"Come as a Customer......Leave as a Friend"
To schedule your next hunting getaway, please call us at: (803)584-7363 or email us at: redblufflodge@wildblue.net. Our mailing address is: 130 Boone Trail, Allendale, South Carolina, 29810, and our fax number is (803)584-1717.
To print a brochure, click here: Download RedBluffLodgeBroSmall This is a shortened version of our regular brochure. If you'd like for us to mail you a full brochure, please shoot us an email.
As we ease on into the dog days of summer (can you say HOTTT, anyone?) we'd like to give you a quick peek into our turkey season that ended in May. Here are some pics:
We started off on March 17th with a trio of gobblers. Barbie Ditmer (far left) got her first turkey, Melissa Morgan got herself a nice one, and Rob Dunagan got a huge bird (scored over 60 NWTF points).
Here's the world-famous 'Mr. D' with nice gobblers he got on each end of the season. The first was taken on March 18th, and the second on April 20th.
More pictures to come. In total, we harvested 14 turkeys this season.
Some of our customers hunt with us for one trip, some have come for a few years, or every few years. Many have hunted with us for years - hosting them is like having good friends come for a visit. A few have been with us for so long that they are like family; when they are not here, something just doesn't seem right...
Almost everyone that has hunted with us over the last 11 years has had the Bob Barth experience. He's the one zipping by on his electric blue golf cart, or on the WWII Willys Jeep (with the plywood doors!). The one that regularly bounced his vehicles off of whatever happened to be near his 'landing zone'. If you were a new face to him, he would write your name on his hand. Sometimes he had so many names, he had to move on up to his wrist. He's the one that could weld a peice of bubblegum to a plastic straw - no problem. He was always involved with a project; up on a roof spreading tar, digging a trench, rigging a gun, driving Aunt Do crazy; he never stood still.
Often you would realize he had arrived by the whistling sound his hearing aids made - he would always complain that they were malfunctioning, not that his hearing was the problem! He made exhaustive notes about each of our hunting stands, and truly sweated the 'draw' that we used to do when assigning stands. He is our only hunter to regularly bring a binder full of notes to choose a stand. He just knew that his hunting success was dependent on getting a low number. He good naturedly took the ribbing and practical jokes he always got from the other hunters. There was always big fun when the stands were moved or renamed. He would be truly perplexed for days! He never had more than one drink a day - but it was in a gallon-size trucker's mug that seemed to be permanently attached to his cupholder.
We have all watched Mr. Barth fight his cancer. No one has ever fought with more determination. Sheer will took him years longer than anyone could have expected. Mr. Bob lost this fight on Easter Sunday. Our hearts are all saddened - there will be too much quiet here come deer season. No electric zing of the golf cart, no whistling hearing aids, no cry of "Jimmy!" at 5:00 in the morning when he wants to be sure to get a certain deer stand.
If you would like to send your condolences to his wife, Dorothy, you can write her at: 1175 Bay Road, Mount Dora, Florida, 32757. The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Cornerstone Hospice, 2445 Lane Park Road, Tavares, FL 32778. If you would like to see his obituary, please click here: http://www.legacy.com/orlandosentinel/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Notice&PersonID=126199526
Godspeed, Mr. Bob...
Every year at this time we work to winnow down our many great pictures to find the ones that will convey our message at the Harrisburg, PA Outdoor Show in early February. We thought that you might like to see the pictures that we felt best illustrate the Red Bluff Lodge experience. Here are the top 30 or so:
There are lots of great photos yet to share - Digest these, and we'll be back with more. By the way, we ended the year with 352 deer and 112 hogs!
Normally, we try to refrain from glorifying antlers. We do not promote Red Bluff Lodge as a big rack destination; if that is what you're after, you're better off checking out Texas or Canada. What we try to provide here is a great overall hunting experience. A fun, relaxing time with friends and family in a comfortable and hospitable setting that provides an incredible chance to see a lot of game and to take a lot of shots.
With that said- Ye-Haw, Ya'll! We have shot a BUNCH of bucks this year! Consider this - our 10-year average for our adult buck harvest is right around 50 or so. This year our hunters shot 83! Of the adult bucks taken, usually 30% are greater than 15 inches (antler spread). this year, almost 40% were 15 inches or greater, and 57% were 8-points or better. What a year!
Here is a composite picture of just a few of the nice bucks our guys (and girls) have been lucky enough to harvest this year (click on the picture if you want to see it a little bigger):
And who's to say what will happen in our December season.....
Now maybe you can see why it has been so hard to find time to type new posts and add pictures here. Isn't that what January is for?
We've been working hard to catalog all of our photos from Sepember and October. There are about 40 new pictures uploaded to the 2008 Deer Harvest photo album. To see them, just click on the album name to the right.
Yesterday we successfully recruited two new crackerjack staff members to help out here at Red Bluff! They may take a bit of training before they are helpful, but we're used to that!
The black lab is named Tar, and the chocolate is named Kodiak. They are seven weeks old and came home yesterday. As you can see, they are already taking to the deer, and training at the 'Buck and Ezekiel Boone Trail Dog Academy' .
I know the posts have been slow (well, almost nonexistent) this month, but it has been a crazy busy time - which is good.
Some details to whet your appetite for more:
Check back here and in the animal galleries - we'll do our best to post lots of pictures so you can see what a phenomenal year we are having.
What a whirlwind it has been here for the last two weeks! We've had a great time; with lots of shot opportunities for our hunters.
See if you can guess what the faces below have in common:
The 'racing stripes' on some of their faces may have tipped you off; each of these hunters are pictured here after shooting either their first deer at all, or their first buck! They all did so in the last 10 days here at Red Bluff. We have the most fun bringing hunters into the 'club'. Congratulations to all!
Here are some more photo highlights of our last 10 days:
Jim Roberts poses here with a buck he took during the morning hunt on September 22nd.
Becky Smith and her proud father Craig pose here with the two animals she took the same night! During the evening hunt on September 23rd, she got a nice hog and a 8-point as well.
The night Becky shot her double, we also had Rick Miller take a nice buck and Jim Roberts take a nice rack buck as well.
Keith Danner got a double on the evening of September 24th. His group, which inclued his father and brother, had some good luck on their trip:
Ryan Danner got this buck during his morning hunt on September 22nd.
In an effort not to be too long-winded in any one post, I'll stop here and post again tomorrow! Coming up: hunting results from 9/25-9/29.
Lookee here, the power of pink for John K.:
Not 2 hours after he put his special "camo" on under his clothes, just look what he got:
Looks like Tiana's had a good influence on his hunting ability!
We've had a VERY busy weekend here. Since Friday night, when we reopened for buck/doe season, our hunters have taken 56 shots, and have harvested 46 animals! Here is a look at what they got:
The NY trio of Ingersoll, Gleason and Voltz (I know, sounds like a law firm, huh?) really scored big with the hogs. Between them, they took home 7 after their 3 day hunt. Suuu-ey!
Last night, Becky scored a double with a very nice hog and an 8-point deer. She was, as she told Jim, 'Loving Life'! Also, Jim Roberts got an 8 point as well as Rick Miller. Good night!
On the night we reopened, our hunters took 12 shots that resulted in 10 animals (7 deer, 2 hogs). Here is Ryan, Phil and Keith Danner with John K.'s 'pink' buck. Also scoring was Trevor Moore, below:
Trevor Moore poses here with his mother Raquel. He was lucky enough to get his first two deer (a doe and a buck) on the same night. As you can see, she bloodied him up pretty good as a reward. Welcome to the club, Trevor!
On the evening of the 20th, both Mike "Pepsi" Metzgar and Rick Miller got a double. Way to go!
Keep checking for more hunting results.
Our 2008 velvet buck season wrapped up Labor Day weekend. Here are some highlights:
Adam Garlick (PA) poses here with his first buck - he shot it on August 27th. Adam came to Red Bluff with the Kostukovich family. Here's Tiana Kostukovich with her buck, taken on August 30th. For a full review of their hunting trip, check out our photo albums.
We're pretty sure that the pink socks are what gives Tiana her good luck. Maybe we should buy a pair for John K!
Also here for the Labor Day weekend hunt was Rich Warner and his family. Rich was lucky enough to get a shot at this hog:
Stay tuned for results of our doe season opening weekend - September 19th!
Tropical Storm Fay has been very generous with her moisture here this week. While we appreciate the dip in temperature, ENOUGH ALREADY! The rain did pause long enough for our hunters to have some luck:
Ralph Fuller got this really nice boar on the evening of August 21. It weighed 235 pounds, which is a whopper! Great tusks also.
Clayton Colston (GA) got his very first buck last night while sitting with his father, Wendell. Now both of Wendell's sons have gotten their first bucks here at Red Bluff!
Mitchell Williams (NY) got his first hog last night. The piggies played hide-and-seek with us all summer (mostly hide) but have graciously come out again this deer season. An oink of thanks goes out to the hog gods.
The Watson family (FL) pose here with Tyler's spike, taken last night also.
This morning, Hank Williams (NY) got this nice hog:
It weighed 140 pounds, and had a nice set of tusks as well. Looks like the rain has slacked up a bit, so let's get back in the woods.....
