Red Bluff Lodge

Happy 'Groundhog's Day!

If there are small children in the room, you may want to avert their eyes....Last weekend was groundhog's day here at the lodge! We were inundated by a force of Marylanders, who brought (believe you me) PLENTY of ammunition, and were ready to have FUN! Their mascot:

Yikes!

In all, the party consisted of a great group of fun-loving guys from Frederick and its surrounding areas. In the 4 or 5 days they were here they were lucky enough to take 9 Deer and 6 hogs. Here are some of the highlights:

Ricky and Fred here with Fred's 7 point buck.

Art Crum here with the 140# hog he took on Sept. 22.

Toad here shows us his 80# hog, taken on Sept 22 as well.

Ricky Sandy always brings a great group...The Remsburgs showed up again with a treasure load of goodies in their 'magic' trailer. We all enjoyed crabs, crab soup and sausages - thanks again! We'll look forward to their next trip!

I've gotta order some more body bags....

This past week we hosted a group from Pennsylavnia that hunts together a couple of times a year, and boy, what a body count! September here at the Lodge is traditionally a time that offers quite a few shot opportunities, and this September has been no exception. The group: John Kostukovich, Mike (Pepsi) Metzgar, Roger Love, Tom Traub, Rick Miller, and Dominic Depalma  harvested 19 total animals in their 6 days with us! Six were deer, and 13 hogs.

Here are a few of the highlights:

Roger Love poses here with a 210 lb. boar that he took on September 19th.

Roger also got a deer, a 3 pointer, that same evening.

We had a couple of fun meals under the shed while they were here--one was compliments of John K., who brings the most AWESOME steaks with him from PA. Hanging out and watching what comes in on any given night is a big part of the experience at Red Bluff Lodge.

One hunter in this group that is new to us this year is Dominic Depalma. In his 4 days here at Red Bluff, Dominic harvested 2 hogs and 1 deer;  the hog pictures are below:

The hog on the left is Dominic's first - the one on the right tipped the scales at 225 pounds! The leaderboard for the group:

John K: 4 deer, 0 hogs ; 50-cent (Mike M.): 3 deer, 1 hog (and see below for what else he got); Roger Love: 2 deer, 2 hogs; Tom T.: 2 deer, 1/2 hog; Rick Miller: 1 deer, 0 hogs; Dominic Depalma: 1 deer, 2 hogs. Full coolers indeed!

This "Wile E." coyote gave Pepsi a shot on the 21st of September. The coyote population in our area has really increased over the last 5 years or so. The impact they have on small game and fawn population is not yet clear, but we encourage our hunters to take a shot if they wish to do so. They are very smart animals, however, so opportunities are not all that plentiful. Good work, 50 cent!

Family Bonding Time

We love hosting families! It's really special to see parents enjoying their children and sharing their love for the outdoors and for hunting with them. Obviously, this is a family business-so our kids are always around. They also really enjoy it when our hunters bring children along.

We had great fun hosting a couple of dads and their daughters during our opening velvet season. Kristen came with her dad, Mike, and Sophia came with her dad, Billy . They had fun at the range, on the 6-wheelers and, of course, hunting. Both duos were lucky to see multiple animals and to harvest hogs. Mike and Kristen also got to harvest a velvet buck.  Here are some great photos from their trip:

Mike and Kristen warming up at the shooting range. You'd better watch out, Mike! Not long before she gets to take all of the shots...

Sophia looks ready, too!

Billy T. and Mike love to shoot hogs. They each were able to harvest one while hunting with their daughters on the property we hunt along the Savannah River. This year, we have a new mode of transportation to the swamp stands - Polaris Rangers - that handle the rough terrain as well as anything we've tried before.  It's also a fun way to really see the woods on the way to your hunt:

Hope to see you again soon, Kristen and Sophia! (Oh, and you can bring your dads along, too)

Velvet Season Ends

Our velvet season has come to an end. We normally shut down for a couple of weeks after Labor Day. When we reopen, doe season is upon us and the bucks have rubbed the velvet from their horns and are getting a little cranky in anticipation of the rut. This year during velvet buck season, our hunters harvested 11 bucks; 2 8-points, 5 6-points, 2 4-points, and 1 3-point buck.

Here is Mark Konda with his 6 point buck taken on the 2nd of September. Its velvet had just begun to split on the main beam of his antlers. This is Mark's first velvet buck, and his first hunt here with us at Red Bluff Lodge. We hope to see him again before he ships out for Iraq in January. In any event, we certainly wish him godspeed in his travels and a safe return stateside.

During our downtime, we continue to corn all of the property twice per week. We also plan to replant our food plot sites with a fall crop of tasty browse to keep the deer interested in our fields.

Keep checking out our photo galleries--we are working to keep them updated. Thanks for visiting our site!