# Georgia sportsmen have new hunting laws in sights



## Tim4Trout (Jul 10, 2003)

Georgia sportsmen have new hunting laws in sights 


ATLANTA - Sporting camouflage ties and dress shirts, Georgia legislators met in the Capitol on Tuesday to recognize the state's hunting and fishing tradition while outlining bills affecting the sports that could come up this session.

"This is a favorite day for me at the Capitol, having grown up as a sportsman as a child," Rep. Greg Morris, R-Vidalia, said during the legislature's annual Sportsman's Day.

Nearly one in seven people in Georgia hunt or fish, with support for the activities reaching all the way to the governor's office.

"The economic impact of recreation in the outdoor world is significant," Gov. Sonny Perdue said, alluding to estimates that 417,000 hunters and 1.1 million anglers spend about $1.1 billion a year in the state.

With the widespread activity, it's no surprise that attempts to change the rules for hunting and fishing in the state can face heated debate among sportsmen.

One such issue, which could be addressed in legislation this year, is whether hunters should be allowed to hunt deer close to deposits of bait. 

The state allows food that attracts deer to be laid out, but hunters cannot shoot the animal within 200 yards and within sight of the feed.

The hunting community and the Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus has been divided over whether to toss the distance restriction.

Greg Long, a member of the 3,500-member Georgia Outdoor Network group, said the positions generally fall along geographical lines.

"A lot of the folks on the southern end of the state want the bait (law relaxed)," said Long, a resident of Jasper.

Long said that his group is in the middle of surveying its members to see where they stand. 

Several wildlife, deer management and veterinary associations in the state have sent letters to lawmakers stating their opposition to removing the distance restriction.

The arguments against the distance change vary from a possibility of increased transmission of diseases among deer and whether an increase in the use of bait will contribute to deer overpopulation.

Long said he is personally against the move because of the impact he thinks it will have on hunting's image.

"It doesn't look good to folks who don't hunt," he said. "It gives us a more stereotypical view. In the end, we hope we'll all still have a united front."

One legislator who might broach the subject this year is Rep. Jay Roberts, R-Ocilla, who headed up study committees around the state last year on the topic.

Roberts said he is considering adding the baiting changes as part of a larger bill to address game management, citing growing problems with deer and vehicle collisions in parts of the state and ecological problems where there is an overabundance of deer.

"It's becoming an issue," he said.

Though Roberts said he has not started working on the specifics of a bill, he said he is looking for ways that encourage deer harvesting as opposed to purely trophy hunting.

He also thinks that if the deer baiting rules are made easier for hunters, other rules should be added about the food.

"I am not interested in saying you can pour out a bag of corn just during deer season," Roberts said. "If we allow feeding, it should be allowed in feeders, and it should be a yearlong process."

Meanwhile, voters will see a constitutional amendment in November that calls for preserving the right to hunt and fish in the state.

"I hope that this constitutional amendment will pass," Senate President Pro Tempore Eric Johnson, a Republican from Savannah who sponsored last year's amendment proposal, old the crowd. "I ask you not to take it lightly."


http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/011006/3551540.shtml


----------



## deerhead (Jun 5, 2003)

To update the comment regarding the vehicle-deer crash justification for passing the baiting legislation. Below is a news release from 1/2/2006.


Vehicle-Deer Crashes Down In Ga.
Web Editor: Michael King 
Last Modified: 1/8/2006 1:30:04 PM

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- According to a study by the Wildlife Resources Division, accidents between deer and automobiles in Georgia dropped by more than ten-thousand in 2004.

State wildlife biologist Don McGowan says it's the lowest number since 2000.

Wildlife authorities use insurance claim data compiled by State Farm and accident reports collected by the Georgia Department of Transportation to compile annual "collision index" numbers for each of Georgia's 159 counties.

McGowan says an increase in hunting likely contributed to the decline.

During the past 32 years, Georgia's population has risen from four-point-eight (m) million to eight-point-two (m) million.

Meanwhile, the deer population has increased from 198-thousand to one-point-three (m) million. But the number of hunters – peaking at 350-thousand in 1987 -- has fallen to about 300-thousand.

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=74268


----------

