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When gun season for deer begins, hunters start shooting cash into rural Georgia
By Wayne Crenshaw
Telegraph Staff Writer
Atlanta would seem to have everything not found in Middle Georgia, including a world-class zoo, a vast performing arts community and various amusement parks, just to name a few.
But there is one thing in Middle Georgia that draws thousands of people from Atlanta and elsewhere each fall: gobs of whitetail deer.
Gun season for deer started Saturday, and hunters started coming in by the droves. A Georgia Department of Natural Resources study estimates that hunting overall contributes $515 million to the state economy with deer hunting accounting for $331 million.
The impact can be far-reaching. Everyone from large landowners to Huddle House waitresses can see a little extra coin in their pocket as a result of deer season.
Before daybreak Saturday morning, deer hunters hauling 4-wheelers on pickups began streaming into the Huddle House in East Dublin before hitting the woods. A BP station next door also was getting steady business from camouflage-clad customers.
And are deer hunters good tippers?
"Ohhh yeah," replied Claudia Allbee, manager of the Huddle House. "I wish we could have (deer season) every day."
Many landowners lease hunting rights for deer season, with prices ranging from $3 to $15 per acre. Most hunters say the average is about $6 per acre.
Sarah Starley, who operates Starley Deer Processing near Irwinton, estimated she would process 150 to 200 deer Saturday. She opened at 8 a.m. The first deer came in about 9 a.m., the start of a steady stream. She expected to keep going well into the night, getting $50 each to butcher a deer. She will be open every day, except Christmas, through deer season.
About half of her customers, she said, are from out of town.
"It's extremely good for the economy, especially in a small town," she said. "They buy beer, eat at restaurants ... they spend a lot of money."
Deer hunters can be eclectic group, defying any stereotypes.
"We get everyone from folks who just crawled out from under the Savannah River Bridge to doctors, lawyers and government officials," Starley said.
On a local level, no one could give an estimate of the dollar value of hunting season, but officials in rural communities were unanimous that the impact is significant.
"It would be interesting to know," Laurens County Administrator Bryan Rogers said. "I can assure you it is tremendous. People don't realize how much hunters spend."
He has fielded calls in the past few weeks from out-of-state hunters who want to make sure roads to their camp sites are maintained.
Georgia can make a good case for being the best deer-hunting state in the country. Beth Brown, spokeswoman for the Department of Natural Resources, said Georgia holds more deer records than any other state.
Last deer season, Georgia led the nation with 484,000 deer killed, Brown said. The total exceeded the combined harvest of Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina.
"With all those things purchased in the local economy, hunting certainly has a huge impact on rural Georgia," she said.
Even businesses unrelated to hunting can see a benefit. Dublin-Laurens Chamber of Commerce Director Willie Paulk recalled that a hunter visiting the area several years ago stopped at a jewelry store in downtown Dublin and saw a diamond ring he liked. He bought it for his wife.
"It was like an $18,000 ring," she said.
However, not everyone is excited about the influx of out-of-town hunters. Until about the early 1980s, about all local hunters had to do was ask any farmer if they could hunt. Most farmers were glad to have someone get rid of the crop-eating animals. But somewhere along the way, landowners figured out people were willing to pay. Now most rural hunters either have to cough up some cash or hunt on public land.
Most hunters form hunting clubs and pool their money to lease a tract of land. The cost of that can still run several hundred dollars per hunter.
Dennis Lewis, an avid hunter from Perry, said he leases 1,000 acres to two hunters who pay $3,000. Some are willing to pay that much, he said, to have a large tract of land to themselves.
"The competition is great for land," he said.
Some pay even more. David Williams, manager of Millwood Hunting Lodge in Laurens County, said the lodge currently is reserved for a hunting-apparel manufacturer during deer season. But when the lodge was still open to individuals, hunters would pay $1,450 for a 3-day hunt, which includes lodging and meals.
"If we went back to doing it public, we would be a lot busier than we are now," he said.
Keith Lockaby of Woodstock was the second person to bring in a deer at Starley's on Saturday. He bagged the 4-point buck about an hour after daybreak.
Lockaby, 44, said he has been coming to Wilkinson County to hunt since he was 18. He leases land through a hunting club.
"It's like my own back yard down here," he said.
As with most all deer hunters, Lockaby was in his stand as the sun came up.
"I like watching the world come alive in the morning."
Lockaby said he can see how deer hunters help rural economies. He estimated he spent $1,800 on his hunting trips to Wilkinson County last deer season, and it netted him a total of one deer.
"If I had a wife, I probably couldn't spend that much money," he said.
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By Wayne Crenshaw
Telegraph Staff Writer
Atlanta would seem to have everything not found in Middle Georgia, including a world-class zoo, a vast performing arts community and various amusement parks, just to name a few.
But there is one thing in Middle Georgia that draws thousands of people from Atlanta and elsewhere each fall: gobs of whitetail deer.
Gun season for deer started Saturday, and hunters started coming in by the droves. A Georgia Department of Natural Resources study estimates that hunting overall contributes $515 million to the state economy with deer hunting accounting for $331 million.
The impact can be far-reaching. Everyone from large landowners to Huddle House waitresses can see a little extra coin in their pocket as a result of deer season.
Before daybreak Saturday morning, deer hunters hauling 4-wheelers on pickups began streaming into the Huddle House in East Dublin before hitting the woods. A BP station next door also was getting steady business from camouflage-clad customers.
And are deer hunters good tippers?
"Ohhh yeah," replied Claudia Allbee, manager of the Huddle House. "I wish we could have (deer season) every day."
Many landowners lease hunting rights for deer season, with prices ranging from $3 to $15 per acre. Most hunters say the average is about $6 per acre.
Sarah Starley, who operates Starley Deer Processing near Irwinton, estimated she would process 150 to 200 deer Saturday. She opened at 8 a.m. The first deer came in about 9 a.m., the start of a steady stream. She expected to keep going well into the night, getting $50 each to butcher a deer. She will be open every day, except Christmas, through deer season.
About half of her customers, she said, are from out of town.
"It's extremely good for the economy, especially in a small town," she said. "They buy beer, eat at restaurants ... they spend a lot of money."
Deer hunters can be eclectic group, defying any stereotypes.
"We get everyone from folks who just crawled out from under the Savannah River Bridge to doctors, lawyers and government officials," Starley said.
On a local level, no one could give an estimate of the dollar value of hunting season, but officials in rural communities were unanimous that the impact is significant.
"It would be interesting to know," Laurens County Administrator Bryan Rogers said. "I can assure you it is tremendous. People don't realize how much hunters spend."
He has fielded calls in the past few weeks from out-of-state hunters who want to make sure roads to their camp sites are maintained.
Georgia can make a good case for being the best deer-hunting state in the country. Beth Brown, spokeswoman for the Department of Natural Resources, said Georgia holds more deer records than any other state.
Last deer season, Georgia led the nation with 484,000 deer killed, Brown said. The total exceeded the combined harvest of Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina.
"With all those things purchased in the local economy, hunting certainly has a huge impact on rural Georgia," she said.
Even businesses unrelated to hunting can see a benefit. Dublin-Laurens Chamber of Commerce Director Willie Paulk recalled that a hunter visiting the area several years ago stopped at a jewelry store in downtown Dublin and saw a diamond ring he liked. He bought it for his wife.
"It was like an $18,000 ring," she said.
However, not everyone is excited about the influx of out-of-town hunters. Until about the early 1980s, about all local hunters had to do was ask any farmer if they could hunt. Most farmers were glad to have someone get rid of the crop-eating animals. But somewhere along the way, landowners figured out people were willing to pay. Now most rural hunters either have to cough up some cash or hunt on public land.
Most hunters form hunting clubs and pool their money to lease a tract of land. The cost of that can still run several hundred dollars per hunter.
Dennis Lewis, an avid hunter from Perry, said he leases 1,000 acres to two hunters who pay $3,000. Some are willing to pay that much, he said, to have a large tract of land to themselves.
"The competition is great for land," he said.
Some pay even more. David Williams, manager of Millwood Hunting Lodge in Laurens County, said the lodge currently is reserved for a hunting-apparel manufacturer during deer season. But when the lodge was still open to individuals, hunters would pay $1,450 for a 3-day hunt, which includes lodging and meals.
"If we went back to doing it public, we would be a lot busier than we are now," he said.
Keith Lockaby of Woodstock was the second person to bring in a deer at Starley's on Saturday. He bagged the 4-point buck about an hour after daybreak.
Lockaby, 44, said he has been coming to Wilkinson County to hunt since he was 18. He leases land through a hunting club.
"It's like my own back yard down here," he said.
As with most all deer hunters, Lockaby was in his stand as the sun came up.
"I like watching the world come alive in the morning."
Lockaby said he can see how deer hunters help rural economies. He estimated he spent $1,800 on his hunting trips to Wilkinson County last deer season, and it netted him a total of one deer.
"If I had a wife, I probably couldn't spend that much money," he said.
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