Red Bluff Lodge

2009 Season Wrapup

Greeting from the new decade! Last year was nothing if not interesting....we're so lucky to have such wonderful and loyal clients. The economy certainly made us all refocus; we've always been dedicated to providing an escape for our hunters from their daily stresses and fast paced lives. This year that became more important than ever.

While our hunting volume was down by a good 20%, we couldn't be more thankful for the 80% that kept us going - it was pure kismet that sent us alligator season this year to plug some gaps and keep the engine running.  Our outlook remains positive as we all take a deep breath and look forward to a strong 2010!

Our deer harvest statistics:

• Total: 268 deer
• Bucks: 173
• Adult Bucks: 57
• Bucks over 15" antler spread - 21
• Antlerless deer: 95

We also harvested 69 hogs, 14 turkeys and 17 alligators.

We're working on our new brochure and on picking out pictures to enlarge for our show booth. Here are a couple favorites so far:

Mark Allison (NC) got this (almost) albino wild hog in the middle of December. While we regularly shoot hogs with white spots, and sometime a couple of white hooves, this is the first to be almost completely white. He was just a thickly haired as a black hog, but the hair was super pale. Let's call him Marilyn (not Mark, the hog)!

Here's a happy family from New York! Aaron Lagassee got this great buck on his last morning hunt, and I'm not sure who's happier - Aaron or his dad. Hmmm, the brother doesn't look QUITE as tickled...just kidding, they all were SO fun to have in camp and had a great hunt.

For my last shot, I just had to put Stumpy back in. This picture was the one to best show his size. What an adventure for all of us to start taking customers alligator hunting this year! And Jim truly earned the nickname "Captain Hook" on a certain September night....

Here's wishing all of you a great year! Come see us in Harrisburg, PA the first two weekends in February, or in Suffern, NY the first weekend in March! 

New Photo Album Added

We've begun to build our current season's deer photo album. Check it out to the right: 2009 Deer Harvest. It currently has pictures from the August hunts. The pics are all named with the date of the hunt and the hunters name. Click on each pic to see an enlargement. We'll add more months over the next few days. Enjoy!

Second Weekend Firsts

Our second weekend of velvet deer season resulted in a couple of firsts for our hunters:

First time a hunter has been picked up by helicopter (he was in a hurry to get back to the office):

 

Barbie Ditmer got her first deer:

 

And, Latham got his first buck:

 

A Rack of Racks...

   

Here's a glimpse inside our cooler after the first two nights of hunting. All of our knives are dull because...

  

...our hunters have had such good luck with the velvet bucks. Look:

 

And,

 

And,

 

And even,

 

a piggie! In all, we've taken 18 bucks in two days; lots of them 8 points, a couple even 9 and 10 pointers. We're having a blast, and are just a little tired!

The Deer Gods Must Be Smiling...

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?

BUSY Weekends!

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.

See, we told you it was the socks....

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.

Velvet Season Wraps Up

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!

Raindrops keep falling on the Lodge....

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.....

Triple Shot!

Last night was quite eventful here at the lodge. Ironic, since we had only a handful of hunters out. That's how the deer gods work sometimes, I guess. Three of our hunters scored with very nice rack bucks. For individual pictures, check out our photo album, 2008 deer harvest.

Henry Fischer got an 8 point, his son Jonathan a 6 point, and Tony Daffis rounded out the nice with an awesome 10point!

Stay tuned - Tropical Storm Fay (depending upon which path she chooses) could make things interesting around here this week!