Georgia hunters try to keep their heritage alive | ajc.com

by STEVE HUMMER

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sunday, November 16, 2008

RAYLE — He was roused from the down cocoon of his sleeping bag at 4:30 a.m., a time that is but a rumor to many 15-year-olds.

Fed a quick breakfast of Pop-Tarts, clad in cotton and camouflage, Mike Johnson was semi-conscious on the short ride from the hunt camp to the lonely woods.

Dave Johnson of Cumming sits below his tree stand and waits for deer early on a recent Saturday morning. He and his family hunt on 300 acres they rent with others near Rayle, east of Atlanta between Athens and Augusta.

Of the three boys in his family, Mike is the youngest. He is also the slowest to take to hunting. Video games and fishing are more his speed.

Mike’s got company. The popularity of hunting is waning nationwide, and as Georgia becomes more and more urban, fewer people are taking to the woods with cradled rifle.

There were 343,633 licensed resident Georgia hunters in 1986, and 291,804 two decades later — a 15 percent drop in a rapidly growing overall population. One in four Georgia hunters were minors in 1986. In 10 years, that dwindled to one in 10.

In the face of the trend, it’s important to families such as the Johnsons that the tradition be passed to the next generation.

So, here was Mike, in the pre-dawn darkness, half asleep, perched high in a cold tree stand with every shift of his weight sounding like a relative thunderclap. Staying still, melting into the forest, doesn’t come naturally to a teenager.

As the sun began to pierce the trees, a movement below caught Mike’s eye. A wave of adrenaline swept over the boredom. Running past, not more than 10 yards away, was a deer — a good buck with a battle-worn, broken rack.  Click link below for full story!

Georgia hunters try to keep their heritage alive | ajc.com.