As most of you are aware, we have been working hard to try and get growers some help with respect to the deer issue. While we are still doing research on management tactics in cotton and other crops, there have been some big strides made by Georgia DNR that I think can help us out in the agriculture industry.
First – many of you are utilizing DNR’s depredation permit program this time of year to deter deer from your crops. In the last two years, there has been significant expansion efforts targeted towards the Hunters for the Hungry (HFTH) Program, particularly through investments from the state legislature. Charlie Killmaster, our state deer biologist with DNR, has worked extremely hard on this, and he has compiled a list of HFTH processors that are willing to process deer that are harvested utilizing DNR depredation permits in their crops, which can be found below. Some may be willing to come get the deer from the field, while others may need to meet growers or others at the processor after utilizing the DNR depredation permits, so I am encouraging you all to reach out to the processor if you intend to utilize these programs this summer. I would highly encourage everyone to utilize the HFTH program if you are utilizing DNR Depredation Permits so the investment in the HFTH program will continue in the future. Additional info on the HFTH program can be found at this link: https://gwf.org/ghfth/
In addition to this, many of you may be deer hunters or lease land to deer hunters in the fall, and I believe you should be aware of this next opportunity. In addition to advocating heavily for the expansion of the HFTH program, Charlie Killmaster also pushed hard to add a weekend during archery season where hunters can harvest antlerless deer only but utilize a modern firearm. The DNR Advisory Board approved this addition just a couple of weeks ago. Thus, this coming up deer season, October 4-5 will be open for hunters to harvest antlerless deer only utilizing modern firearms, which is approximately two weeks early. All but 16 counties in Georgia will have this opportunity – in the map below, if your county is in green, pink or purple, this special season is open in your county for hunters to take advantage of. Another goal associated with this single weekend during archery season being opened up for hunters to harvest antlerless deer with a firearm is to again utilize the expanded HFTH program prior to deer processors being full. The Georgia Outdoor News article related to this antlerless only weekend can be found in the following link: https://gon.com/hunting/early-gun-hunt-weekend-antlerless-deer-approved
In my opinion, these two changes are HUGE successes for both the agricultural industry along with the hunting industry, and both can be a fantastic thing for both groups if taken advantage of. I really want to thank Charlie Killmaster for his work on both of these efforts, along with Georgia Farm Bureau for pushing it in the state legislature and the state legislature for approving the funding for the expansion of the HFTH program. The list of HFTH processors that will take Depredation Permit deer is below:
