Newspaper Page Text
Page 2B
November 9, 2022
^Reporter
MONROE OUTDOORS by Terry W. Johnson
It s crow hunting season, a sport with interesting history
Hunting crows can be a challenging sport, and many farmers appre
ciate efforts to control crows. (Photo/Terry Johnson)
T he 2022-23 Crow
Hunting Season
opened without
any fanfare Nov.
5 and closes Feb. 28. As
usual, there is no daily or
season bag limit on crows.
In addition, it is legal to at
tract crows with electronic
crow calls.
One of the reasons why
the opening
day of the crow
season is not a
highly antici
pated event is
few Georgians
actually hunt
crows. In fact, I
think it would
be fair to say,
most folks do
not realize
there even is a
crow season.
Often this
belief stems
from the fact that they are
old enough to remember
when they could shoot
crows throughout the
year. Back then crows had
a spot on Georgias list of
unprotected species that
includes coyotes, armadil
los, groundhogs, beavers,
starlings, English spar
rows, pigeons, Eurasian
collared-doves and nutria.
With that in mind, lets
take a brief look at why
Georgia has a crow season.
Our story begins a little
more than a century ago.
At that time there were
few regulations designed
to protect and manage our
wildlife resources. Market
hunters were killing wild
life for everything from
obtaining feathers to adorn
womens hats to supplying
meat markets and restau
rants with an
abundant sup
ply wild meat.
Realizing that
the populations
of many wild
birds were
rapidly being
depleted, Con
gress enacted
The Migratory
Bird Treaty Act
in 1918. This
gave federal
protection to a
wide array of
migratory birds. However,
a number of birds, such as
birds of prey and crows,
were excluded from the
list.
In 1972, the list was
expanded to include 32
additional families of birds.
One of these families was
the Corvidae (crows, jays,
magpies). This action
allowed the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service
to offer protection and
much-needed manage
ment to species such as
the endangered Hawaiian
crow.
Shortly thereafter, the
Migratory Bird Treaty Act
was amended to allow the
states to set crow hunting
seasons as long as they
did not exceed 124 days in
length and did not over
lap the peak of the crow
breeding season.
This allows states like
Georgia to manage their
crow populations. As with
other wildlife species, in
cluding white-tailed deer,
crows can inflict serious
damage to commercial
crops such as pecans. Now
state wildlife agencies
can set seasons and bag
limits to help regulate crow
populations. In addition,
they can also issue permits
to control crows outside of
the hunting season when
they are threatening crops.
Prior to the arrival of
European colonists, many
Native American tribes
considered the American
crow to be good luck. In
fact, in some Native Amer
ican societies, such as the
Hopi and Chippewa, crows
were clan animals. In some
cultures they were believed
to be the sacred keeper of
the law.
However, European
colonists brought with
them a far dif
ferent opinion.
They consid
ered crows to
be nuisances
and destroyers
of crops. With
this in mind,
farmers went to
great lengths to
destroy crows.
They shot them
on the roost.
Some large
roosts were even
dynamited.
In addition,
during the
depression the
United States
Government
considered them
to be such a serious pest it
gave farmers free shot
gun shells to shoot crows
destroying their crops.
That’s right! Farmers were
eligible to receive boxes
of 12-gauge low brass no.
8-shot shells. The distribu
tion of these shells contin
ued from 1929 through
1935.
The changes in the
Migratory Bird Treaty Act
have enabled both Federal
and state wildlife agencies
to take a more scientifically
sound approach to crow
management. There are
some 31 million Amer
ican crows flying about
the United States. This is
proof that progress is being
made to balance crow pop
ulations with the public
good.
In the meantime, the
feeding activities of crows
can still cause damage to
a number of crops such
as pecans. If you want to
see if you are eligible to
be granted a crow control
permit contact the Central
Region Game Manage
ment Office at 706-595-
4222.
One of the factors that
is hindering state wildlife
agencies in controling
crows is that this form of
hunting is not very pop
ular. With that in mind,
why not j oin the ranks of
Georgia crow hunters?
You will find the birds
present a challenge and,
believe it or not, are also
good to eat. If you don’t
believe me, go to online
and see how many ways
you can make even an old
crow tasty.
Terry Johnson is retired Pro
gram Manager of the Georgia
Nongame-Endangered Wildlife
Program. He has written the
informative column Monroe
Outdoors’for the Reporter for
many years. His book, “A Jour
ney to Discovery’ is available
at The Reporter. Email him
PIKE @ MP
TEAM STATS
MP
Pike
First Downs
15
9
Rushing yds.
266
245
Passing yds.
142
O
Total yards
408
245
Comp-Att-Int
8-12-0
3-9-1
Fumbles-Lost
0-0
1-0
Penalties
4-50yards 5 -48yards
i
2
3 4
T
Pike
3
O
7 O
10
MP
13
20
13 O
46
BULLDOG SCORING
First Quarter
• Duke Watson 35 yard run (Wiley Smith kick)
• Duke Watson 3 yard run (PAT failed)
Second Quarter
• Champ Brantley 9 yard run (PAT failed)
• Kham Little 1 2 yard pass from Hickman (PAT failed)
• Nemo Jones 20 yard pass from Hickman (Wiley Smith
kick)
Third Quarter
• Najeh Reese 98 yard kickoff return (kick failed)
• Nemo Jones 7 yard pass from Hickman (Wiley Smith
kick)
INDIVIDUAL MP STATS
OFFENSE
RUSHING
Player
Duke Watson
Najeh Reese
Logan Hickman
Carter Campbell
Champ Brantley
Nemo Jones
PASSING
Comp. Att. Yards TDs INTs
Logan Hickman 8 12 142 3 0
RECEIVING
Rec.
Yards
TDs
Kham Little
3
53
1
Ty Dumas
1
45
Nemo Jones
3
39
2
Duke Watson
DEFENSE
1
5
TACKLES
Solo
Assist
Total Tackles
RJ Holder
2
7
9
OJ Evans
2
6
8
Brandon Alford
3
4
7
Jacobi Jones
1
5
6
Jaise Davis
1
4
5
Malaki Knight
4
4
Gevone Sands
1
2
3
Shamon Reece
1
2
3
Champ Brantley
1
1
2
Nic Arnold
2
2
J. Owens
1
1
Damarkus Head
1
1
T. Grier
1
1
2
Carries
Yards
TDs
8
118
2
10
54
1
3
32
3
16
2
12
1
1
O
DOGS
Continued from 1 B
a fumble and MP was in
business again. Hickman
then found Kham Little
for a circus catch and a
36 yard gain to the Pike
26. Hickman found Little
again 5 plays later for a
12-yard touchdown in the
right corner. Smith’s PAT
made it 26-3 with 5:32
until half.
The Bulldogs would
score one more before
half when Hickman
connected with Nemo
Jones on a 20-yard score.
Smith’s PAT made it 33-
3. Hickman was a very
potent 8 for 12 passing for
142 yards and 3 touch
downs on the night.
The beatdown contin
ued after half, when soph
omore Najeh Reese took
the second-half kickoff
and went 98 yards for the
score. The PAT failed.
Pike would get one
more score later in the
third quarter to make it
46-10.
Sophomore Nic Arnold
shutdown the next Pike
drive with an intercep
tion.
And then the referees
began to have to throw
flags continually due to
Pike players roughhous
ing and extra curricular
activities.
MP coach Brian Nelson
said Pike is notorious for
unsportsmanlike conduct
and he warned his players
not to respond in kind.
He said he also tried to
warn the referees in the
first half that the Pirates
were heading in that
direction.
“I was telling them
things I heard from other
coaches and that I saw
on tape,” said Nelson. “I
knew it was going to get
to that point.”
Despite the warning,
referees were unable to
prevent the late cheap
shots from making the
game unplayable. Five
Pike players were eject
ed. Finally, Nelson and
first-year Pike coach Bo
McMichael met with the
referee at mid-field and
the refs decided to end
the game with 7:35 left
in the contest. Nelson
hugged McMichael and
headed to the locker
room.
“We were happy to get
out with a win and move
on,” said Nelson.
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