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BY ROB PAVEY<br />
OUTDOOR-MINDED AUGUSTANS<br />
are blessed with an abundance of public<br />
hunting lands that include a quarter<br />
of a million acres on both sides of the<br />
Savannah River.<br />
Most sites are within an hour’s drive from<br />
downtown and require little more than a<br />
hunting license and wildlife management<br />
area permits available through the Georgia<br />
or South Carolina departments of natural<br />
resources.<br />
Georgia’s whitetail herd, estimated at<br />
more than 1 million animals, allows a<br />
lengthy season with designated periods<br />
for archers, black powder fans and<br />
those who prefer conventional firearms.<br />
The state’s generous 12-deer bag limit<br />
includes opportunities for two bucks (of<br />
which at least one must have four or more<br />
points on one side).<br />
Almost as popular are the spring seasons<br />
for Georgia’s wild turkey gobblers, which<br />
are abundant on most public lands open<br />
to hunting.<br />
If you’re after a trophy buck, your best<br />
bet on public land might be Di-Lane<br />
Plantation in Burke County, an 8,100-<br />
acre preserve, formerly a private quail<br />
plantation, that operates under a strict<br />
management program.<br />
Di-Lane was part of the empire of<br />
the late Henry Berol, heir to the Eagle<br />
Pencil Company. The Georgia Field<br />
Trials gained national prominence on<br />
the plantation Mr. Berol named for his<br />
daughters, Diane and Elaine.<br />
The plantation was purchased in 1992<br />
by the Corps of Engineers as a public<br />
wildlife area managed by Georgia DNR.<br />
Not far from Di-Lane is another, much<br />
smaller wildlife management area–<br />
called the Alexander Tract–open for<br />
bowhunting only.<br />
Closer to downtown Augusta is the<br />
1,500-acre Phinizy Swamp Wildlife<br />
Management Area, purchased by the<br />
Department of Transportation decades<br />
ago as part of the Bobby Jones<br />
Expressway extension.<br />
Although open only for bowhunting,<br />
the dense cover, rich food supply and<br />
light hunting pressure offer big buck<br />
potential for archers willing to brave<br />
the snakes and mosquitoes and mud.<br />
It also has a reputation as one of the<br />
best public waterfowl hunting spots.<br />
One of the largest WMAs on the<br />
Georgia side is Tuckahoe, located in<br />
Screven County, that includes with<br />
more than 15,000 acres of dense<br />
swamps, upland pines and other<br />
types of terrain. In addition to fat<br />
whitetails, the area also has feral hogs.<br />
COMMUNITY<br />
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