Thrive in Quantity!
| When I was a boy in Georgia in the late 50's and early 60's, deer season consisted of 1 week/1 buck. That was it. See you next year. There were simply no deer in the woods. Why was that? Simply put, no one cared, THEY WERE NOT MANAGED!. | My grandfather would tell me, "Son, there's only three things that can hurt you out here in these woods. You not paying attention, another person and dogs." |
Now I did a fair job of managing the first problem. The State of Georgia began in earnest to manage the second problem as they began to hire Game Wardens throughout the state and to enact laws that had some teeth that would back these officials up. The hunters in the woods began to manage the third problem, the dogs.
The Dog Problem
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In the mid-60's, dogs took more deer per year in Georgia than humans did. It quickly became, and still is in many cases today, if you saw a dog in the woods without a collar, you do not let that animal walk away. Inconsiderate pet owners, who for whatever reason had a dog that they no longer wanted, often found the easiest disposal method consisted of driving down |
a country road and turning the animal loose. Mind you this animal has no incentive whatsoever to commit suicide so the animal was forced to "make a living" anyway it could. The animals best chance at survival lay in becoming a pack member of other dogs hunting any animal of opportunity. Be it a domestic or wild animal would be unimportant. |
The Disease Problem
The next greatest danger to the White Tail was the disease "Blue Tongue". To combat this disease, a heartier class of deer was brought to Georgia from Wisconsin and Kings Ranch Texas and released throughout the state.
An added bonus from the import of the heartier deer was heartier antler growth. Thus Georgia has stood out amongst the Southern States in the quantity of Boone & Crockett deer harvested since that date.
Was it a success? You tell me.
Today, Georgia ranks as one of the greatest, most productive deer hunting states in our nation.
1996 Hunting Statistics
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