Outdoors Show Christmas Extravaganza!

Join us, this Saturday December 17th, from 7 AM to 2 PM for the Outdoors Show Extravaganza, held at Nimnicht Chevorlet, in Jacksonville, Florida.  Besides broadcasting the Outdoors Show Radio live, there will be raffles and fine smoked foods to eat, vendors who are sponsors of the show and the Outdoors Show staff including Kevin, Jeff and Kirk.  Admission is free!  Steve and I will be there with the shocker boat set up on display answering questions about lake and land management and raffling off a fish attractor and wood duck box, along with giving away a few camo tees, hats and coozies.  During the show we are offering all Texas Hunter and Sweeney brand fish and game feeders at 5% off!  I will also have the Duck Hounds there waiting to be petted or retrieve a dummy by anyone that will throw for them.  We hope to see you there!

Happy Holidays!

Everyone here at Southern Sportsman Aquatics & Land Management would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy, Safe and Prosperous New Year in 2012!  We are headed towards our 5th anniversary in March and would like to thank everyone from clients, friends, associates and family for helping us grow the business the past five years.  We have been pleasantly surprised at our success, and look forward to continue growing and meeting new people the next five years.  Our clients are the best, constantly promoting us and having their friends and associates call on us to perform lake and land work on their properties.  We look forward to working for you all again next year and the many new clients signed up that we start working for this coming spring.  Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving Weekend at the Deer Lease With the Browns!

Now that the Allen High football season tragically ended last weekend coming up a yard short of the end zone on the final drive in the playoff game at Cowboy’s Stadium, my son and I spent three days deer hunting at our Abilene, Texas lease.

First afternoon I got to my ground blind about 2:00 PM saw a few deer about 50-80 yards away and none going by the feeder.  This was the first time I had seen deer, that didn’t swing by the feeder, but I didn’t think anything of it.  Around 4:00 a flock of red-winged black birds invaded the feeder, well over 100.  They would land and then all jump up and leave for a few minutes and come back.  I noticed about 5 yards to the left of the feeder the birds were appearing to lift a “stick” up off the ground when they flew.  I got my binoculars out and after further review I realized I wasn’t the only one hunting the feeder, it was a rattle snake.  He was hiding in a depression, coiled up with just his head out of the depression facing the feeder.  This went on until dark (6:00) and with binoculars at 16 yards it was like Wild Kingdom “in your face!”  I could see him lunge, tongue going in and out and he even yawned twice. He never caught anything though.  Unfortunately I did not have my big camera and didn’t get any pictures.  I am not sure but maybe the deer could smell or sense he was there and that’s why I saw 5 deer that afternoon and they all kept their distance.  Also had a Yote (coyote) barking (at what, I couldn’t figure out) about 80 yards up the hill from me for about 5 minutes off and on.

On Saturday afternoon the wind was 40-plus mph out of north and temperatures were dropping.  I dropped Josh off at 2:45 and headed to my stand about 10 min drive away and another 10 minute walk from there.  At 3:45 I barely heard a shot in his direction (3/4 of a mile away) and about 45 seconds later got a text that said “It was the big one!”  Well the Big One is about a 150 inch class we had seen around, and the day prior I believe we saw him crossing the road as we drove to the stands within 100 yards of Josh’s stand.  The next text is “lots of blood at site, but no blood trail.”  I said OK, don’t push him I will be back over in 15 minutes and we can start from there.  Now I have deer already in bow range and I have to shoo them away and I jump two more big body deer as I walk up out of the gulch to the truck.  Before I got too the truck another text, “I found him, he is big, but not the Big One – hurry up.”  Although he has a broken main beam (which a lot of our deer already have due to this year's drought) he is a 10-point, palmated on one side, with a kicker off one brow tine.  The taxidermist can add the end of the broken side per Josh's request.  I went through almost 1,000 trail camera photos last night and could not find one picture of this deer prior to breaking it off.  In fact he hadn’t been in any photos until a few days prior to meeting Josh and his 270 rifle.  I wanted to be sure the repair is as close to the real deal as we can get, as many of our deer have crab claws at the end, but to no avail, this buck due to the rut had just moved into the area.  For those who do not know Josh, he never gets excited about anything, but he was excited Saturday afternoon and even smiled for a few pictures.  This is his first buck after taking 4 does between ages of 12 and 17 that he got all on his own without sitting by Dad (after his first deer he told me I was holding him back those first two years!)Looks like you can be a high school kid, get straight A’s, play football, be in the band and still live the Hunt Life!

Here is the deer a couple days prior at a feeder photographed by a trail camera.  He is easy to spot in the thousands of trail camera photos we have from this year, as he has a double throat patch apposed to the traditional single.

Josh Brown with his first buck - awfully nice one!

Dad helps but the hunter needs to do most of the work.

Josh and I the next morning, now the real work begins processing the meat.

I got this doe two weeks prior with my bow, now looking for a big buck!

Hunting Season Is Finally Here!

Now that most of our Fall field work is complete, we can take some time off to hunt.  Got to sit last weekend with my bow and saw 8 bucks and three does in two sits.  All of them got within 20 yards or less while I sat in a ground blind, or just on a stool tucked into some mesquite trees.  One 9-point walked up to15 feet before daylight while I was sitting in the bushes - he never saw me!  None of the bucks were what I was looking for, although two were very tempting.  After watching deer for 45 minutes I decided to take a large doe, but by then she had gotten to where I couldn't get a shot.  Maybe next time!

Here are a few more trail camera pictures from the ranch we hunt near Abilene, Texas from the past five weeks.

A Few Photos From The Field!

Been on the road for two weeks and have gotten a few wildlife photos in Florida and Georgia while working or during our travels.  And then the rains came!

Young Black Bear in the Ocala National Forest!

Rutting Buck in Central Florida a few miles from Disney!

Canada Geese in South Central Georgia leaving the peanut fields!

Rattle Snake in North Florida!

We found this spot while electrofishing near Welatka, Florida on the St. Johns river! This is not the typical electrofisihng scene, there were thousands of catfish stacked up in this spot. It didn't take long for us to collect our 15.

Trail Camera Videos From Central Texas!

Here are a few videos I got with our trail cameras from the ranch this past weekend.  The Hog in lightning is pretty cool!  Enjoy!

Nice Little Texas Buck!

Hog in lightning!

Another Nice Little Texas Buck!

Is There any More Room at This Table?

Trail Camera Pictures Are Coming In!

Got two weeks of trail camera pictures back from the deer lease near Abilene, Texas. Got some nice deer, but some other charcters hanging out too.  Aslo got some videos from the same cameras, so i will try and post one or two of those.  Enjoy!

All he needs is a cape and a light breeze!

Who Dat?

The worlds ugliest boar hog, but he comes with targets on him!

Wil-E-Coyote!

A mature 10-point!

Don't believe I have ever seen quail on a taril camera before?

Fight!  Fight! (on left of frame)

The bone yard!  Lots of inches there!

Now its the Ladies' turn to eat!

Bobcat

 

Since we have a coyote, there is always a road runner not far ahead of him.

Quarterly News Letter Posted!

The Southern Sportsman Aquatics & Land Management Fall 2011 quarterly news letter can be viewed at: http://southernsportsmanaquaticsandland.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/September_2011_News_Letter.248100924.pdf

We hope you enjoy it.

Scotty Brown Invades The Hunt Life Outdoors Show!

Scotty Brown from Southern Sportsman Aquatics & Land Management was a guest on this week's Hunt Life Outdoors Show: http://www.huntlife.com/.  Click on episode #95 to listen!  We talked about the Bass Pro Land and Wildlife Expo and the Quality Deer Management Association National Convention the weekend before that we were attended, along with fish and wildlife management and getting ready for hunting season.  Oh yeah, we had a few laughs too, actually we had a lot of laughs!  Enjoy!

The Show is Over and We are All Back Home!

The show wrapped up Sunday afternoon and we survived the dreaded take-down.  Always a pleasure watching the folks in the back clog everything up at the exit in the front by pushing or driving all there stuff past everyone else and then not being able to get there trailers close to load.  The take-down is always the worst part of these events, and I have been to very few where it was organized and went quickly.

Overall the show was OK.  Friday was a great day, Saturday was good, but Sunday was very light all day.  We met and talked to a lot of interesting folks about deer, turkey, ducks, weeds, ponds and fish.  I even had a request to design a 10 acre fishing pond with an additional 20 acres of dog training areas that could double as a waterfowl hunting area near Dallas.  Fishing, Dog training and bird hunting are three of my favorite activities, so I am looking forward to starting that project!

We even had a few clients present, and want to thank Jim Fenton and his wife who own Doe Run Plantation that we work for in Sylvester, Georgia for the hospitality one evening after the main festivities ended. 

We hope you enjoyed the updates and now its time to get back to work.  Steve will be collecting water chemistry samples from the St Johns River in Florida this week and Grady and I will be spraying aquatic weeds at Holly Lake Ranch, near Hawkins, Texas.  It is only predicted to be 104 degrees, so that is about 5 degrees cooler than last month.

As always the fish attractor brought a lot of folks to the booth either to compliment us on it or to see how to order or build them for themselves.

This display was very cool showcasing long-leaf pines apposed to planting other species, and had a nice turkey mount as part of it.

Some of the booths were very elaborate like this John Deere display where they laid down several pallets of sod.  I know they didn't come from Texas, we have not had mud here in months!

The folks that train antler shed dogs were there.  This is a pretty cool idea, but I would hate for my dogs to grab an antler instead of a downed bird during a hunt.

This truck belongs to a 15 year old boy named Zac Cooper that has had his own hunting show since he was 11.  He has been interviewed on the Hunt Life Outdoors Show and he does have good manners.

First Full Day in The Books!

Yesterdays four hours was very crowded.  After we shut it down we hit the QDMA Grand Banquet.  We didn't win anything in the raffle nor did we buy anything in the Live auction.  We saw some old friends and made some new ones.  Jeff Foxworthys show was great!  He is really into the outdoors and managing his deer at his farm in Georgia.

Today the show was non-stop until about the last two hours, then it was very thin, but it gave us time to walk around and see what was here.

Tonight we have dinner and a Craig Morgan concert with all the proceeds going to Conservation groups like NWTF, DU, QDMA, RMEF, and a few others.

Steve, Scott and Grady working the booth!

Seriously a pink spreader?

Here is a nice mount at one of the booths.

Arrived, Set Up and Ready to Go!

After a nine hour drive yesterday for Scott and Grady we arrived to meet Steve who flew in from florida to set up the booth, check into the very nice Gaylord Opryland Hotel.  The Southern Sportsman Aquatics & Land Management Boys are not used to staying at places like this.  Could be a new reality TV show called "Rednecks Invade The High Society Folks In Nashville"  I'm mean comeon the biggest Redneck of all Jeff Foxworthy is here hanging out, and it dont' get any more Redneck than that!

The booth is set up, now all we need are people to come by!

Scott & Steve checking out the speakers at the QDMA Seminar Series!

 

Headed To Nashville!

This week we are headed to Nashville to participate in the Quality Deer Management Associations National Convention and the Bass Pro Shops Land & Wildlife Expo.  Everything is packed and built, and I am ready for the weekend.  For the QDMA National Convention click here: QDMA National Convention and for more info on the Bass Pro Shop Expo click here: Bass Pro Shop Land & Wildlife Expo.  Please stop buy our booth (#1121) and say hello!  We will have photos and talk about it when we get back if you cannot make it, but we hope to see you there!

Allen Texas Ducks Unlimited Banquet

The Allen Chapter of Ducks Unlimited (DU) is having their 13^th Annual Fundraising Banquet on Thursday, 4 August 2011, 5:30 PM at the Swingin’ D Ranch, 3406 Dublin Road, Parker, Texas.  All proceeds go to Ducks Unlimited to be used for wetland conservation and restoration.

Due to the enormous support from local and national sponsors and the generosity of attendees in 2008, 2009 & 2010, Allen Ducks Unlimited received awards given out by both DU National (Presidential Citation Award (Bronze in 2008, Silver in 2009 & Gold in 2010) and the Texas State Committee (The Mallard in 2008, Widgeon in 2009, and Mallard and Grand Slam Pintail Awards in 2010) for exceptional growth in fundraising and attendance.  In 2011 Allen DU has the opportunity to do what no chapter in Texas and very few across the country have done, which is earn the Grand Slam Pintail Award two consecutive years.

Besides great barbeque, libations and fellowship; there will be various raffles and games, along with silent and live auction items.  All attendees will be entered in a raffle for an Apple I-Pad.  Tickets are $60 per person, $80 per couple and youth (17 and under) $25.  A Bronze Sponsorship Corporate Table for eight costs $750, which includes gift for all at the table.  All the above includes one membership to Ducks Unlimited.  Silver or Gold Sponsorship corporate tables are also available, please call if interested.  Day of event tickets can be purchased at the door.

If you would like to support wetland conservation and help Allen DU achieve a rare accomplishment by attending the banquet and/or becoming an event sponsor by donating funds, goods or services contact Hoyt Utay (214) 957-3133 or Kirk Hodgson (214) 755-4551

To learn more about the Allen Chapter of Ducks Unlimited, how you can become an active member and purchase tickets, check us out on the web at: http://allentxduchapter.blogspot.com/

Summer 2011 News Letter

The Summer 2011 edition of the Southern Sportsman Aquatics & Land Management News Letter can be viewed at: http://southernsportsmanaquaticsandland.com/ on the "Quarterly News Letter" page. We have added some things to our web site and we are also taking orders and accepting credit cards to purchase aeration systems, fountains, fish and game feeders, pond fertilizer, fish attractors, wood duck and blue bird nesting boxes and Southern Sportsman Aquatics & Land Management hats and tee shirts.

Reports Are Finally Done!

Well we got all our spring lake assessment reports finally completed and mailed out.  Nothing exciting for photo opportunities, but me sitting at my desk chair entering data and typing reports, so no new interesting photos this time.  We continue to perform aquatic vegetation treatment for our regular clients on a monthly basis and I have begun making changes to our web site for the summer that will include new services and products we will be offering that can be purchased off our web site: http://southernsportsmanaquaticsandland.com/.  Once I have it all done I will turn it on and let everyone know.  The fish and wildlife biology is easy, but maintaining web sites, doing accurate accounting and stuff like that is neither fun nor am I good at it!  We are also getting ready for the upcoming Land & Wildlife Expo in conjunction with the Quality Deer Management Association's National Convention in Nashville August 11-14th.  Anyone attending please stop by our booth and say hello, we always like to see friendly faces of clients or followers.  I have also been helping my friends at the Outdoors Show get there new web site ready to launch.  If you have never been to their site or heard the radio show you can check it all out at http://outdoorsshow.com/  See ya until next time!

Not too disappoint, here are a few photos I hadn't posted yet - Enjoy!

White-tail deer fawn in Georgia!

Gopher Tortoise in Southwest Florida!

A banded (four times) Scrub Jay in Southwest Florida!

Spring Work Trip Finally Over!

Well the four weeks in the field is over. Now back in Texas entering the mountain of data collected and doing a few spray jobs around here between thunderstorms, high winds and the fires that have torched well over a million acres. The last weekend in April we are headed to Abilene, Texas to try and get Josh his first turkey, and my first Rio Grand!


I want to thank all our clients and friends for the hospitality while we were working and in the evenings to help get our minds off work and relax. Yes, even I am tired of electrofishing! It was by far my longest trip, but was enjoyable despite living out of a suitcase for four weeks - we definitely have great clients and friends! I only got to sit in the turkey woods for about 3 hours one morning with the Faver Clan and about an hour at Ochwalkee Creek Plantation. Some of our client's lakes looked so good this spring I had to fish a few of them, even if just for a half hour to take a break. Here are a few pictures from what I saw while working the last two weeks.

Osprey flying by!

Southern fox squirrel!

Heron in a rookery in Northeast Florida!

Pilliated woodpecker flying by!

Canada goose nest in Alabama!

Who brings babies to the storks?

Although viewed as cute by some, this highly destructive beaver was checking us out while we were fishing!

This gobbler was looking for love!