While sitting down to enjoy turkey during the Thanksgiving holiday, remember that although wild and domestic turkeys are genetically the same species, that’s about where the similarity ends.
The Georgia Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation recently honored Cpl. Johnny Ashe with the “Officer of the Year” award, announces the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division. Cpl. Ashe, a conservation ranger assigned to Dodge County, now also is eligible to receive the national award from the NWTF.
Hunters wishing to access Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area, located in Screven County, are urged to do some pre-hunt scouting before their hunting trip due to recent heavy flooding in the area. Approximately 4,000-5,000 upland acres of the 15,000+ acre area are available for hunting, but the flooding has caused limited accessibility from the slough east to the river.
The 2009-2010 late waterfowl season will soon get underway with the first segment opening on Wednesday, Nov. 25 running until Sunday, Nov. 29. The second segment begins Saturday, Dec. 12 and extends until Jan. 31. The season also includes three youth waterfowl hunting days. State youth day is Dec. 5, and federal youth days are Feb. 6-7, 2010.
The 2009-10 mourning dove seasons in South Carolina will resume as follows: Nov. 21-28; and Dec. 21–Jan. 15. Legal hunting hours for mourning dove season are from 30 minutes before sunrise until sunset. The daily bag limit is 15 birds per day.
The S.C. Department of Natural Resources and the Bass Federation of South Carolina have teamed up to bring Youth Fishing Clubs to your school. The South Carolina High School League can make bass fishing a high school sport in all areas of public schools if we get 16 or more schools involved and a desire for a state championship.
Conservation partners gathered Friday, Nov. 13, 2009, to celebrate the completion of one of the largest habitat conservation purchases in the state’s history with the acquisition of 25,668-acres of working forestland, recreational lands and wildlife habitat in Marion County by the State of South Carolina.
Survey results for the 2008-09 hunting season show Clarendon, Sumter, Lee, Horry and Darlington counties were the top five counties for quail, while the top five counties for rabbits jumped per hour were Saluda, Lee, Greenwood, Hampton and Allendale, according to biologists with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources Small Game Project.
Nearly 50,000 turkey hunters take to the woods annually in South Carolina with hopes of harvesting a wily gobbler, and the 2009 spring turkey season was no exception. With a harvest of 16,234 birds, the spring turkey harvest was down about 9 percent from 2008.
Hunters are generous people. This fact is best showcased in the continued support of the Georgia Hunters for the Hungry program, through which sportsmen and women can donate deer at specific drop-off locations and the meat is processed and donated to Food Banks in the state. Since 1993, hunters in Georgia have donated more than 1.25 million meals of venison. In addition to the 15 participating processor collection locations available now through Jan. 15, three weekend collection sites will be available on the weekend of Nov. 7-8, 2009 making sharing the harvest with those in need even easier.
After increasing slightly in 2008, reproduction by wild turkeys decreased once again in 2009 based on a S.C. Department of Natural Resources survey.
The S.C. Department of Natural Resources’ State Climatology Office and the National Weather Service are looking for volunteers across the state to measure and report the rain, snow, sleet or hail that falls on their homes, farms, or businesses.
The two sister Carolina states have finally struck a deal over access to Crossroads Mountain, a remote section of the Jocassee Gorges in northern Oconee County.
Please take a few moments to complete an online survey. After we compile survey results to determine what license changes are the most popular for hunters and anglers, we will take the recommendations to SCDNR Board for approval and if approved the recommendations will be sent to the General Assembly to try and encourage them to pass legislation to enact the suggested changes to the South Carolina hunting and fishing license structure.
Each year, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division recognizes anglers for outstanding and state record catches. Anglers who catch new state records or those who catch a fish that meets or beats a specific weight or length limit for that species (angler award) are eligible for recognition. Information regarding angler awards and state record fish can be found on the division’s Web site at http://www.gofishgeorgia.com or in the Georgia Sport Fishing Regulations Guidebook available at all division offices and all license agents.
Georgia has a diversity of bass that continues to reel in anglers from across the nation. As the only state in the nation with six of the seven black bass species, Georgia stands out as a bass angler’s paradise. This fall, regardless of where you are in the state, bass fishing opportunities abound, and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division is providing anglers with some helpful bass fishing information.
North Georgia offers few better ways to observe fall foliage beauty than a trip to a trout-filled delayed harvest mountain stream. With more than 4,000 miles of trout streams and three species of trout, there are fishing and simultaneous leaf-viewing opportunities closer than you think. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division highlights the five delayed harvest streams available to anglers beginning Nov. 1.
Toxoplasmosis, a one-celled parasite found in many meats, can occur in South Carolina deer, but venison is not the only source of the disease, says a state Department of Natural Resources deer biologist.
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower,” said French author and philosopher Albert Camus, and he very well may have been describing the palette of colors soon to be showcased in South Carolina.
The S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Waterfowl Advisory Committee, an advisory group to the DNR Board, has scheduled five listening sessions to be held around the state. The purpose of these meetings is to allow waterfowlers to express opinions about the management and hunting of waterfowl.
