Newspaper Page Text
Sports
Wednesday, October 2, 1985
Bow hunters are a special breed
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Gary
Tamar
Sports Editor
Hawks
need
guards
With number one draft pick, Jon
Koncak under contract, the big
concern for the Atlanta Hawks
must now be securing some help
for a very thin backcourt.
Training camp has already
opened, and the team is critically
short on guards. Doc Rivers the
floor leader from the point position
is out for several weeks with a
fracture in his wrist. Still, with
these problems, the front office
has done little in shoring up the
weak backcourt.
The plan appears to be for the
Hawks to move Dominique
Wilkins to big guard, and to
continue wtih Rivers at the point.
That may be a good combination,
but it remains to be seen whether
or not Wilkins can make the
transition from small forward to
off guard. With the only valuable
backup to Wilkins and Rivers
being Randy Wittman, it would
seem the Hawks would try to not
leave themselves in a vulnerable
position with questionable talent
at guard in the reserve spots.
Tracy Jackson has failed with
more than one team, and the other
candidate the team seems to be
looking at is Sedric Toney. Toney
was a third round draft pick. In the
NBA a third round pick is a long
shot. Many first rounders never
make it, yet the Hawks seem to be
counting on him heavily.
Sure, the Hawks are on a youth
movement, but a team without
proven backup leader at the guard
spots is asking for trouble. Last
year’s team members Eddie
Johnson and Mike Glenn could
have been re-signed for next to
nothing. They are no longer the
stars they once were, but they are
proven performers, who could be
valuable in spelling the starters.
It may be a little too close to the
start of the season to do much
about the situation now, but it is
clear the path the team has taken
is a big gamble. The team
management had better hope, that
come February, they aren’t forced
to put out a call for players such as
Charlie Criss, as they were forced
to do last season.
Dogs taking Lumpkin ‘seriously’
Indians are winless in ‘BS
but Forsyth works to prepare
By GARY TANNER
Sports Editor
The Lumpkin County Indians are a
winless team with even more of a
depth problem than the Forsyth
County Bulldogs. It would be easy for
the Bulldogs to look past such an
opponent, but that is not the case,
according to Forsyth head coach
Ronnie Jackson.
“A team like that is dangerous, “
Jackson said’ “the memory of what
they did to us a few years back is still
fresh in our minds.”
“Several years ago, we went into
Lumpkin County with a fairly strong
team and we were highly favored,
“Jackson explained, “but they beat
us 10-0 “
“I don’t anticipate any letdown this
week, “ Jackson said, “We’ve had
good practices since last week. We
didn’t take the week off. We kept
practicing and I don’t think anybody
is taking this game lightly.”
The 0-4 Indians of region 8-AA will
have a new coach this season, replac
ing Bob Rhinehart, whose Lumpkin
team the Bulldogs faced last season.
New coach Brad Hunt will bring a
wishbone offense into Forsyth sta
dium to attack the Bulldog defense,
Court reverses decision
on hunting conviction
ATLANTA Rangers will continue
to enforce state game laws despite
the Supreme Court’s reversal of a
north Georgia man’s conviction for
jacklighting.
“I don’t really expect this to be a
problem,” said James Ledbetter,
commissioner of the Department of
Natural Resources. “We strongly be
lieve that the sportsmen of this state
are, in fact, exactly that. We think
they are responsible people comply
ing with the law, insuring we have
proper use of our natural resources.”
Georgia has about 533,000 hunters.
The court ruled Monday in the case
of Trammel Grady Shirley, who was
convicted of illegal night hunting with
a light, known as jacklighting. He
was caught with a spotlight plugged
into his cigarette lighter and with a
loaded 12-gauge shotgun on the seat
of his vehicle, Game and Fish Divison
spokesman Gib Johnston said Tues
day.
“The decision relates specifically
to one case in north Georgia and all
the court ruled was that person was to
have a new trial,” Ledbetter said
Tuesday. “The defendant’s objection
Forsyth County News
which has been the Forsyth strength
all year.
“They prefer to run first, and then
if that is not successful, they will turn
to the pass, “ Jackson said, “We are
preparing to stop the run and try to
force them into passing situations.”
Defensively, the Indians will try to
stop the Bulldog offense from a 50
alignment.
“Teams have been most successful
this year against Lumpkin running
outside and throwing the ball.” Jack
son said
As far as Forsyth’s outside running
game is concerned, the Bulldog’s
speediest running back, Travis Har
bin is still out with an injury. Jackson
said the injury, which was first be
lieved to be a hip-pointer may be
more serious, though that has not
been determined yet.
Even with Harbin’s absence, Jack
osn said he felt the Bulldog outside
rushing game would be solid. “Rich
ard Ingram and Kelly Whitmire will
do a fine job.” Jackson said.
Senior quarterback Robbie Payne
will be making consecutive starts for
the first time this season, after re
turning from a head injury sustained
in the Bulldogs’ first game. He was
was that the trial court’s instruction
to the jury defining hunting was
vague and overbroad.”
Shirley’s attorney, Bobby Lee Cook
of Summerville, argued that the defi
nition of hunting was so broad that it
could make it a crime for photogra
phers to follow wildlife for the pur
pose of photographing the animals.
The court did not rule on the consti
tutionality of the law itself.
Ledbetter said in a telephone inter
view that the definition has to be
broad because of the wide variety of
methods used in hunting ranging
from snares to rifles with telescopic
sights.
Law enforcement officers made 6,-
376 cases for hunting violations dur
ing the fiscal year ended June 30, said
Col. Drew Whittaker, the DNR’s chief
of law enforcement. Hunting over
bait was the most frequent violation.
Other common violations were
hunting from a vehicle, hunting from
a public road, hunting without a li
cense, hunting on private land with
out permission, jacklighting and
hunting deer without wearing the
required fluorescent orange.
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"" Staff Photo Gary Tanner
Backs like Todd Milford (31) will try to turn the corner on Indians
the starter in the Bulldogs first win of
the year two weeks ago against Eto
wah.
Other injuries on the Bulldogs have
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Staff Photo Gory Tonnor
North vs. South, y’all
Jody Harbin (12) will lead the North Forsyth
Wildcats against the Gators of South Forsyth in a
battle of county junior high schools, Wednesday
at the high school stadium. The games which will
pit the 7th and Bth grade teams and 9th grade
teams of the schools were rescheduled to Octo-
Hunters like early season
and uncrowded conditions
By GARY TANNER
Sports Editor
At this time of year, Forsyth
County resident Skye Perry can often
be found sitting in a tree. Most often,
he is there during the most wee of the
morning hours—the last hour of dark
ness.
Put in proper perspective, it is
clear that Perry is not an escaped
lunatic, but an accomplished hunter,
practicing a sport other Georgians
will join him in this year.
Since September 21 and before the
season ends on October 25, approxi
mately 45,000 Georgians will sit in
trees with a bow and a quiver of
arrows, and hope that their hunting
skills have put them in a position to
kill a deer with the primitive weapon.
It is bow season for deer in Georgia
and hunters are taking to the woods in
record numbers, according to state
Department of Natural Resources
official Gib Johnston.
Johnston said that 1985 will see the
largest number of bow hunters in the
state’s history. He said that since the
DNR has been keeping statistics on
the sport the number of lcensed hunt
ers has grown from 22,000 in 1972 (the
first year such statistics are avail
able) to 39,000 today. Land owners
hunting on their own land are not
required by law to purchase a license,
so the true number of bow hunters in
Georgia this year is probably closer
to 45,000, Johnston said.
The increase in the number of hunt
ers is directly linked to the fact that
there is a vastly increased deer pop
ulation in the state, said David Car
lock, a DNR wildlife biologist.
Carlock said the increase in the deer
population was a result of a stocking
program carried out throughout
much of the United States that has
been very successful here in Georiga.
been to tight end Rob Aickelin, who
sustained a knee injury in practice
last week. Jackson said Aickelin
should play, however, unless he re-
ber 2 from the original date of October 19. Both
teams have new head coaches this season. Jim
Bishop heads the program at North Forsyth while
Keith Harrison is the head coach at South
Forsyth. Starting time is 5 p.m.
Local resident, Bob Hice who owns
Advanced Hunting Equipment, Inc.—
a firm that manufactures tree stands
for deer hunting—agrees with Car
lock’s statement that the deer popula
tion has increased and the popularity
of bow hunting with it.
“I never saw a wild deer where I
lived in my youth, “Hice said, “If I
had met anyone who had shot a deer,
I would have thought he was a Daniel
Boone.” Now meeting someone who
has killed a deer is commonplace.”
It is much more common to meet
someone, who has shot a deer with a
gun, than to meet an archer, who has
bagged one of the animals, Johnston
said
“Bow hunters don’t do much dam
age to the deer population,” Johnston
said, “of the 140,000 deer taken in the
state each year, bow hunters take
only 4,000 of that figure.”
Clearly, it is much easier to kill a
deer with a rifle or shotgun, than with
a bow and arrow. And that is exactly
why bow hunters prefer their chosen
method of deer hunting
Perry, Johnston, Carlock and Hice
all said that it takes more skill to take
a deer with a bow than to shoot it with
a gun, and all agreed that that fact is
one of the prime reasons they are
attracted to the sport.
“A good bow hunter would be a
better hunter than your average
hunter using a gun,” Carlock said,
“Anyone can pick up a gun and have
a fairly reasonable chance of killing a
deer with it. More skill is needed with
a bow.”
“Ten times more hunting expertise
is needed to kill a deer with a bow
than with a gun.” Hice said.
“Bow hunting definately makes
you a better hunter, “ Perry said,
see HUNT page 2B
injures the knee in drills this week.
Also hurting for Forsyth is senior
defensive back Steven Daniels.
1B