Congratulations to Cole Pennington from Aurburn, Al. His Stepmom bought him a 1 day hunt in Booger Bottom with me during a fund raiser dinner The March of Dimes had.

Its so cool to be able to give back to a great organization and then see a very good kid like Cole smile after this big doe hit the ground.

We had a great hunt! We saw 6 deer between last night and this morning and now one is in the back of the truck from one shot with Coles 30-30.

Merry Christmas,
Michael

Christmas has always been special for me as a young kid to now as a husband and father. There is something about celebrating the birth of Christ that just brings the family together. Since deer season is in full swing during the fall and winter months my schedule is hectic leading up to the Christmas holidays. However, I always make sure I have at least a week or two at home to enjoy the Holidays with my wife and kids. My wife, Ashley, is very sentimental about decorating our tree. We have to decorate it together with all the kids and every ornament that our kids have made and we’ve collected over the years.

Decorating our tree is always entertaining as the kids place the ornaments only within a 2 feet wide section smiling ear to ear while singing Rudolph over and over and over again. And as they continue to get older Christmas gets even more exciting for me. Their eyes light up at the mention of Santa Claus and making their lists. They are learning and understating how Jesus is the Reason for the Season. Having them enables me to relive my childhood Christmases.

Its funny how Christmas day has changed over the last 10 years. Rather than my wife and I getting on the road to visit our parents, they all now come to our house to see what Santa has left under the tree. Ham and turkey sandwiches and home cooked pecan pies are the food of choice. I have had this exact same thing on Christmas day as long as I can remember (and I actually cook the pies).

We still do some hunting over the holidays, usually on the same property where I learned to hunt with my Daddy and uncle Morgan. Recently the last several years we have loaded up the family and headed to Alabama for a dove hunt. My oldest son, Mason, begins planning the next trip before January 1st even arrives. This is a great experience for all of us to reconnect with the outdoors after being caught up in the hectic Holidays.

Christmas is a time for Jesus, family and friends. A time to immerse yourself in the Spirit and be thankful for your blessings. Concentrate on giving and not taking. To just reflect. For the Waddell’s Christmas just keeps getting better and better every year.

With four kids and a ex city girl wife gone country, we eat a lot of venison at my house, which makes all slickheads around my home in GA fair game for the freezer. My last nanny to go down, I recruited help from my home to help track her down!

Please excuse the poor video quality of this clip, but notice the fine tracking job from the younguns!

Needless to say this doe has found its way in several pots of chili since this recovery.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love flinging arrows more than anything in the world, but with muzzleloader season among us, it’s time to bring out the ol’ smokepole. I’ve recently received several emails in regard to what my setup is during this primitive season, so I wanted to share that with all the Bone Collectors out there getting who are rearing to let some smoke fly.

Here is my basic setup for muzzleloading:
•    150 grains of Pyrodex
•    250 grain Shock Wave Sabot
•    Thompson Center Triumph, Bone Collector Edition

And for you guys and gals who have never done any muzzleloading, well, I recommend you try it out. It’s a great option to throw some backstraps in the freezer for the Christmas dinner. And it’s also a great way to introduce others to this great sport during the primitive weapon season.

Now that you know my muzzleloading setup, get out there and get it done it then field, then shoot us a photo. Maybe you’ll be the next Bone Collector of the month.

I grew up hunting GA, so it was very cool to have a chance through Thanksgiving to spend some time hunting with my family in Booger bottom over the long weekend.

Prior to hunting we put out Bushnell Trophy Cams out dating back to September, and had been getting some really nice bucks on them, and a few of them just a couple of days prior to turkey day, and our hunt.

We started hunting Thanksgiving day and for four days straight, videoing with my daddy and my nine year old Mason we had only saw one spike, but finally Monday afternoon one of the better bucks we had been getting on trail cams crossed an opening 50yards out in front of my Ameristep ladder stand, bringing him into Chip shot distance for my Bone Collector TC Triumph. Phillip Culpepper caught the hunt on video, and even though it was quick it was exciting to say the least.

The hunt will air in July on Realtree Roadtrips later in July 2010.