The spring conference of the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association was held in Savannah in 2003. We enjoyed fishing for stripers in the Savannah River, eating seafood, walking a birding trail with the president of the local Audubon Society, eating seafood, visiting a local fish hatchery, eating seafood, touring the city, eating seafood and discussing writing. Oh, we also ate a lot of seafood.

One of the highlights of this conference each year is the Excellence in Craft competition. Outdoor writers from Georgia can enter their work in about 10 different categories like “Daily Newspaper,” “Color Photograph,” and “Magazine Article.” All the entries are bundled up and sent to the Tennessee Outdoor Writers Association where they are judged by outdoor writers from that state.

I was honored to win awards in four categories. A picture of Hunter Caraway holding up a big bluegill that was published in Georgia Sportsman Magazine won first prize in the category “Black and White Photograph.” An article I wrote for OutdoorFrontiers.com about fishing for bedding bass won second place in the category “Electronic Media.”

Two of my articles in the Griffin Daily News won awards. I received 3rd place for an article “Holiday Wishes” in the “Non-game/Outdoor Recreation” category. Ducks, Unlimited judges and gives a special award, the “Waterfowl” category, and I placed second in it with an article about the work of DU in Georgia.

It is a very good feeling to win an award based on judging by other outdoor writers. I was vice president of the organization this past year, and it was my responsibility to gather all the entries and send them to Tennessee. There were a lot of excellent entries in many categories.