Anyone on here going on the hunt this weekend? I'm taking my dad, and son. We're looking forward to it. The weather should be right, and hopefully the deer will be on their feet.

My son-in-law and two grandsons are going.

pete and i are going. see you guys there .

I'll be there.

Hey guys, looking forward to yall coming. We gonna have a ball

Gonna wish you all Good Luck this weekend. We thank you for your support. Maybe I can meet some of you while you're in our area.

I hope that I am able to make it next year

Tough hunting conditions this year due to the weather, however we still had a great experience. I managed to take a decent 8 point in the sleet and snow Friday and my nephew got a 6 point on Saturday. It was great to meet the Aldeer folks who were there, and we met some very colorful yarn spinners. These folks definitely understand the concept of hospitality and did everything possible to make our hunt memorable.

Hope I can make it next year. I need to make it a priority and just do it.

Thanks Rick for the kind words. We really enjoyed having everyone and meeting all the new ones. Look forward to next year.

We had a great time as well. Terry, and his guides are first class people. Good food, and a nice lodge to stay in. I was able to kill two does down there. My son has already asked when we're going back.

been playing catch-up with everyday life (laundry, work, child in school, taking said child to a birthday party on a school day - who does this? apparently lots of folks 'cause baby girl is attending another one today .)

anywho, here is my report and it may take a day or three to complete it as i have training at work and we have to prepare for another hunt - so bear with me:

i thought it would be good to begin attending some other school's benefit hunts. when it was posted that some folks had dropped out of this hunt, i thought no better time than the present. made arrangements for our daughter to be cared for and pete and i headed norte thursday evening.

i strategically planned it just right to break bread at this place in thomasville:


i had the ribeye and fries and pete had the ribeye and loaded baker:


was a good steak so i thank all of those who have previously mentioned the place .

spent the night in northport 'cause we didn't want to have to make the long ride friday morning and be worn out during the hunt. arrived an hour before registration time to "see the town". when the hunt coordinator tells you the town has one traffic light, there's your sign . we made the loop in five minutes and arrived at the site for the registration/meet 'n greet/lunch.

a local bank provided the eats (sandwich ribeye on hoagie rolls with an assortment of chips, a variety of sody-pop, water and brownies to get ur sugar up. we were given some goodies (hat, hot/cold pack and drink koozie) .

met some of the guides and then we were off convoy style to our bunkhouses. this was new to pete and i as the other hunt we attend has private housing (totally new experience for me ). there was a last minute type situation that occured with the housing arrangements and another local school's benefit hunt. some of the places that were normally used for Gordo's folks were now being used by the other school. not quite half of the hunters were housed in an old farmhouse - which was cool, in so many ways . the remainder went to another bunkhouse waaaay out somewhere (we would go there on the last evening for a fish fry).










***i gotta say, if one were to get stranded in certain areas of picken's county...and you didn't have cell coverage...and you had to walk to someone's house...you had better have great socks and good boots 'cause you gonna have some miles to hoof it. we went down some long dirt roads and some long paved roads. most times we were the only folks on the road. quiet, it was. peaceful.***

we were in a man's farmhouse that had been built by his grandfather in 1905. at some time they added central heating/air. the owner never lit the fireplaces (that would have been nice). nevertheless, we still crowded around the living room and tall tales were told and listened to with eager ears. as Rickster previously mentioned, some of those guys could really spin it . it was worth the price of admission to just hear these folk's stories!

some of the mounts:


bunk room 1:




it would have been cozy for the fellers in this room had they had a rip-roaring fire going during the night (there were two places in the house where one could receive one bar of service on the cell phone. right by this fireplace was one):


foyer where the wet/muddy boots were kept and jackets were hung to dry:


i was the only girl (lady, female) there so it was only proper that pete and i choose this room so's i could have my privacy...only, there were no interior doors in the house 'cept fer the privy . (the second place one could receive cell service was directly atop the nightstand where the lamp is. place phone on stand, make call when service established and leave it there during conversation):


story time

after arriving at the bunkhouse and getting acquainted with the owner and settling in, we were off with our guide for our friday afternoon/evening hunt. i would be hunting an airstrip and pete would be hunting on the property adjacent to where i was. we waited a few minutes for the landowner's son to arrive at his house. he brought me to the stand. it was one of those plastic/fiberglass types. sportsman's condo or something of the type. first time i've been in one. was real cozy with the winders closed but then i couldn't see very well. i was placed in the back of the airstrip and this particular stand faced right into the north . good gosh, it was brutal. i ain't gonna sugar-coat it. temperature was 33 degrees and with wind chill it felt like 25 with winds out of the north at 10.



view to my right...i just knew mack-daddy was gonna cross that bottom and i was gonna whack him


looking forward - there is another shooting house way up on the right side. directly across from it is another stand and there is one more at the front of the property. the landowner's can definitely hunt the wind.


view to my left - this is the where i saw a doe enter and leave at 4:07 p.m. - she didn't want anything to do with this area. way to windy i reckon:


the landowner was to pick me up at 5:30. he texted me at 4:58 to check on me. i told him i was ready if he was. we got back to his house and he said i was welcome to come inside and wait on pete and the guide. i told him i'd be happy to wait in the garage - you know how you're bundled up like the michelin man and your boots are wet 'cause it's sleeting and the ground is slushy and you really don't want to impose on anyone? well, he wouldn't hear of it and i graciously accepted his offer. met his wife and played with their dogs, all whilst standing just inside their back door. really nice folks. their son and his friend come back from their hunt. can't remember but i think one saw one doe and the other saw two does. we all up in the warm house (it was a fine house too with a big pot of soup simmering on the kitchen stove and a good dog at my feet enjoying his ears being rubbed) just talking away with the homeowner offering me food and drink - while pete and the guide are outside in the freezing snow waiting on me . the young men just happened to mention in casual conversation that pete and the guide were outside. i said, "that's who i'm waiting on." the homeowner walked me outside and i thanked him for his hospitality. we headed back to the farmhouse for supper.

this is another area that is different from the other school hunt. we don't return to the school for meals and see all the deer brought in for skinning. Gordo has a processor and the guides take the deer there. they don't have anyone assigned to skinning duty. whatever works, i guess; but, it is nice to stand around the skinning shed and see what all was brought in.

supper was pulled pork barbeque, fancy pork 'n beans with sausage or burger meat added with onions and other add-ins, home-made tater salad, pickles, an assortment of chips and sody pop, water, gatorade, home-made sugar cookies and some type of home-made chocolate dream pie . if anyone went hungry, it was their own fault. there was snacks everywhere. nutter butter cookies, oreos, chips a hoy, peanut butter crackers, a variety of little debbie snack cakes, sunflower seeds, peanuts, individual pouches of cereal - i can't remember everything.








pete didn't see anything but redbirds and squirrels

oh, i forgot to add:

twelve minutes prior to the time the landowner texted me to check on me, it was sleeting so hard that i had to close the windows in the shooting condo. it was like the rain in forest gump, only it was sleet. it was coming in sideways and even from the bottom, as it was hitting the windows (which folded down) and bouncing inside. you folks up north can keep that stuff .

after listening to the other hunter's stories and listening to the guides tell stories (these were the one's worth the money. there was one feller in particular that was a real joy to listen to. he was very quick witted.) it was time for bed. pete and i were directly across from the bathroom...i'm talking line of sight, straight as an arrow across. well, about 2:00 (i'm guessing 'cause i wasn't wearing a watch and i dang sure wasn't waking up enough to look at my phone) the bathroom breaks started. one guy went and it was on from there. seems about every thirty minutes, just i was getting back to sleep, another fella was making his way to the johnny. now, pete can sleep through a tornado in the house and a robber or thief could tote off the bed he was sleeping in. i don't think he was bothered one bit. low and behold the last man in left the light on and the door open. what the heck? say this for me, please...c-o-u-r-t-e-s-y!!! it means so much. well, guess i may as well get up like everyone else and yes, i tried to be quiet as a church mouse. came back to bed and checked the time. got all settled in and darn if the front door didn't open and the guide called out for us - twenty minutes early. don't know what happened there with the communications department. 'twas okay though because we always lay out our things for the next day and can get dressed in the dark if need be. i got dressed and grabbed some goodies for breakfast - a pecan spin 'cause your hot hands can heat them up fine, peanut butter crackers, a bag of cheerios and a banana. i was sitting in the backseat of the guide's truck when my alarm went off . a minute later, pete was on his way down the frozen over steps headed for the truck.

we went out toward pickensville (if memory serves). i was dropped off first and walked in by the guide. the ground was frozen and crunched under every footstep. the dirt didn't give way like it normally would have under foot and every few steps you had to catch yourself. i always look forward to the morning hunts because you never know what to expect walking into the area and getting into and settled into the shooting house...that is, if you can find it. with the guide escorting me, i had no worries. once settled in, i discovered that the shooting house door not having a latch was going to be bothersome. about every five minutes when the wind blew a mcswirly, the door would be sucked out about two inches. then, the wind would blow again and it would slam. i tried several times to keep it shut because the door was on the north side of the house and that little bit of wind that came through the opening was a teeth chatterer. it was 20 degrees with a wind chill of 8 and the wind was gusting 11 from the north.

pete goes to texting me and i don't have those gloves with the special tip that allows you to use the phone without removing your gloves. aaargghhh!

pete: i have a heater but no matches or lighter
me: i carry both. can't latch door over here
pete: trade ya a latch for a match

view to front


view to left


view to right


shooting house for saturday morning


didn't see anything. heard one shot in the distance around 8:00. pete didn't see anything. the guide hunted and he didn't see anything.

back to farmhouse for more deer hunting stories, local stories and all around bull stories. pete and i took our leftover ribeyes from big mike's and slapped them on burger buns with mustard. bag of tater chips and diet pepsi to warsh it down. about an hour or so later, the volunteers from the band boosters brought lunch:

chili
sausage and chicken gumbo
home-made pies with cream cheese, whipped topping and pineapple maybe?


i was kind of full from the lunch i had made but i did get a styrofoam cup of chili with a handful of crakers and a small slice of pie. hey, it's not nice to not show your host's your appreciation .


...to be continued...

good story. much appreciate your thoughts ...

Great read. Keep it coming

Lol, when I first looked at that pot of chili, I thought it was a blood shot eye!

had to get a shot of it before it disappeared

after lunch we packed the truck and said goodbye to everyone 'cause we didn't know who would leave for home directly after the evening hunt.

we followed the guide to a place south (i believe) of Gordo and dropped off our truck at his work place. we rode with him to one of his leases and dropped off pete. the guide then took me down the road just a bit and walked me part way to my stand. he didn't have time to make steps or a reg'lar ladder so a step ladder had to do. it was a bit dicey getting into the shooting house 'cause it had rained/sleeted the night before and the top part of the ladder was ice. i made my way inside and it was nice - was a new shooting house with new carpet and plexiglass windows. the sun was easing over to my right side and it sure was casting some much wanted heat inside.


just after 3:00 i had a coyote enter the greenfield from the right. i took him with a 7-.08. it was my first kill with the little rifle . i sat there for a little bit and figured i'd best get down and drag that yote outta the field. this looked like a good area and i didn't want any deer to wind the ol' song dog.

not much of a view to the left and right so straight ahead will have to do


awww, he's sleeping


around 4:30 i had these yearlings pop out just to the right of the shooting house. i watched them until they spooked out when the guide drove in to pick me up


made the short trip back to the area pete was hunting. he didn't see anything

fetched our truck and followed the guide to the other bunkhouse where there was gonna be a fish fry. when we got to the gates, i knew it was gonna be a fine place and i wasn't disappointed when we pulled up to the cabin/lodge. went inside and probably spent twenty minutes just looking at the mounts




the upstairs has the bunks and there are two sets like this across from each other. there is a ladies bathroom with a double shower and a gentlemen's bathroom (don't know what's in there). then there are a couple or three more private rooms. all told, the place will sleep 25.


i hope no one sleepwalks 'cause this spiral staircase would sure mess them up




view from above looking toward the kitchen and dining area with a little of the den/living room area showing to the right

Thanks for sharing Velvet. Glad you and Pete had a good time. I've always wondered how those hunts worked. Sounds like you enjoyed some great food, I know that rib eye hurt my feelings ! LOL