Developers who own the Oaky Woods Wildlife Management Area in Houston County are requiring that the state pay 24 percent more this year for the privilege of managing wildlife and public hunting on the land.

The wildlife management lease between the owners and the state Department of Natural Resources is renegotiated every year. But this was the first revision since one of the owners, about to receive a hunting citation for holding an illegal dove hunt on his land, threatened retaliation through the Oaky Woods lease, according to DNR documents.

Charles Ayer, one of the owners of Oaky Woods and spokesman for the group, was cited for unlawful enticement of game after a large group of hunters was caught hunting doves in September over a field baited with wheat. He informed DNR law enforcement agent Sgt. Tony Fox that a second Oaky Woods owner, Scott Free, was part of the hunting party on Ayer's Peach County property.

According to a DNR incident report, Ayer, who also owns The Sports Center in Perry, told Fox that federal regulations allow this type of dove hunting. The report said that when Fox offered to consult a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services special agent, Ayer "responded by telling (Fox) that ... the Department's ability to lease the WMA in the future was dependent upon how officers elected to pursue prosecution - he plainly stated that federal involvement would adversely impact the lease."

Contacted by The Telegraph, Ayer said he disagreed with this description of what happened but declined to comment further about the incident. He also declined to comment about the reason for the increase in the cost of the lease.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials were not contacted about the incident, but that's normal, said Col. Terry West, chief of DNR law enforcement. He said unless federal agents are already on the scene, DNR agents usually write a citation, which is heard in state or local probate court rather than federal court. The exception is in counties where the court system has a history of failing to support DNR law enforcement, he said.

"At the time, that wasn't the case down there," he said. But because the case still has not been heard, he said, "this will probably lead to a change in that. ... I would have expected that a case made last September would have been adjudicated by this time."

In Peach County, hunting violations are usually heard in probate court. However, someone, probably the defendant, was granted a request for the case to be transferred to Superior Court, said Michelle Riley, probate court traffic clerk.

Sandy Jones, office administrator for the district attorney's office in Peach County, which tries Superior Court cases, said the lag in trying the case is not unusual because the court has a backlog of misdemeanor cases.

"We hope to get to the misdemeanors by August," she said.

OAKY WOODS LEASE

The state has had a wildlife management lease on Oaky Woods, a popular Middle Georgia hunting spot, for more than three decades. During most of that time, the land was owned by various timber companies, most recently Weyerhaeuser. A group of Houston County businessmen purchased Oaky Woods in 2004, and the owners have announced plans to develop it into a community that would rival the size of nearby cities. Owners have continued the DNR lease in the meantime.

When the lease was renegotiated in April for the hunting year that starts this August, the rate was increased from $8.25 to $10.25 per acre, said Kevin Kramer, DNR regional supervisor of game management. The total cost for leasing the roughly 16,200 acres is now about $165,960.

Of all the state's 92 wildlife management areas, Oaky Woods now has the most expensive lease per acre. The average lease rate in the state is $5.76 an acre, said Melissa Cummings, public affairs coordinator for the DNR Wildlife Resources Division. Cummings said there is no set limit on the amount the state will pay for the lease in future years.

THE HUNTING CITATIONS

Fox, the initial responding officer, stopped at Ayer's property on U.S. 341 outside Fort Valley for a routine compliance check when he heard gunshots. His report describes a group of hunters shooting doves over a baited field.

In accordance with federal guidelines, only Ayer was charged for this because the other hunters might not have realized the field was baited, said the DNR's West. The citation, unlawful enticement of game, carries a potential penalty of $540 to $1,000 in Peach County, where the incident occurred.

The DNR Web site indicates that illegal hunting of doves over bait is a significant problem in Georgia, with hunters and landowners often being confused about what constitutes baiting.

According to the incident report, Ayer disputed the charge, saying the field was a feed lot for his elk. The wheat was not growing but had been scattered across a field of Bermuda grass, photos taken at the scene show. DNR officers informed Ayer that this was not a reasonable feed lot under Georgia regulations.

The incident report says Ayer called DNR Commissioner Noel Holcomb. West said Ayer told Holcomb to get the DNR officers off his property. Holcomb then spoke with one of the DNR rangers.

"Holcomb told them to do their job," West said. "He backed us wholly. There was never any question about us doing the right thing." Officers with the Macon law enforcement office, which handled the incident, verified that Holcomb did not try to interfere.

Later, when Ayer continued to contact the commissioner to argue that he had done nothing wrong, West and DNR game chief Mark Whitney visited Ayer at his property, West said.

"We did not want to upset the cart because Oaky Woods is a very valuable piece of property to us," West said. "It is so important to the black bear population, and it has been one of our most popular management areas for well over 20 years. I'm sure all that played into the decision to send the two chiefs down there."

However, after listening to Ayer and also consulting the state agronomist about normal agricultural practices, they concluded that their officers had made the right decision, West said.

"In my time as chief we've never reversed a decision our officers have made," he added.

According to the incident report, a number of prominent men were in the hunting party on Ayer's land. Among them was Houston County Sheriff Cullen Talton, who "directed a great deal of profanity towards (the responding officer) upon his request to inspect Talton's birds," according to the report.

Talton did not return phone calls last week.

Talton's son Neal Talton, vice chairman of the Houston County Development Authority, was ticketed during the same incident for having shot more doves than the 12 permitted to one hunter in a single day. According to the DNR incident report, he ran away before being apprehended with 61 doves.

To contact writer S. Heather Duncan, call 744-4225.