Forestry officials set aside a 10,000-acre tract in Tate's Hell for still hunting last year. The association represents half of Franklin County's 600 hunters, said Wilson, who made his remarks before the Franklin County Commission Tuesday. In response, commissioners voted 4-0 to direct Clerk of Court Kendall Wade to send a letter to state officials registering their opposition to the closing of any more state land to dog hunters, and urging forestry officials to reconsider. The tract of land in question was purchased by the state late last year. It runs east from County Road 67 to the Ochlockonee and Crooked rivers, north into Liberty County, and south within four miles of Lanark Village.
Hunters say the parcel is among the best in the state forest for deer.
It is currently closed to all hunting. The tract is higher and drier than many other parts of Tate's Hell, and so is more conducive to recreational uses, Weber said. It includes several boat ramps and camp sites, and one old logging road the state wants to turn into a trail for horseback riding. Forestry officials have no plans, Weber said, to designate any more areas for still hunting in Tate's Hell, which now covers 132,000 acres. State game officials will decide the parcel's permanent status early next year, said Eddie White, administrative assistant with the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.