932. She

watched the shadow of something large slip by, its

fl ippers spl ashing noisi ly on the surface. She watch ed a

little bream come too close to her- but it di dn't matter,

Outdoors il) Georgia

for th e water was too warm and she was too sluggish , and so th e brea m was safe.
She stayed there all day, occasionally watching the shadow up above flippe r by Sh e not iced it when the clouds came over and fel t it when th e temperature of the water dropped ever so slightly Two hundred miles to the south, the tides were getting high because the moon was changing, and these ever-so-slight effects were being felt in her huge, monstrous body
Close by she felt , th en hea rd , o ne of her kind slash the water in a feeding try This action triggered her body, and she became awake with the alertness of the total predator Better that littl e bream not come too close anymore.
Above her, on th e surface, something splash ed . Her body remained still , her eyes shifting slightly to inspect. The thing wiggled, then wiggled again. She sensed food and lurched to eat. Her cavernous mouth opened and in went the little thing. She closed her mouth to ingest the thing into her gnawing stomach. But, something happened , the thing tugged like no little fish had eve r tugged and something sharp drove into her lip, then her jaw not once, but twice, three times.
F ea r plagued her, as it had not plagued her in years. She quickly sped away to hide, racing in a straight line like a fingerling races from her

The Place As the oceans receded during the millennia of years, grudgingly giving up territory from Columbus to Brunswick , rich, nutriti o us sea floors exposed, capable of supporting land life luxuriantly The lime banks and clays soon became pine fields and scru bwoods and, where the freshwa ter collected into rivers , dense patterns of hardwoods and palmettos. The n, some 10,000 years ago , th e last of the conti nental glaciers melted , raising sea levels and again flood ing to th e present shore line. This fl oodi ng interrupted the gradients of streams , maki ng their carry ing capaciti es overflow their banks , and the streams and rivers twisted and turned like writhing snakes attempting to get into balance again with their water loads. This is why the Ocmulgee, as do ot her coastal rivers , looks like a piece of thread dropped on a map . This is why the Ocmulgee meanders, cutting new banks, depositing new sand bars and ever so often changing its river channel , confu si ng landow ners and homewardbound cattle. And this is why there is a Montgomery Lake. It is a cutoff from one of the river's early channels, one that's more or less shaped like a half-moon , one which geographers call an oxbow Many such sloughs on the Ocmulgee contain

Maret, 1977

5

Montgomery Lake today
submarine springs, where the water table meets the bottom of the old river channel. These are known to be fishing hotspots. Indeed, one such place, near Montgomery Lake and known as Rhodes Lake, surrendered some 32 hefty striped bass last year (1976) That's another story, but natives in that part of Georgia know the sloughs to be have ns for fish. It's no wonder George Perry chose one.
I visited the lake in late January Steve Young, a DNR wi ldlife technician, and Mike Geishler, DNR fisheries biologist, a nd 1 went to the lake o n an unusual day (17 degrees and snowing like mad) H ere are my notes from that visit
The Ocmulgee is roiling from the heavy rains and is mud red. The water peels apart, sheets of it appearing to slant unde r other sheets and disappear. On o ne bank is a rotted tree, whose broken trunk is shaped like a fi st and , as the water rolls by , the fist rams to the sky and shakes , like an old man shakes his fist when he is anrgy
Steve Young is guiding the boat and snow is coming down in hard, little flak es totally unlike the kind that should be falling in middle Georgi a . Mike Geishler is sitting in the bow of the boat , and J can see th e splashing water freezing on my rain suit, and I shiver
Shortly, Steve slows the motor and we turn at right angl es to the river's course, and it looks like we' re going to run slam into the bank. I keep look ing for the bank and see Mike grab a paddle.
We're in the cypresses now and sudden ly the ba nk l knew we were going to hit disappears. I can bend over and look and see that there is an expanse behind th e cypresses. We mist through the trees and glide into open water This is it. This is Montgomery Lake. This is where G eorge Perry caught his fish .
D oes it look any different from th e thousands of oth er sloughs on south ern rivers? Yes and no . A complicated answer No, because [am thoroughly familiar with th e dank-looking water and the vegetation. Such water and such vegetation could be anywhere along the thousand mile coastal plain.
6

Yes-because this is where P erry caught his fish. It should look different for that reason, and it does. It looks different the same way the Lincoln Memorial looks different from a thousand oth er such mon ument s. It looks different because this is where history took place, and it will never look anyth ing but different because of th at.
And it looks different for a su rreal reason . It looks different because today it is snow ing like crazy a nd we're all bitter cold and snow is on the flooded palmettos and on the cypress knees. Snow is even caught o n some bold sp ider's web, a nd snow is o n the Spanish moss, extenuating it.
This lake looks, today , like the parlor of some little old lady who died a lo ng whil e back , the snow a crocheted cover for the furniture of cypresses, palmettos and water oaks. It look s like we've ente red a lake that hasn't been used for 45 years. It looks like a museum , untouched by time.
I shi ver, not o nl y from the co ld , when 1 look into the dark recesses behind the cypress. What is lurking there? Are there more bass of 22 lbs., 4 oz. size waiting for me, or for others?
I imagine the day of P erry Jt's hard to do, for I am taking pictures and my fingers a re numb and the bitter little snowflakes find the insi de of my mouth like dust in a sandstorm.
And th en we pass the area where traditio n a nd record says that Perry caugh t the fish. Steve Young says , yes there is an old cypress stump right here, under about 8 feet of water
We move a round a while, like visitors do in a museum, studying the water, th e trees and thinki ng about that June 2, 1932. And then we leave, and as soon as we a re back out on the Ocmulgee, heading for warmth and hot coffee, we can talk loud again, and we talk about catching bull bream and rockfi sh and we talk
but none of us is talking about largemouth bass. Epilogue
Perry stopped the fish on its long run. He kept it in open water, away from th e cypress stumps a nd logs. F o r 10 minutes he foug ht the beast. The bass made several long runs a nd , once, Perry looked dow n at his reel and cou ld see the line was al most gone. Perry struggled the bass up to the top, but it dived. Finally, afte r hi s arms ached, the bass was brought to th e boat. O nce more, th e monstrous fish leaped for safe ty and almos t made it to a limb.
George Perry and J E. Page took the bass to nearby Helena , Georgia, to show it to friends. The bass had been out of the water for several hours before it was weighed. The sca les showed 22 pounds and four ounces. Then they measured the fish. The notary public recorded the measurements length, 32 V2 inches, girth , 28 V2 inches .
June 2, 1932. Depression South . This was the time to catch a trophy , but not the time to preserve it. George Perry took the fi sh home, where it was cooked and eaten. For three days the Perrys had largemouth bass.
Outdoors iiJ Georgia

By Aaron Pass
Photography by the Author

The bear stood quietly in the shadows of the rhododendron, moving he r great head back and forth to better fix the location of the men. No rmally she took great pains to avoid men and only the security of the night caused her to venture this close. They were directly in her path up the mounta in.
Ordinarily she would have retreated from the manscent, but in th is cold December night she was being driven by powerful, instinctual urges to seek her den . The den was on the other side of the mountain, and her path to the gap was blocked by an encampment of deer hunters. Man, hunter or oth erwise, was her most feared enemy, so her dilemma was one of instinct to flee vers us in stinct to go to her den.
No one knows how long she pondered the situation before the dcn ning instinct won out. Abruptly she crossed the gravel road and under the cover of

Marcl) 1977

7

(Right) This bear was trapped during the pilot study. Here, it is under the influence of drugs and is being examined by Wildlife Biologist David Carlock.
(Lower Right) Wildlife Biologist Bob Ernst holds a radio coliar such as used for the radio-telemetry work
during the bear study . This collar
was removed from Bear #l 17- JJ 8
in her den.
the night and the rhododendron, p assed within a few yards of th e sleeping hunters on her way to her den. She did not know that her movements were being monitored by men that night, a nd that her location was known because of a radio transmitter that she carried in a collar arou nd her neck .
Bear # 117-11 8 was first duly noted by man on
November 6, 1972 when she was trapped by Wildlife Biologist Bob Ernst and Wildlife Technician Willis Foster She was caught in a "log-cabin" trap on Chattahoochee WMA as part of a pilot study by the Georgia Game and Fish Division to assess the feasibility of an ecology st udy of the black bear (see Log Cabin Bears, 0/G, February, 1973) At that time she was recorded as a 3 1/2 yea r old female, weighing 225 pounds . A strong nylon collar containing a radio transmitter was placed on her nec k. Over the next six months , her location was " fixed " 25 times in an effort to determine her normal movements and range.
For a few weeks she remained in the vicinity of the trap site, but her movements increased in late November. H er location was fixed near the Chattahoochee River on November 21st, and on Coon Den Ridge at the River headwaters about three miles away two days later She had moved unobserved through the popular campi ng a rea at the Concrete Bridge on Chattahoochee WMA during th e first nights of th e managed deer hunt. By the first of December, she had crossed Henson Gap and on December 7, the signal stopped moving. On December 29, the researchers walked in following the radio signal and flushed the bear from a den under an up-turned root stump. Contact with her was lost until January 18 when the signal was walked in again. Bear
# 117-118 was found, sound asleep in a hollow chestnut
tree. During her dormancy the sow was closely monitored,
and on February 5, 1973 she was found to have two
8

Outdoors it) Georgia

10

Outdoors if) Georgia

Bear #117-1 18 spent the winter of 1975-76 in this hollow tree and bore two cubs here. In fact, she and the cubs were in there and conscious when these pictures were made.
Bear #117-118 has not been the sole object of Georgia's bear research program which started in 1972. According to project leader Bob Ernst, 85 different bears have been trapped , tagged and released in the several facets of the program .
Starting with a proposal to study the black bear in Georgia mountains as a cooperative federal aid project, the Game and Fish Division had to demonstrate the feasibility of its techniques of trapping, monitoring and securi ng data to qualify for federal funds. Federal aid for wildlife restoration programs is authorized under the Pittman-Robertson Act of 1938 and is available to state
Marc!? 1977

conservation agencies for approved wildlife management projects. The money comes from an 11 % excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition.
The Pilot Black Bear Project in 1972-73 accomplished the feasibility study and data requirements. "The Ecology of the Black Bear in the Southern Appalachians," became an official project of the Georgia Game and Fish Division with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Administration on July 1, 1973 with a completion date of June 30, 1977 The goal of the project was to understand the black bear as it occurs in North Georgia and, in particular, to look for differences from research compiled on black bear in other parts of the country
Using data from the pilot study, the ecology study foc used on the life needs of the black bear in northern Georgia. The population density was studied by trapping and tagging the bears with the retrap freq uency being an indicator of population density
Other aspects of th e bears' habitat requirements such as den sites, food habits and biological data have been gathered and are being worked into the equation. Home range and movement patterns were stud ied by radiotelemetry tech niques.
Not a ll the bears were equipped with the radio collars. Aside from the cost of such a project, there are practical limits to the application of this techni qu e. While the ability to pinpoint a wild bear's location is dynamic and dramatic, other phases of the study have had more profound results.
The trap/ retrap program has directly resulted in a unique offshoot of th e bear study It was discovered that bears are considerable travelers and that we share "our" North Georgia animals with North Carolina and Tennessee . This led to the concl usion that the Southern Appalachians hosted the same population which moved among at least three states.
All of the states involved were already in some stage of black bear research , so a way in which the data could be pooled was sought. On July 1, 1976, the Tri-State Bear Study, as an officially recognized cooperative effort, was funded by the U .S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This was the first time federal aid from Pittman-Robertson funds had ever been contributed to a joint wildlife project with all the participating states working under the same project.
A number of students from wildlife programs at colleges and universities have profited by th e bear research . Joe Hamilton , who worked in Georgia's pilot study as a graduate student, is now doing bear research in eastern North Carolina.
Bob Ernst, who is wrapping up his part of Georgia's Black Bear Ecology Study this year is enthusiastic about the Tri-State effort. H e says, " This study will allow us to gain a more comprehensive picture of the black bear and the rea liti es of its existence in th e Southern Appalachians by disregarding artificial political boundaries which bears don't heed. We stand to gain the kind of
;r information that we can use to deve lop a regional man-
agement plan for this magnificent animal."
11

Wildlife Profile:

The sly, graceful fox has never made many friends, it seems. Apart from children's stories about the big red fox who chased the farmer 's chickens, and apart from volumes of fox-hunting literature, little has been written about the fox and his ways. In fact little is known about the cunning animal who is every bit as sly and quick as his reputation suggests. Remarkably keen senses of smell and hearing aid him in remaining aloof. And the fact that the fox is nocturnal makes study of him even more difficult.
The fox prefers to move about after dark because, like a cat, he can see best at night. Because of the tapetum , a layer of cells covering the choroid under the retina, light reaching the retina is reflected and intensified. This tapetum layer is responsible for the green glow that the eyes of many nocturnal animals reflect. Like the cat, the fox's pupils are vertically elliptic, another characteristic of nocturnal animals. Normal daylight causes this pupil to narrow to a thin line to compensate for the effects of the tapetum.
In fact, in many respects, the fox is more akin to the cat than to the dog, although technically he is a member of the dog (canid) family along with wolves and coyotes. The fox's most canine characteristic is his lack of retractable claws. But you'll rarely see a fox trot like a dog si nce they are, instead, graceful strutters like cats. In addition, foxes are meticulous groomers who clean themselves as cats do. Foxes never wag their long, bushy tails but twitch their tails s~ealthily in a catlike manner And pups, as young foxes are called, really behave more like
12

By Susan K.Wood
Art by Barbara Keel
kittens, swatting at each other with front paws extended.
Both the red fox and the gray fox can be found in Georgia. The red fox (Vulpes fulva) prefers more open habitat than the gray and lives mainly in the Piedmont and mountain regions of our state, although they have been spotted along the coast. The gray fox can be found throughout the state but prefers areas with both fields and woods, or pine forests such as those found around Savannah.
Both the red and gray foxes sport pointed muzzles, long pointed ears and bushy tails. Their similarity, however, ends there.
The hair on the red fox's back and tail is yellowish-red , his underside and throat are white, his feet and legs are black. The red-streakedwith-black tail is tipped in white. This species dens primarily in ground burrows, often usurping the dens of other animals instead of digging their own. These dens, usually found in sandy soil or sawdust or other soft material , are dug or seized in late winter just before young are born and can be as much as 75 feet long and as deep as 14 feet below the surface.
Outdoors ir, Geor~ia

The red fox is generally more carnivorous than his cousin the gray fox, though both eat a variety of small mammals, birds, insects and plants. In spring and fall , the gray fox's diet consists predominantly of plants, fruits and nuts.
Slightly larger than the gray fox, the red fox's head and body can be from 22 to 25 inches long, with the tail an extra 14 to 16 inches. Weight ranges from 10 to 15 pounds. The gray fox's body length ranges from 21 to 29 inches with an 11 to 16 inch tail. Gray foxes' weight averages 8 pounds.
The gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) wears a salt-and-pepper coat with pale yellow undersides. His bushy tail has a black stripe down it and is tipped in black, not white. His neck, back of ears, legs and feet are a reddishyellow color
This species prefers to den in hollow logs or under boulders, but will burrow underground as an alternative. All foxes usually keep available two or more dens in case of attack. In face of danger, only the gray fox will climb trees to escape pursuers. Swiftness is another defense in the wild, and in short distances , the fox can
Maret, 1977

About the artist: Barbara Keel has spent most of her 27 years in the Auburn-Opelika , Alabama area. Her specialty is wildlife art, her medium, pastels. Last October, she won second place in drawing in Outdoors in Georgia's Wildlife Art Show with her "Puma. "
reach speeds of 28 miles per hour Despite his reputation, the gray fox rarely in-
vades the farmer's chicken yards, but is a good mouser Thus he is probably no real threat to man's empire.
Pups of both varieties are dark brown, but red fox pups do have white-tipped tails at birth.
Young are born in April or early May, with usually four or five pups per litter At birth, they weigh only 85 grams or about 3 ounces. In five or six months, however, they reach adult weight.
Pups remain in the den for about a month, being fed by both parents. At eight weeks they learn to kill their own food under their mother's supervision. By 12 weeks they can hunt on their own.
The cunning fox well deserves his reputation. He is clever, quick and sly and can outwit most predators-a good example of why the fittest survive.
13

National Forest
Recreation
Areas
By Teressa Videtto, Public I nformation Specialist U.S. Forest Service
Ah-the thrill of getting the family together for the first camping weekend of a new spring. But there are things to be done first. Airing out the sleeping bags and checking the air mattresses for leaks. Putting baking soda in the ice chest and fresh supplies of band-aids and calomine lotion in the first aid kit. Setting up the tent in the backyard to air out its winter storage smell and inevitably having to let the kids camp out there with it. Making up lists, buying food , finding the tattered remains of last year's maps and , finally, deciding where to go.
Should it be the mountains or the Piedmont? Do we want to take along the boat, or would a nice gurgling trout stream suit the mood better? Are we up to primitive camping with some leisurely hours spent backpacking, or for the first outing should be stick to a developed campsite? And if we go developed, should we try for one near a wc11-known restaurant with all-you-can-eat cookery, or can we survive on campfire food fo r three days? The kids are all studying Georgia history , so
14

Ph otog ra p hs a nd mop s courte sy of U.S. Fore st Service
Outdoors it? Georgia

maybe we should go to a campground near some historical site.
Whatever your family decides, a ca mpsite that fill s your needs can easily be found on the Chattahoochee and O conee N ation al F orests in Georgia . Th e diversity of locales and terrain may ma ke yo ur decision harder, but with a little pre-planning and common sense, a family ca n enjoy a trouble-free outdoo r excursion at littl e or no cost.
lf you've decided that at least th e rudiments of civilizati on a re necessary, th e Ch a ttahoochee in the Blue Ridge M ountain s and the Oconee on th e ge ntly rolling
Marcl? 1977

P iedmont have mu ch to offer You won' t find the luxuries that some private campgrou nds offer but th e basics of wa ter, toi lets, tent pads and fire gri lls a re avai lable. Many of the camping a reas have been re nova ted to make it easier fo r trailer owners to get veh icles in a nd out of ti ght spots, but don 't look for electrica l or water hookups- th ere a re none in th e Georgia Nati onal Forest campgro unds in Geo rgi a.
Extensive renovati ons to some campground s were made last summ er with the help of fo ur fe deral ma npower progra ms Titl e X , the O lder Americans, th e Neighborhood Conse rva tion Corps, a nd th e Youth Conse rvatio n Co rps. L ast yea r D ocke ry Lake rece ived the most attention and is still bein g wo rke d on- it will be closed again thi s yea r Th e lake has been dredged, rock retai ning wall s buil t around th e edges, campsi tes re located a nd rebuilt, and ground cove r pl a nted . Th e yea r's closure will give the new shru bs and grasses a chance to get esta bli shed to prevent th e exte nsive erosion th at was filling th e bed of th e la ke. D eSoto Fa ll s has a new b ridge and obse rvati on deck, and severa l ca mpsites were removed from the stream's edge to prevent furth er erosion. Lake Winfield Scott has a refurbished ba th house, water system , diving pl atform and interpretive trail , a nd Lake Chatu ge has newl y gra veled tent pads. R abun Beach is a benefic iary of the YCC with improvements in campsites, the a mphith ea tre and water system .
T he accompanying cha rt will show you wh en campgrounds will open fo r the 1977 seaso n. All Nati onal Fo rest ca mpgrounds a re ava il a ble on a first come-first served bas is , and even th ough you may have pinpointed Lake Conasauga as your ch oice, you ca n count on it being already fill ed if you a rrive too late on a weekend o r holiday Although many campgrounds, like Con asauga, have an overflow a rea whi ch will be opened by th e range r on crowded weekends, it's still best to choose a n alterna te site within easy dri ving di stance .
An oth er alternative is to choose one of th e lesse r used campgrounds, su ch as L a ke Blue Ridge . Thi s a rea is esse ntiall y the sa me as Mo rga nton P oint a nd ra rely reaches capacity It opens Jul y 1, a round th e tim e when most of th e more we ll-kn own camping a reas are ove rcrowded . Othe r good bets a re Lake C hatuge in the middle po rti on of th e C hattahooc hee a nd the P ocket located on the A rmu chee Di strict in th e north weste rn pa rt of the state.
Weeke nds such as Memori a l D ay , F ourth of July a nd L abor Day will always bring ove rfl ow crowds to virtu all y every accessible camping area in both th e Chatta hoochee and Oconee. Plan to leave a day or two earl y fo r camping trips during th ose ho lid ays, or plan to ex periment with getting away from it all.
The Chattahoochee and Oconee National Forests are the la rgest blocks of publicly owned land in Georgia that a re readily available to all types of recreationists. Backpack ing and primiti ve camping a re permitted anywh ere on th ese two forests th at is not posted otherwise . The C ha ttahoochee's total acreage is a round 743 ,000 acres
(Con tin ued on Page 19)
15

Chattahoochee National Forest Camping and Picnicking Areas
except those on Cohutta and John's Mountain-see page 18.
....
creek PICKlfS/MfR/ MTN
I
\
N AGEMENT

U.S. DEPARTMENT~F AGRICULTURE
FORESTI_ERVICE

Scale in Miles 0

SHARPTOP MTN

\

' HENDRICK
MTN

\ MT. OGLETHORPE

- - - 1 DAWSON ~-

C.O..,

---.,

National Forest Boundary
- - - - -- State Line County Line
Controlled Access H ighway Interchange

(V
8
G

lEGEND
Interstate Highwa y U.S. Highway State Highway

..

Organization Camp (Private)

l_

Rec r eati on Site, Fo r est Service wit h Camping Fa c ilities

~

Recreati on Site, Forest Service without Camping Facilities

16

Main H ighway Good All Weather Road Graded & Drained Ranger District Boundary

[!!ill

A

Forest Service Road Point of Interest District Ranger Station Lookout Station

l

Recreation Site, (Other)

D.,.

National Forest Ownership

Landing Fi e ld

17

- - --- - --- Trail

. 4149

Spot Elevation in Feet



Trail Shelter

CAMPING AREAS

Cl 0..

C N

..Q ..c

.c..
Q)

.cv..

-~ ;:
a. a.

>- ~ <( <(

DISTRICT

Although the opening dates listed are accurate at this time, some areas may be opened earlier or opened for short times during fishing and hunting seasons. To be sure, contact the District Ranger

Rabun Beach Area 2 Waters Creek Tallulah River Tate Branch Mulky Cooper Creek Frank Gross Deep Hole lake Sinclair Oconee River Morganton Point lake Winfield Scott lake Chatuge Pocket Hidden Creek DeSoto Falls lake Conasauga lake Russell Rabun Beach Andrews Cove lake Blue Ridge PICNICKING AREAS Woody Gap Anna Ruby Falls Hill s boro lake Oconee River Barnes Creek Rock Creek Greensboro lake Panther Creek Fern Springs Keown Falls

X X X
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
X X X X X
X X X X X

Tallulah Chestatee Tallulah Tallulah Toccoa Toccoa Toccoa Toccoa Oconee Oconee

Armuchee District U. S. Forest Service laFayette, Ga. 30723 Tel. 404/ 638-1085
Brasstown District U. S. Forest Service Blairsville, Ga. 30512 Tel. 404/ 745-6259
Chattooga District U. S. Forest Service Clarkesville, Ga. 30523 Tel. 404/ 754-6221

Toccoa Brasstown Brasstown

Chestatee District U. S. Forest Service Dahlonega, Ga. 30533 Tel. 404/ 864-2541

Armuchee

Armuchee

Chestatee

Cohutta

Chattooga

Tallulah

Chattooga

Toccoa

Chestatee Chattooga Oconee Oconee Cohutta Toccoa Oconee Chattooga Chattooga Armuchee

Cohutta District U. S. Forest Service Chatsworth, Ga. 30705 Tel. 404/ 695-3932
Tallulah District U. S. Forest Service Clayton, Ga. 30525 Tel. 404/ 782-3320
Toccoa District U. S. Forest Service Blue Ridge, Ga . 30513 Tel. 404/ 632-2031
Oconee District U. S. Fo rest Service Monticello, Ga. 31064 Tel. 404/ 468-6990

18

Outdoors ir, Georgia

(Continued from Page 15)
while the Oconee totals about 105,000 acres. That's a lot of room to explore if getting away is your thing.
Striking out on your own has much to offer-the experience of being dependent on your wits and on the land, the solitude, the excitement of discovery, and camping on soft beds of leaves and needles enveloped by noises and smells of the forest.
With all this pleasure, though, comes certain responsibilities. Everything that goes in with you must also come out-especially your trash. Try to pick a campsite that hasn't been used before. Continuous camping on the same spots will remove ground cover and invite erosion. Stay away from streambanks and lakesides-these areas are especially susceptible to erosion which will damage the water environment. When you leave your campsite, scatter your fire ring and leave no signs of your habitation. Use only dead or down wood for firewood-cutting live trees is against the law. And take your camera. Natural openings or clearcuts are especially rich in wildlife, and the early riser may get some prize-winning photos.
The U.S. Forest Service's Brasstown Bald Visitor Information Center on top of Georgia's highest mountain will be open during daylight hours on weekends beginning March 12 and will be open seven days a week beginning May 1 Picnic sites, exhibits, a working fire tower, an interpretive loop trail and several good hiking trails offer a variety of activities for visitors to Brass-
Maret? 1977

town Bald. Just remember to dress warmly since the

Bald remains very chilly until mid-summer.

The cost of all this is minimal. The Forest Service

was enabled by the Land and Water Conservation Act of

1965 to charge fees for the use of certain facilities. The

revenues from these fees are put back into federal and

state outdoor recreation programs. The maximum charge

for any campground on both the Chattahoochee and

Oconee is $3.00 per night. Most sites, though, are $1-2

per night, and some are free . There is no charge for

camping on primitive sites. Persons 62 years or older

may obtain free of charge a Golden Age Passport which

entitles them to a 50 per cent discount on user fees in the

Chattahoochee and Oconee National Forests as well as

in all national parks. These may be obtained by present-

ing, in person, proof of age such as a driver's license at

any national park entrance station, at any national forest

campground check-in station or at the National Park

Service Regional Office at 1895 Phoenix Boulevard in

Atlanta.

An indispensable tool for those planning any kind of

trip through the Chattahoochee or Oconee is the forest

recreation map for each area. The Chattahoochee map

costs 50 , the Oconee map is free. Maps and additional

information on the two forests may be obtained by

writing the Forest Supervisor, Chattahoochee-Oconee

National Forests, P.O. Box 1437, Gainesville, Georgia

30501

r::&;i

19

By Bill Hammack
Georgia's coast is a magic place, a Cheshire cat sort of place now you see it, now you don't. Alice in Wonderland would feel right at home.
Beaches, spits, sandbars and islands appear and vanish , only to show up again , with a new face, someplace else in the area.
"One reason for that," said Sam Pickering, director of the Geologic and Water Resources Division of Georgia's Department of Natural Resources, "is the tide. Take a look at a map of the southeastern coast. From Cape Hatteras to Palm Beach , the coastline looks like a wide funnel, with the Georgia shore at the narrow end. This configuration is why we have tides up to nine feet around Savannah while the tides at Hatteras and Palm Beach are less than half that. The tide creates strong currents in and out of our estuaries. Geologists have felt for some time that these currents are why Georgia has short fat islands with wide estuaries on our coast, while farther north and south, with less powerful currents, long skinny barrier islands are formed."
Georgia's comparatively larger tidal flow pulls sand from the shore when the tide goes out, but the incoming tide does not necessarily deposit the sand at the same bank. As the sand works in and out, it may build up a new coastal feature, like a new island or a sandspit, it may change the shore profile of an older island or a beach , or it might cause an island or small peninsula to vanish.
"The coast essentially is shaped by three factors ," said Pickering. "One of them is wave action. The amount of beach erosion is predicated on the angle at which the waves hit the beach, especially big storm waves. If the wave strikes the beach at an angle less than 90 degrees, erosion increases. If the waves head straight in, erosion diminishes.
"The second factor that shapes the coast is wind erosion , which affects the movement and size of shoreline dunes. Sand dunes act as storage areas for beach sand, and they absorb storm energy When development -any sort of construction-takes place on dunes, or their natural vegetation is removed, beach erosion generally increases.
"The third factor is the amount of sediment brought down by rivers . A lot of sediment builds a coast outward. Georgia rivers used to make contributions, but this may have been substantially reduced by large dams upstream."
There's a new island on the Georgia coast that Pickering is deeply interested in-Williamson Island, off the southern tip of Little Tybee Island. In 1963 , Wil-
N A S. A high altitude photo of Sapelo Island taken in I973 from a U-2 airplane. Cabretta Inlet, in center of picture, has changed greatly since I954 when coastal maps were made.
Maret, 1977

Georgia's salt marsh has an intricate network of winding tidal drainage channels.
Iiamson Island was a little sandpit sticking a small toe in the water from Little Tybee. Within six years, it was a well-developed island and has been growing steadily since then. Today it's more than two miles long, averages half a mile wide and covers two or three hundred acres. Dunes are growing, some of them 10 or 15 feet high, and vegetation is thriving in some spots.
The blase may shrug and ask what difference this little dab of new land makes when there are dozens of much larger coastal islands in the Southeast; the answer is that Williamson Island is a microcosm of the entire Georgia coast, an invaluable laboratory for study of how the Golden Isles of Georgia got to be the way they are. It's a Golden Isle in miniature, its creation speeded up. While that constitutes its chief importance to geologists seeking to learn more about this blue and green and white and brown planet spinning in the velvet of space, Williamson Island may furnish other clues detectives in scientific fields have been looking for. For instance, says Sam Pickering, "Biologists may learn a little more about how forests developed in Georgia's coastal area, may find out something about what kind of animals develop on an island; how quickly populations of deer, turkeys, coons and squirrels develop in an isolated area when they are outside of man's influence. Williamson Island is ideal for studies like these. There's water and there's marsh all around it. The only way for a man to get there is to be very determined."
Between Williamson Island and Little Tybee, more marshland is growing, and one of these days Williamson may weld itself to the Little Tybee mainland.
Williamson Island continues to extend itself to the south because, says Dr Vernon J Henry, professor of geology at the University of Georgia Marine Institute on
21

Topographic map on left shows Cabretta Inlet as it was in 1954. On right, blue shows new land which was built up by 1974, and red depicts areas that have eroded
Sapelo Island and at the University in Athens, "the grain of depletion on the Georgia coast runs from north to south. Beaches, islands, spits and other shoreline features tend to erode from the north with sediment flowing south . There are minor reversals when winds and currents shift to come from the south in the summer, but the winds that affect our coast ordinarily are easterly and northeasterly "
This is what created Williamson Island, Dr. Henry observes. "As the small sandspit on Little Tybee continued to build, it pushed itself past the mouth of a creek. The creek finally broke through it, and the spit became an island. Velocities in tidal creeks run pretty high. This chain of events is not at all infrequent. Near the mouth of the Altamaha there's a big hook-line spit, similar to Cape Cod but much smaller Historical coastal evolution is going on here; marsh grass is filling in behind the spit."
Georgia, says Dr Henry, has an "energetic coast. What we lack in wave energy is made up with tide energy Our coast is a dynamic area. You shouldn't be surprised to find changes when you come back there after
22

away. This type of erosion and accretion mapping has been completed for the entire Georgia coast.
having been away from it for as long as five years. A typical Georgia coastal island looks permanent and unchanging. It's been there for thousands of years of course, but it hasn't always looked the way it appears today and it won't look like that tomorrow "
For this reason, Pickering and Henry and Arnold Zisa, geomorphologist in Georgia's Geologic and Water Resources Division, stress the need of coastal study before anybody builds a beach resort, camping facility, dock or beachfront house. If somebody builds a cottage there without such research, he or she may quite soon discover that the beach, instead of being the front yard, is way down thataway toward the east, beyond all that new marsh grass and the new island or sandspit. Or, just as likely, the proud new beachhouse owner may find that the beach is back yonder to the west, as the cottage, surrounded by the ocean, slowly sinks.
Arnold Zisa says, "Study of geomorphic history helps reveal whether a site is stable, whether it's growing or whether it's receding. We have aerial photographs that go back 40 years, which isn't very long, but they can provide us with some clues. Historical maps, of course, go
Outdccrs iQ Gecr~ia

In I975 and '76 the U S. Army Corps of Engineers built up Savannah Beach by pumping sand from a shoal at the south end of Tybee Island.
way back, but we don't know how accurate they are. However, scientists work with more than maps, for example, they're studying the frequency and intensity of storms, which play a big role in coastal conformation."
Zisa emphasizes that geomorphologists and geologists cannot predict the stability of any given coastal area with certainty "The very nature of the problem dictates that we work with probabilities," he said. "What we can do is help a potential builder decrease the probability of any given site washing out."
Savannah Beach was established long before anybody gave a thought to geologic considerations before building a resort on the restless ocean. Eventually Savannah Beach started washing away Says Zisa, "The renourishment program for the beach that was completed last year has built it back up. But there's no guarantee it will stay that way"
As Zisa continues, "In this area of geological study scientists work with probabilities." First investigation of the laws of probability were made by Galileo, who pursued his research by rolling dice. When Mother Nature rolls them bones . on the Georgia coast, anything may turn up, or vanish, or change. Geolcgical study can help, even though providing only some educated body English.
e~
N A S. A image of most of Georgia's coast, taken from 570 miles altitude by the Landsat satellite.

Maret, 1977

23

By Mark Williams Photography by the Author
24

Perched on a small outcrop of rock, I enjoyed a panoramic view of the scenic valley nestled below among smoke-blue mountains. Above towered a vertical rock face that seemed to reach to the crystal clear blue sky And on that almost perpendicular slab of granite, three dauntless, hearty souls picked their way, aiming for the top.
The scene is Mt Yonah , roughly 2000 feet above sea level. Located about five miles north-
Outdoors il? Geor~ia

east of Cleveland, Georgia on Highway 75, Mt. Y onah has become a popular site for rock climbers in Georgia. But it's not a place for beginners to try their luck. In fact, luck is a factor not to be counted upon in this sport

Marcl) 1977

25

Rock climbing (real mountain climbing, you

might say) is a relatively new sport in Georgia

that is gaining in popularity among the stout-

hearted and sure-footed individuals who really

want a challenge. Once thought of only in terms

of scientific exploration, rock climbing has at-

tracted so much attention that the Southeastern

Climbers Association was formed to promote

climbing safety and to work for higher environ-

mental standards on trails.

Using small pieces of metal wedged into

cracks in the rock, and attaching a safety rope

through the metal rings, Chris Hall and his

friends were slowly climbing that vertical rock

slab that I dared not approa.ch yet Chris is the

Georgia director of the Sotttheastern Climbers

Association and an expert in rock climbing

'Rock climbing must be a very safety-conscious

sport Every climbing attempt invoLves at least

two people. The leader performs the balancing

act, climbing the rock first and wedging the

chocks (small pieces of metal) into the cracks.

Then he must attach the safety rope to the chock

and continue upward. The belayer, the second

person, must remain below and feed out the

safety rope as the leader ascends. If the leader

should slip and begin to fall, the belayer must

immediately put tension on the rope thus keep-

ing the leader from dropping more than a few

feet . This buddy system must be finely tuned to

prevent serious injury on the rocks.

Once all climbers have reached the top, the

descent begins. This is the most dangerous

aspect of rock climbing and requires the greatest

concentration and caution. Known as rappel-

ling, the descent technique involves threading

the rope through a metal loop attached to the

climber's waist. Once this vital step is completed,

the climber slowly walks backward down the

face of the rock.

Sound like something you'd like to try? If so,

remember that as in most sports, you won't be

successful just by going out and giving~it the old

college try Please don't just find a mountain and

start climbing, or we might read about you in the

morning papers. Several schools in North Geor-

gia provide the training you must have before

attempting your first rock climbing expedition .

The Southeastern School of Mountaineering in

Dahlonega and Wolfcre ek Wilderness in Blairs-

ville are two of the best known.

\l::f;

26

Outdoors iJ? Georgia

By Gib Johnson Photography by Bob Busby

DEER-TONGUE Carphephorus odoratissimus (J. F. Gmel) Hebert. Glabrous perennial to 2 m tall, with a distinct odor of vanilla which can sometimes be detected in the wild from a distance. Leaves alternate, the basal ones to 35 em long and 7 em wide. Flowers, all bisexual, rays absent, bracts in several overlapping series, achenes 10-ribbed, the pappus of tawny to purplish finely barbed bristles 3-4 mm long, entire heads under 1 em long. - Common. Pinelands, savannahs, thin mixed woods, usually poorly drained places, Fla. into se La., c Ala., C P of Ga., and se NC. July-Oct. (Duncan and Foote)
This seems like a lot of description for a rather nondescript six-foot tall purple-flowered weed that grows in low places in south Georgia.
As with many of our native plants, deer-tongue is unheard of by most people and recognized by even fewer, but each person reading this article probably has come into direct contact with deer-tongue today, and will again today. You'll find out how later, but first let's back up a way.
The plant, which produces a universal product called coumarin, begins its life in the lowlands of south Georgia as a tall solitary weed with purple flowers in late summer. Most of the leaves are near the ground. It is these leaves that are harvested for sale. They are harvested by children for spending money and by their parents for pocket change. Some support families through the sale of deertongue. Tons of it are sold every year in Georgia, more than in any other state. There are dealers throughout the area and markets in Waycross, Brunswick and Homerville where the sun-dried leaves bring from 40 to 70 per pound. Green leaves bring much less, if they can be sold at all.
It is after a drying period that the value of the deertongue leaves becomes evident, for as they dry, they give off a rather strong, but soft and pleasant odor, like vanilla but not quite, or like spice, or very mild tobacco. The odor is indescribable but good.
The dried leaves are used in producing the aromas of perfumes, shampoo, soaps, shaving cream, etc. Some deer-tongue is shredded for use in small amounts in

Maret, 1977

27

28

~utdoors it? Geor~ia

smoking tobacco, but most is put through a process that steeps the leaves in water or other solvents to remove the coumarin. This is the essential element of deer-tongue (and numerous other plants) that emits that wonderful odor It is the element that perfumers all over the world seek, the substance which foreign ambassadors have come to south Georgia to obtain for their nations. And it comes from a plain old Georgia weed.
For years, coumarin was used as a flavoring agent, but some 15 years ago the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned its use as a food additive, hence the demise of artificial vanilla extracts (only the vaniJia was artificial , other ingredients were quite natural) Also as a result of this action, coumarin was banished in the perfume and tobacco industry Today most of the tobacco-
Maret, 1977

ni sts use deer-tongue primarily for export, but deertongue probably can be found in some custom tobacco shops.
This morning when you showered, you probably noticed the good clean smell of your Irish Spring or Dove soap-toiletries made of "natural ingredients." You might have used a lime shaving soap and splashed on a little after-shave lotion, brushed your teeth with spearmint toothpaste, and used an herbal deodorant, all of which brought you seven direct uses of coumarin, and the day had barely started. You will contact this essence many more times today
Coumarin is widely used in the perfume industry because of its stability; it retains its own scent and causes other ingredients to retain theirs for the life of the product. It is used not only for its own smell but for its ability to make other fragrants long lived.
Other vital uses of coumarin are in the medical field where a compound of it is Dicummerol, an orally administered anti-coagulant and, oddly enough, a rat poison that has revolutionized rodent control.
Such compounds now are made from synthetically manufactured coumarin, and it would seem that the gathering and use of the natural product would be on the wane, but there is, and more than likely will continue to be, a great demand in both the export and domestic markets.
As the price of deer-tongue and coumarin continues to rise, sooner or later there will be a deer-tongue cultivation , perhaps in conjunction with pine tree farming. No one knows if it will work or not. No one has tried.
What a shame that deer-tongue has not received more recognition and fame. A few leaves in the glove compartment or desk drawer is an unsurpassed air freshener Talk it up. And how about deer-tongue as the State Weed? Fragrance? Aromatic? How would "The DeerTongue State" be?
29

Outdoors il) Touct, edited by Bill Hammack

KILE NAMED GAME MANAGEMENT CHIEF Terry l. Kile of Loganville, Georgia, has been pro-
moted to Chief of the Game Management Section of the Game and Fish Division of Georgia's Deportment of Natural Resources, Commissioner Joe D. Tonner and Jock Crockford, Director of Game and Fish, hove announced.
Kile has been serving as acting chief of the section for the post six months. He earned his masters degree in wildlife biology at the University of Georgia, his bachelors in wildlife ecology at the University of Florida. Joining Georgia's Game and Fish Division in 1973, Kile sow duty as o wildlife biologist until 1974 when he was promoted to assistant section chief.
Commissioner Tonner said, "Terry Kile has hod six months of on-the-job training for the section chief's

Robert Redford, on ardent outdoorsmon and environmentalist as well as one of the notion's most popular actors, has been named Honorary Chairman because of his deep regard and appreciation for the environment.
Accepting the chairmanship, Redford heartily endorsed the "We All Need Clean Water" theme. "America's waters-her creeks, boys, marshes, lakes, rivers and . oceans-ore critical to wildlife and people. We need clean water not only to enjoy life, but to survive.
"With the demand for water growing every day, it is important that we conserve our water resources and keep them clean. Yet, today, much water is wasted, and whole bodies of water ore contaminated-with sewage sludge, oil spills, silt and deadly man-mode chemicals.
"The aim of Notional Wildlife Week this year is to stop the waste and mindless pollution ol our waters/' Redford emphasized.
"To do this, we must educate everyone to the fact that water is o precious and fragile commodity. If we ore to conserve and clean up our waters-and keep them clean-we must drive home to all Americans that 'We All Need Clean Water.'"

responsibilities. He has shown he has what it tokes to perform the duties of the position in a way to serve the best interests of the wildlife resources of our state and of the people who enjoy them. Terry is o hard-working, knowledgeable conservationist, and I'm glad he's on our team."
Crockford said, "Terry Kile has been doing o fine job for us in wildlife management for nearly four years. His wide experience backed up by his educational background fit him in on outstanding way to handle the increasing responsibilities in supervising wildlife management in Georgia."
NATIONAL WILDLIFE WEEK MARCH 20-26 "We All Need Clean Water" is the theme of the 40th
annual observance of Notional Wildlife Week, first proclaimed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 and sponsored since then by the Notional Wildlife Federation.

HUNTER TAKES A STICK TO WOODCOCK F. S. "Steve" Lipford of Heard County says, "If you
can't knock 'em down with o 12 gouge shotgun loaded with number 8 shot ... use o stick."
Thomas W. Goodson, Jr., president and board choirman of The Bonk of Heard County, reports that Lipford, a director of the bonk, was quail hunting on his form when o woodcock flew up. Lipford quick-fired at the woodcock as it disappeared behind o pine tree, hit the tree, knocked off o rotten limb which impaled the woodcock. You could soy the bonk director bonked the shot.
INTERNATIONAL GAME CONFERENCE COMES TO ATLANTA
The 13th International Congress of Game Biologists will be held in Atlanta, March 10-15. Immediately preceding the Congress will be the 42nd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, March 5-9.
The 13th Congress, sponsored by the Wildlife Management Institute and the Florida and Georgia chapters of the Wildlife Society, offers a number of tours designed to provide insight on some of the resourcepeople problems, issues and possible solutions involving resource managers in the southeastern United States.
Among those presenting information on resource problems and management efforts will be representatives of the U.S. Forest Service, Georgia Deportment of

30

Natural Resources, Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, University Systems of Georgia, Florida and Georgia mining industries, Tall Timbers Research Station, Archbold Biological Station, southern forest industries, private areas, and others.
The various tours will extend from Georg ia's Blue Ridge Mountains to Fernbank Science Center to Panola Mountain State Park to Callaway Gardens to the Okefenokee to Jekyll Island and on into Florida .
THEY'LL TEACH PLAY SKILLS AT HARD LABOR CREEK
Are your outdoor skills such as canoeing and camp cookery rusty? Want to polish them? On Saturday and Sunday, March 12 and 13, the Parks and Historic Sites Division of Georgia's Department of Natural Resources will hold an Outdoor Skills Workshop at Hard labor Creek State Park, two miles north of Rutledge, 45 miles east of Atlanta on Interstate 20. Henry D. Struble, division director, says there will be continuous and scheduled seminars, demonstrations and special exhibitions on outdoor activities such as archery, backpacking, bait and fly casting, camp cookery, canoeing, climbing, first aid, knife sharpening, niap and compass reading and outdoor survival. Everything starts at 10 a .m. and ends at 6 p. m. both days. Admission is free. Overnight accommodations are available in the park's 15 cottages and 75 campsites. Call the park at (404) 557-2863 for reservations. If you'd like further information, get in touch with larry Hodges, Interpretive Programming, 270 Washington St., S'.W., Atlanta, GA 30334; phone (404) 656-7092.
THEY STREAKED TO CONQUER by Billy Townsend
What was to hove been the first military streak ever to toke place in Georgia occur'red in 1864 at Cochran's Ford above Atlanta during Sherman's March. Here's the official Union army report about -it, dispatched to Brig . Gen . W. l. Elliott, Chief of Cavalry:
Hdqrs . First Cov. Div., Dept. of the Cumberland, July 9,_1864
General: I hove the honor to report that a detachment under Colonel Dorr crossed the pontoon this afternoon, and scouted the country in front of General Schofield. They found the enemy's cavalry there in force. _Brownlow performed one of his characteristic feats to-day. I had ordered a detachment to cross at Cochran's Ford . It was deep, and he took them over naked, n~thing but guns, cartridge-boxes and hots. They drove the enemy out of their rifle-pits, captured a non-comm"is-sioned officer and 3 men, and the 2 boots on the other side. They would hove got more, but the rebels hod the advantage in running -through the bushes with clothes on. It was certainly one of the funniest sights of the war, and a very successful raid for naked men to make. Everything is quiet along the line, and citizens on the other side soy
Maret,_1977

the enemy were totally unprepared for a crossing on this flank.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. M. McCOOK,
Brigadier-General, Commanding Divis ion.

Brownlow was Colonel James P. In a letter he wrote

after the streak, he described what happened. He hod

ordered Captain Moses Wi ley with two companies of

men to strip and get set to cross the river and charge

the main force of the Confederates, while Brownlow

took a detachment to swim the river 400 yards above

for the purpose of capturing the Confederate pickets.

Brownlow said he selected the best swimmers in the

regiment, they peeled off their clothes and started

across. As soon as Wiley sow that Brownlow hod

nearly reached the opposite shore, he and his men

charged, but when they were halfway over, they

missed the ford and-Brownlow wrote-"he and every

man went plunging in over their heads, and just then

the rebels opened fire upon them, and compelled every

man to seek shelter under the Iorge rocks in the river,

as best they could. Copt. Wiley was now in such a

condition as to be unable to advance or retreat, and

unfortunately left me and my ten men on the enemies

(sic) side of the river, without help, and with a prospect

of going to Atlanta sooner than we desired, destitute

of even so much as a shirt. Not fancying this, and act-

ing upon the maxim that 'he who never bets never

wins,' - I determined to charge upon the rear of the

rebels, w__ho were firing at W iley's party. My charge

was .a -success, I completely surprised them and took

them prisoners, and with them I captured a .long ferry-

boot, and returned -to my command. The Sergeant in

command of the rebels was a New York Dentist, who

told me that he hod been living in the South but a short

time. He said he never Was more surprised, and did not

think any person was bold enough to swim a river and

attock them . Gen . Sherman is said to hove been pleased

with our exploits, and the 'Special Artist' for Harper's

Weekly has prepared a sketch of our charging the

C h a t t a h o o c h e e ."

-

From Harper's Weekly, August 13, 1864.

INDIGO SNAKE IS BLUE: IT'S ENDANGERED .. latest proposed addition to the Georgia list of rare
and endangered species is the Eastern indigo snake. This snake inhabits the long leaf pine-turkey oak,
wiregross-sondridge country of southeast Georgia; it's beneficial because its diet includes other reptiles, including cottonmouths and rattlesnakes.
Despite its Iorge size, which may reach nine feet or more, the indigo snake is harmless and many people consider it desirable as a pet. Its capture for this purpose is considered to be one of the factors contributing to the snake's threatened status.
If you'd like to comment on the addition of this reptile, or any other species, to the state's list of rare and endangered species, write Endangered Species, Game and Fish Division, Route 2, Social Circle, Georgia 30279.

31

DNR's
New Board Chairman

By David Cranshaw
Don Carter of Gainesville has recently been elected Chairman of the Board of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. He is a man from the mountains who sells real estate, hunts deer, collects antiques, raises bantam chickens and longs for the return of significant wild turkey populations to his home state.
Don Carter is an almost novel combination of land developer and conservationist. In his words, "We can have development and responsible growth while at the same time protecting our environment and using our natural resources wisely " It has to be that way according to Carter
"We don't gain a thing," he says, "in fact, we lose if development is haphazard and without order On the other hand, we must have it growth and development, that is or we lose in other also significant ways."
For a man who has lived his life in our mountains, it is interesting to find out that his primary concern is for our Georgia coast, specifically its barrier islands. Like so many others, Carter feels the natural integrity of the coast must be maintained. The new Board Chairman says he has felt this way for a long while, since he began visiting some of Georgia's barrier islands on fishing trips and other visits several years ago. "The thing that really concerns me is that we
32

Don Carter
make sure that our basically natural coastal area be preserved."
Obviously, of course, he is not unconcerned about the mountains. He feels though that since so much mountain land is owned by the government, it will fairly certainly take care of itself.
One thing more; Don Carter lives in what he calls "about the most diverse and beautiful state in the country," and he takes a dim view of what he regards as its nastiness. He says he would like to have litter laws tightened and enforced. "People from all over the country will be visiting Georgia to see where the President lives and where Billy works," he says, "and I think it's a shame these visitors have to see our trash and garbage as they travel on the roads from one place to another "
Editor's Note: In addition, Lloyd Summer of Rome was elected Board Vice-Chairman and Leo T Barber, Jr from Moultrie was re-elected Secretary-Treasurer
Outdoors ir, Geor~ia

Letters te> tt,e Edite~r

About a week before I received the December issue of Outdoors in Georgia, I was raking leaves one Saturday afternoon when I was startled by the frantic cries of a bird in one of the trees in the back yard of my home here in Warner Robins. I looked up, and just as I did, a hawk with a bird still emitting shrill cries flew calmly by. It was a brownish hawk with a white breast speckled or streaked with brown ... not a colorful hawk at all, and the victim was a small sparrow that managed to escape from the hawk when I waved my rake, beat on a tree, and let out a whoop or two. . . . You can imagine my surprise when I received your December issue with the article about the Killyhawk and even more surprised when I read in the first paragraph of the article that the Killyhawk is commonly known as the sparrow hawk in error, because they eat very few
sparrows! After reading the entire article I
was convinced that this Killyhawk was the female of the species, and I was also convinced that had I not shouted and shook my rake at her, that .poor sparrow would be a gone
sparrow now! Ms. Orlands G. Wade Warmer Robins, GA

* * *

I do not wish to renew my sub-

scription to Outdoors in Georgia. My original subsrpiction was for GAME & FISH. Your new magazine has too

many articles that are of no interest

to me. I wish you circulation success

on Outdoors in Georgia, but keep in mind if it were not for Georgia

GAME & FISH subscribers in years

past there would be no Outdoors in

Georgia.

James K. Turner

Wiley, GA

* * *

I'm sorry to have to tell you this but I am not going to renew my subscription because the magazine just isn't what it used to be.

The majority of the issues for the past two years went straight from the mail box to the trash can.
It cost me 13 to tell you the above. I enjoyed your magazine for many years but no longer.
J. D. Fleming
* * *
As a past and future subscriber to your magazine, and a person who enjoys bird hunting, I would like to see

the magazine expand the information on quail and dove hunting facilities throughout the state.
I enjoy very much reading your monthly issue.
Allen Gudenrath Macon, GA
P.S. It is nice to read a magazine that is not cluttered with a lot of advertisements.

1977 TURKEY SEASONS

Hours Except as specifically provided, legal hunting hours for all game birds and game animals begin thirty (30) minutes before sunrise and close thirty (30) minutes after sunset on all open dates. Limit The maximum limit on turkey is two (2) turkey gobblers, only one ( 1) of which may be taken on any one managed hunt. Seasons March 26 through April 30, 1977 in the following counties: Banks, Ben Hill, Calhoun, Chattooga, Clinch, Columbia, Dawson, Decatur, Dodge, Dougherty, Echols, Elbert, Fannin (except that portion bounded on the north by Highway 76 and Highway 60, on the west by Aska Road, on the east by Tilly Church Road, and on the south by Shallowford Bridge Road) , Floyd, Franklin, Gilmer, Gordon, Grady, Greene, Habersham, Hancock, Houston, Lincoln, Lumpkin, McDuffie, Murray, Oglethorpe, Pulaski, Rabun, Stephens, Stewart, Talbot, Taliaferro, Thomas, Towns, Twiggs, Union, Upson, that portion of Walker County lying east of U. S. Highway 27, Warren, White, Wilcox, Wilkes and Wilkinson. Big Lazer Creek March 26 through April 30, 1977. No permit required. No check-in or check-out required. Blue Ridge Area April 18 through April 23, 1977. $5.00 permit required. Bullard Creek Area March 23 through March 26 and March 30 through April 2, 1977. No check-in or check-out but all tur-

keys killed must be reported at check station. Central Georgia Branch Station Area April4 through April9, 1977. $5.00 permit required. Chattahoochee Area April 11 through April 16, 1977. $5.00 permit required. Clark Hill Area April 11 through April 16, 1977. $5.00 permit required. Cohutta Area April16 through April30, 1977. No permit required. No check-in or check-out required. Johns Mountain Area March 26 through April 30, 1977. No permit required. No check-in or check-out required. Lake Burton Area April 18 through April 23, 1977. $5.00 permit required. Ocmulgee Area April 4 through April 9 and April 14 through April 16, 1977. $5.00 permit required. Ogeechee Area April 20 through April 23 and April 27 through April 30, 1977. $5.00 permit required. Fort Gordon March 26 through April 30, 1977. Prior to hunting, hunters should check with Provost Marshal's Office on Post to obtain permission to hunt. All hunters are subject to Post regulations as well as State. Fart Stewart April 1 through April 17, 1977. Prior to hunting, hunters should check with Provost Marshal's Office on Post to obtain permission to hunt. Check-in and check-out required. All hunters are subject to Post regulations as well as State.

Marcb 1977

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