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First off I want to thank Woody for a wonderful hunting experience with my son and some new friends at his place this past weekend. It was an experience Roger and I will always remember. Our drive down took a turn for the worse as we were leaving Birmingham toward Montgomery. Suddenly I-65 South was a parking lot. Since they were waiting for us to bring the meat for dinner time was of the essence. I called our resident researcher; Ron (Tuna Man) and he quickly gave me an alternative route that had us moving in no time. Thanks Ron! We finally arrived a couple of hours late after a few calls to Woody and followed him onto the property. We grilled deer burgers and got acquainted while eating our late supper.
Timing and luck would have it that PFF member Jaster (Jason) and his 8 year old son Dillon were there along with Tim and his son, another 8 year old named Justin. Between fishing, hunting and playing with ?Rocky?, Woody?s golden retriever, the boys had a blast and never got bored. I guess Rocky is still recuperating from fetching nonstop when the boys were in camp.
The evenings in camp involved grilling, cooking and talking on the porch, while the boys played with the dog and listened to the coyotes howl. As the evening wound down we would settle down inside and watch a video till we ran out of gas and trickled off to bed. Woody and I burned the midnight oil talking about fishing and hunting till the wee hours of the morning and shorted ourselves of well needed sleep. The conversation was well worth it and I don?t regret a minute?s sleep lost. He?s a little less than half my age so I?m sure he never noticed we only slept a few hours each night.
We hunted in some very nice blinds conveniently located and sized for buddy hunting. There were plenty to choose from and Woody moved us around so all would get to hunt different blinds and parts of the property. Unfortunately the only deer we saw were on the last morning. It was so foggy we couldn?t positively identify our potential targets. They moved off before the fog cleared so Roger never got a shot. It was a good lesson in shot selection and discipline for Roger anyway.We saw deer so I consider it a successful hunt. (Call it a hunting catch and release attitude.)
Woody had a friend that arrived late Saturday night/Sunday morning that was bow hunting our last morning and managed to hit a trophy 8 point or better. He and Woody trailed it for a considerable distance before running out of a good blood trail. They marked the trail, returned to camp and sought everyone?s assistance to resume trailing the deer. Tim and his son had left the previous evening so it was Woody, Buddy, Tim, Dillon and me and Roger. It turned out the two boys were excellent trackers and could spot blood on the ground like a CSI unit with alternate light sources. The adults basically ended up following the boys and marking the blood spots with surveyors tape and leapfrogging along behind them as they deftly followed a trail we had difficulty finding. The anticipation built as they continued yelling out ?Here?s some blood?, ?I found some?, ?Over here! ? We gave it a good 2 hours and a few hundred yards in some pretty thick terrain full of fresh deer sign. Eventually the trail ran out again and we were forced to abandon the trail. It was unfortunate for Buddy and the deer but it was another of the many important lessons and experiences the boys were exposed to this great weekend.
If you or a family member wants to have a great personal hunting experience or introduce a child to hunting, give Woody a call. This is an outdoorsman's playground with excellent facilities and as gracious a host you could ever ask for. I?m hoping to bring Roger down again after Christmas. If we can?t make it again this year we will definitely be back next year. Woody it was a pleasure and honor meeting you. I look forward to our next meeting be it in the woods or on the dock. Jason, if you and Dillon plan on going back let me know and maybe we can meet up again.Tight lines all.
Timing and luck would have it that PFF member Jaster (Jason) and his 8 year old son Dillon were there along with Tim and his son, another 8 year old named Justin. Between fishing, hunting and playing with ?Rocky?, Woody?s golden retriever, the boys had a blast and never got bored. I guess Rocky is still recuperating from fetching nonstop when the boys were in camp.
The evenings in camp involved grilling, cooking and talking on the porch, while the boys played with the dog and listened to the coyotes howl. As the evening wound down we would settle down inside and watch a video till we ran out of gas and trickled off to bed. Woody and I burned the midnight oil talking about fishing and hunting till the wee hours of the morning and shorted ourselves of well needed sleep. The conversation was well worth it and I don?t regret a minute?s sleep lost. He?s a little less than half my age so I?m sure he never noticed we only slept a few hours each night.
We hunted in some very nice blinds conveniently located and sized for buddy hunting. There were plenty to choose from and Woody moved us around so all would get to hunt different blinds and parts of the property. Unfortunately the only deer we saw were on the last morning. It was so foggy we couldn?t positively identify our potential targets. They moved off before the fog cleared so Roger never got a shot. It was a good lesson in shot selection and discipline for Roger anyway.We saw deer so I consider it a successful hunt. (Call it a hunting catch and release attitude.)
Woody had a friend that arrived late Saturday night/Sunday morning that was bow hunting our last morning and managed to hit a trophy 8 point or better. He and Woody trailed it for a considerable distance before running out of a good blood trail. They marked the trail, returned to camp and sought everyone?s assistance to resume trailing the deer. Tim and his son had left the previous evening so it was Woody, Buddy, Tim, Dillon and me and Roger. It turned out the two boys were excellent trackers and could spot blood on the ground like a CSI unit with alternate light sources. The adults basically ended up following the boys and marking the blood spots with surveyors tape and leapfrogging along behind them as they deftly followed a trail we had difficulty finding. The anticipation built as they continued yelling out ?Here?s some blood?, ?I found some?, ?Over here! ? We gave it a good 2 hours and a few hundred yards in some pretty thick terrain full of fresh deer sign. Eventually the trail ran out again and we were forced to abandon the trail. It was unfortunate for Buddy and the deer but it was another of the many important lessons and experiences the boys were exposed to this great weekend.
If you or a family member wants to have a great personal hunting experience or introduce a child to hunting, give Woody a call. This is an outdoorsman's playground with excellent facilities and as gracious a host you could ever ask for. I?m hoping to bring Roger down again after Christmas. If we can?t make it again this year we will definitely be back next year. Woody it was a pleasure and honor meeting you. I look forward to our next meeting be it in the woods or on the dock. Jason, if you and Dillon plan on going back let me know and maybe we can meet up again.Tight lines all.
oke Sorry I don't post as much as I used to, but I'm trying to get out of the house a little more when I don't have my head in the books. :grouphug:bowdown
