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HUNTING AROUND AUGUSTA, cont’d<br />
The Yuchi WMA, barely 30 minutes from<br />
downtown and located in Burke County,<br />
also offers quality deer and small game<br />
hunting, and has a rifle range and other<br />
facilities.<br />
The Army Corps of Engineers, which<br />
operates Thurmond Lake, allows hunting<br />
on much of its “collarlands” that include<br />
several large parcels. One of them,<br />
Bussey Point Wilderness Area in Lincoln<br />
County, produces some quality bucks<br />
almost every year.<br />
In South Carolina, more than 140,000<br />
acres of public lands are available in<br />
McCormick, Edgefield, Abbeville and<br />
Saluda counties, much of which lies in the<br />
state’s Western Piedmont Hunt Unit.<br />
Many parcels are part of Sumter National<br />
Forest and are managed both for timber<br />
production and wildlife.<br />
Georgia also has an alligator season,<br />
created in 2003, that has become both<br />
popular and highly competitive.<br />
PUBLIC HUNTING LANDS<br />
(WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS)<br />
NEAR AUGUSTA:<br />
georgia:<br />
ALEXANDER TRACT WMA<br />
in Burke County, 1,300 acres<br />
BROAD RIVER WMA<br />
near Lincolnton, 1,500 acres<br />
CLARKS HILL WMA<br />
near Thomson-Appling, 12,703 acres<br />
DI-LANE PLANTATION<br />
near Waynesboro, 8,100 acres<br />
GERMANY CREEK WMA<br />
near Thomson, 1,200 acres<br />
KEG CREEK WMA<br />
near Appling, 800 acres<br />
PHINIZY SWAMP WMA<br />
Augusta, 1,500 acres<br />
SOAP CREEK WMA<br />
near Lincolnton, 1,050 acres<br />
FISHING CREEK<br />
near Lincolnton, 2,903 acres<br />
COMMUNITY<br />
The inaugural season offered just 184<br />
permits, drawn by lottery, and yielded<br />
just 72 gators.<br />
Since then, the quota has been raised to<br />
850 permits, but there are typically more<br />
than 11,000 applicants. The counties<br />
south of Augusta in the Savannah River<br />
area are included in those hunts, with an<br />
allocation of 80 permits.<br />
For more information on Georgia hunting<br />
opportunities, visit www.georgiawildlife.<br />
com/hunting and South Carolina details<br />
are available at www.dnr.sc.gov/<br />
hunting.html.<br />
TUCKAHOE WMA<br />
near Sylvania, 15,105 acres<br />
WILKES COUNTY WMA<br />
near Washington, 1,910 acres<br />
YUCHI WMA<br />
near Waynesboro, 7,800 acres<br />
south carolina:<br />
CRACKERNECK WMA<br />
Aiken County, 10,012 acres<br />
WESTERN PIEDMONT HUNT UNIT<br />
Edgefield, McCormick, Greenwood,<br />
Saluda and Abbeville counties,<br />
140,000 acres<br />
86 | THE NEWCOMERS GUIDE: GREATER AUGUSTA
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