Red Bluff Lodge

December at Red Bluff

December here at the lodge is always a good time. The holidays mean that kids are out of school and can come hunting with (usually) their dads. It gets pretty festive around here and we have lots of fires in the fireplaces and fun all around. Some highlights:

Here's a great deer that Mark McCloud (MA) took on the 16th of December. Nice!

Erica Love and here father, Roger (PA) had a fun night - she got her first ever deer at the tender age of 9!

Here's Heather Finley with her dad, Scott. She got her first deer on December 27th.

Paige Allison also got her first deer with us this year, in November.

This good-looking boy, Lawson Schumacher (FL) got his first deer while hunting with his father Wayne on December 17th.

Now they're ALL killers! Suellyn Kostukovich (PA) showed her husband, John, how it's done on the evening of December 21st. Thirty minutes after this was taken she was transformed back into the Suellyn we all know and love, glitzed up and ready for a cocktail party.

Here's Trey Bailey (SC) got his first deer with his father Gil on the 14th of December. These are our favorite kinds of hunts. Families spending time together, enjoying the outdoors and each other!

Another cutie pie, Will Thomas (FL) poses here with his dad Billy. They always have the cutest pics. Will got his first deer with us here on December 29th. We love watching these guys grow up.

Take a look at these!

This November has certainly lived up to its billing. Just look at what our hunters have been lucky enough to harvest:

Wayne Urps (SC) got this nice buck on the morning of November 6th. It had a spread of 17 inches and weighed almost 170 pounds. Here's another view of this great 7 point:

Two nights later, on November 8th, our good friend Jack Morgan (SC) scored with this non-typical buck:

This 9-point had a 17 1/2 inch spread. It would probably have been a 10-point or more, but one of its beams was nontypical, and had some neat kickers instead. As you can see, Jack was so excited that his head caught on fire!

How's this for an introduction to hunting? John Cella got this great duo on the evening on the evening of November 8th. The 7-point buck had a spread of 15.25" and the hog weighed in at 150 pounds. Nice first couple of shots with a hunting rifle, huh?

Our great friend from Joisey here proudly shows off his best buck ever; he took this shot on the morning of November 9th. It was a nice 8-point that had a 16.25 inch spread and weighed 149 pounds. Way to go!

The Bucks of November...

Since deer season started this year on August 15th, we have harvested 225 deer. Of those, 158 were bucks and 25 of those bucks were 8 points or better. We've also harvested over 60 hogs during this same 3-month period.

The rut continues to be hot here at Red Bluff, and we've had some great buck action this month. A few were posted on the last post; here are few of the rest:

Chris Roberts, shown here with his father, Keith, got his first deer on the evening of November 2nd. It was a nice 6 point, and a great shot.

The next morning, Keith took his turn with this 14" 8-point. Pretty good one-two punch for the Roberts, huh?

That same morning, Mr. D scored this nice 12" 10 pt. that weighed in at 150 pounds.

A great smile, for a great buck! Rich McCandless got this really nice 8-point on November 3rd. That morning, Rich harvested a 4-point, so this was a big day for him! This 8-point, which had some marvelous symmetry and detail on its rack, had a 16" spread and weighed just over 150#. Good job!

Another shot of this great buck with the whol Florida gang; Rich, Bud and Bobby. We always enjoy it when these guys come for a hunt. Whose turn will it be next year?....

The next morning, November the 4th, David Alexander got this buck that had - get this- 12 points! It had a couple of really nice kickers on its G2 tines. The spread was 16:, and it weighed 153 pounds.

Jacob Fulford got his first buck with us on the evening of November 4th. It was a spike that had a broken tine. Our whole family enjoys hosting Jacob and his father, Jimmy.

Audie Newman rounded out our first five days of November with this 12.25" 7-point, taken on November 5th that weighed 141 pounds.  Stand by...Jim just left with Zeke to find another 8-point that was shot at this morning in the A section.....

November Gumbo

The rut is heating up, and the animals are really starting to move. Even Jim feels a little frisky in the cool fall weather! Here are some animals our hunters brought in the past couple of days:

Randy Williams had an interesting hunt this morning. First a nice boar, then a deer and finally a great looking coyote came by during his hunt.

After watching this buck browse around this morning for almost a half hour, John Stowe got a shot at it. It has to be the biggest 5-point rack I've ever seen - since there were no brow tines, the tip count was low, but the mass, width and height made it a beaut!

Al Keith proudly shows his deer from this AM's hunt. He and the other three 'wire guys' always entertain us in November. We're glad that Mr. Stowe actually let Mr. Al get one this year, rather than keeping them all for himself!

Randy Williams also had some luck yesterday with this nice 8-point. Seems like he always makes it happen when he's here at the lodge!

Had to get this first in!

I couldn't find these pictures yesterday for our 'Feast of Firsts' post, but have realized now how to access the camera's internal memory (oh, technology...sigh). The pictures are GREAT! This night was even greater; I don't think that Mr. Darrell (Stewart's grandfather) has stopped smiling yet...

Stewart Teal (GA) got his first deer with us! It was a nice 5-point. The BEST part of the evening was that he was in the stand with his grandfather, so the memory and the experience is even more special. As you can see above, Mr. Darrell is administering the first deer rites.

The whole clan poses proudly with the deer Grandfather Darrell holding back wildman Nathan and Scott behind a proud Stewart. GREAT MEMORY and a great group.

A Feast of Firsts!

This year has seen quite a few 'firsts' for our hunters.. From a youngster getting their first shot at a deer, to an experienced hunter finally able to harvest a buck. Here are some highlights:

He may look glum here, but it was an exciting night when Austin Peeler (FL), here with his father Jerry, got a shot at this doe on October 6th. We're lucky to host quite a few father/son duos through the year.

Brian Marbutt (FL) harvested this 9 1/2" 6-point on the morning of October 10th. This was his first trip to Red Bluff Lodge. As you can see, Jim has already gotten his hands on him!

Randy Tucker (FL) got this beauty on the morning of October 19th. It was a 13" 6-point. What a great first deer!

Here's Roy Boone congratulating Alan Urmson (FL) on his first deer. He took it on the evening of October 20th.

72 shots in 10 days!!!

It's our usual whirlwind of a re-opener here at the lodge. Doe season is in, and the rut has not yet broken up the bucks and put them in bad moods, so our shot opportunities are in high gear. Last night, for instance, we had 9 hunters out, and 9 animals were harvested. (7 deer and 2 hogs). Here are a sample:

Mr. Kostukovich (PA) poses here with his first ever buck! A longtime hunter in PA, Mr. K always has harvested doe on his lease up in PA, but was happy to get a South Carolina buck.

Rick Miller (PA) got a nice 8-point the same night, right before jetting back to his 'real life' - SIGHHH.

It's Miller Time!

Last night was a fun one for all of us here at Red Bluff. Rick Miller (PA) and his son Hayden both scored nice velvet bucks; the first kill for Hayden, and Rick's first velvet deer.

Here's a great 'ceremony' shot of Jim, Rick and Hayden:

Now for some individual shots:

Father & Son in one stand + 2 shots = 1 great memory!

There's a Velvet Elvis joke in here somewhere....

Turns out that the anniversary of Elvis' untimely demise falls each year right next to the opening day of deer season. I've tried all day, but can't come up with a witty one liner that ties in our velvet season. Any ideas out there?

Speaking of velvet, here's a great one taken last night by Henry Fischer of Florida:

This great 11-point had a 17 1/2 inch spread! And get this, it wasn't the biggest of the 35 or so deer that he saw last night. The largest of the bucks never stepped out for a decent shot. One more view:

Our hunters also harvested an additional 4 deer and 4 hogs. Here's one of the hogs:

More tomorrow....

Hit the Floor!

Last Weekend we had a corporate group from the Atlanta area, David Stephens Tile. What a weekend! All together, this group took 20 shots, and harvested 13 animals. We also had a soccer/football match out on the lawn, the likes of which Red Bluff has never seen before! Here is a photo rundown of the weekend:

Do you notice a theme above? Lots of firsts, and a lot of fun!