Its Official…The Brotherhood Bash is on!!

We’ve been promising you a party so guess what… it’s on. Join us for some fun at the 1st Annual Brotherhood Bash in Lakeland, Florida on July 11th. We will start the party at 6pm in the Youkey Theatre Lobby at the Lakeland Center. We’ll have some finger lickin’ grub provided by Hormel. We have some pickin’ and grinnin’ with Rhett Akins and the Bone Collector Crew.  There’s even gonna be a couple of special appearances by some of our friends and family.  On top of all this, our sponsors have come together with FREE products so we’ll be dishing out some awesome prizes throughout the evening.

Just in case you need a crash pad, we’ve gone and gotten you a discount at the Hyatt, $99 dollars a night with free breakfast.  When you call (888-492-8847) just tell them that you’re comin’ into town for the “Bone Collector Bash”.  If you decide to go their website just type G-BONE in the box.

C’mon, ya’ll let’s celebrate the Brotherhood!  For more information on the Brotherhood Bash, contact Christy Santaliz at Christy@michaelwaddell.com

Sometimes you throw em back in the lake and sometimes you throw em back in Lake Crisco.. We found some candidates the other day for the stringer while fishing a little lake that I grew up fishing in Booger Bottom, GA.

My Daddy, wife, cousin Keith Waddell and I got into some Crappie action. We were fishing some yellow jigs with pink lead heads and caught around 30 slabs on Easter Sunday afternoon. We matched almost exactly what we caught on March 21st.. I smell a Booger bottom style fish fry coming around soon!

May’s Bone Collector of the month, Steve Howard, started whitetail
deer hunting when he was fourteen. Now, thirty-four years later, Steve has plenty of both hilarious and serious hunting stories to share ’round the campfire.

While his favorite game is whitetail, Steve revels in all types of hunting—turkey (with two kills under his belt), dove, duck, quail—and has even taken a couple of wild hogs with his bow. Steve also participates in various bass tournaments every year.

Steve and five of his buddies currently enjoy their 900 acre lease in Pike County, IL. He also makes a couple of trips each year to Great Southern Outdoors in Alabama. The owner, Rex Pritchett, and Steve have become great friends over the years, and Steve rates Rex as his favorite hunting partner. Rex manages his 6,000 acre property for trophy whitetail deer and has an abundance of wild hogs as well. Steve tells us that Rex “is really a cut up but knows where his deer are (most of the time). My best stories would have to have happened while hunting with Rex at Great Southern Outdoors.”

Here’s one such story, in Steve’s own words, about his first visit to Rex’s plantation in December, 2003.

“I had never been on a paid hunt before and really did not know what to expect. At the plantation you have three
days to hunt to get your buck. I saw several deer but nothing that got close to the 16″ 8 point standard that the plantation implements.

On the night before my last morning I was at the lodge feeling pretty low and thinking I must be a nut for spending over $1,200.00 to hunt for three days. Rex told his guide to sleep in the next morning—that he was going to get me a deer. I was a little uncertain at this point what to expect, other than a three hour ride home with empty truck bed.

The next morning came in clear and cool with a slight breeze. Rex and I meet up at the lodge and had a cup of coffee, and he seemed to be in no hurry to get me to a stand! I then began to question him—wasn’t it time to get to the woods? He smiled and informed me he was going to carry me to a stand behind his father’s house. I immediately thought ‘I’ve been had.’ Rex’s instructions were as follows: once I get to the stand, which was named Off Limits, keep an eye out to my left. He cautioned me again with eye contact, look to your left. Dawn broke quickly upon me getting to my stand. What a beautiful morning it was; the birds were out, the sun was brilliant and the sky blue! I had a view of a green field that was 300 yards in each direction with planted pines surrounding it that were so thick even a rabbit would have had a hard time going through them.

The stand was a wooden shooting box sitting about a step off the ground with a swivel office chair inside. It wasn’t long ’til I spotted my first deer coming out of the planted pines and heading in the direction where I had walked into my stand. I watched as the small spike came out to cross the green field, and, much to my surprise, another buck came out behind the spike. It was larger, but still not big enough. Then, another walked out, and another, and another, with each buck sporting a larger rack than the previous one. The first buck looked to his right, then crossed; the second looked to his left, then crossed; the third Buck looked to his right and crossed; the fourth buck looked to his left, then crossed. The Deer were in single file but spaced out evenly and only one deer at a time would cross the clearing.

Finally, the fifth buck came out; he was the largest of the five. When he crossed he paused for a moment, just like his buddies did, and it proved fatal! Bingo! I scored, and it was only 7:00 A.M.

Rules are stay in your stand until someone picks you up, and my time was 11:00 A.M. I was fidgety and noticed that the office chair I was sitting on seemed to have a loose back, so I decided to repair it for my new best friend. After being in the floor of the shooting house a couple of minutes working on the chair, I stood up and glanced out the opening. What an unbelievable sight! There stood the biggest buck I had ever laid eyes on, and he had two 10 point buddies with him. The monster buck was facing me with one of the 10 pointers standing broadside behind him resembling a (T-Bone). My problem was it cost $500.00 more to take another buck—it was a $500.00 fine for harvesting a buck with less than a 16″ spread and 8 points. I began to second guess my first buck after seeing the gigantic buck standing in the middle of the field. Should I shoot? What if my shot connected with the big buck then passed through and killed the buck standing behind him? I had counted in my head that the cost was going to be $2,700 dollars or so, and my wife was going to kill me when I called to ask her to wire me money because I had shot too many deer. To make matters worse, my ride was to pull up at any second and if I didn’t take a shot soon the deer would certainly be spooked and bound away. This all happened in a matter of seconds that seemed like hours. I made a decision…I was about to take the biggest deer in Alabama, wife or no wife! I placed my rifle in the window slowly to get ready for the shot and had to wait for the 10 point to clear out of the way, all the while worrying about my ride coming and spooking my deer. Suddenly, the 10 point started feeding on across the green field, leaving the giant facing me and all alone at 250 yards. I was so shook up I could not hold the cross hairs on the big buck’s chest; it was like the scope was going in circles around the giant. I finally shot, but it did not connect with anything. I did, however, find the other buck I had shot, and it was an 8 point with a 16″ spread. I judged right on my first shot but certainly needed help with the second. I have never to this day forgot the excitement of that hunt and enjoy remembering and sharing with other folks. It was a great day and I had a new friend. We have laughed together several times since and shared the story with other hunters that were visiting him. I have taken more deer with him since that day but none as magnificent as the giant I saw that day in December of 2003.”

That’s what it’s all about—making memories and new friends. And May’s Bone Collector of the Month sure does know how to do both!