RA Camp 2013- One State Champion and Two Soggy Bottoms

You see this picture?  This is a picture of a State Champion knot tying master!  Reid is the fastest Royal Ambassador bowline knot tier for the year 2013, an honor that he has worked hard on for the past three years.  He has finished second on two consecutive tries, but this year he brought home the gold!  What is even more remarkable is that he was able to accomplish this just hours after his father totally humiliated him in front of all of his friends and fellow campers.  Let's back up a bit.

The annual First Baptist RA camping trip to Camp Kaleo is always an exciting trip for all the boys.  We have been working on camping skills for weeks and we were prepared to meet all the challenges that would be given to us in all of the competitions.  We were not prepared however for heavy rains and 40 degree temps that the weatherman was calling for on Friday night.  We made the wise decision to leave the tents at home and stay inside one of the cabins offered for large groups.  Friday night was a wet one, but Saturday promised to be clear and cold.

We woke up Saturday morning to temps in the low 40's. The boys were ready to begin the competitions, so we headed out to the competition grounds.  The boys can compete in team knot tying, chariot races, BB gun shooting, archery, first aid, map and compass, wild wood runs, fire building, and a canoe race.  We started with the wild wood run and made our way over to the canoe racing area shortly after.  We have done well in this event in the past, bringing home three state titles thanks to my good friend Dr. Cook.  Reid and I finished 2nd in this event last year, so I only had one thing on my mind!  I wanted the crown!

The race is a timed event in which you paddle the canoe out to a buoy, make a turn around it and head back to shore.  As I watched my buddy Dr. Cook set a blistering pace just two spots in front of me, I knew that Reid and I would have to be fast.  I thought his turn was a little sloppy so I set my goal in making a tight turn and pushing extra hard back to shore to lower our time.  We would never quite get that far.  Reid and I settled into the boat and I gave him instructions to just worry about paddling on the right side.  I would handle the rest.  We kicked off and I gave a mighty two strokes on the left side rocketing the boat forward with enormous thrust!  As I switched to the right side to straighten our line of direction while maintaining our quick pace, I over guessed my own strength and enthusiasm and accidentally slid to the right side of the boat.  This was not good.  My next stroke was my own swimming motion towards my son to make sure that he was safe as we were both now taking a swim in 40 degree weather.

Reid was in a little panic, but I assured him that he was not going to drown because he was wearing a life jacket.  I calmly told him to swim to shore and that I would be right behind him.  I tried to gather the boat but quickly realized that the heavy coat, cargo pants and hunting jacket were starting to weigh me down to the point that this was not going to be an easy swim.  I ditched the boat and headed for dry land.  I reached the shore soon after Reid was being pulled from the water by the others in our group.

In case you are wondering, the water was warmer than the outside air. Being in the water was not bad at all.  Getting out was a B----!  Reid was not happy and he let me know it.  I got him calmed down and we made our way back to the cabins where I was able to put him in a hot shower.  After we were warmed up and had changed into dry clothes, I sat him down and had a life lesson kind of talk.  I told him that sometimes bad things happen, but that it was very important to remain calm in those kind of situations and to think clearly about how best to go about fixing the situation that you are in.  He seemed to understand, but I don't think I will get him back into a canoe anytime soon.

We made our way back to the competition fields to face the music.  His friends were actually very good to him and didn't make fun of the situation at all.  They were generally concerned for him.  My friends on the other hand, let me have it.  I now have a new nick-name... Trey Beauche, The Water Boy.

Reid rebounded well as he helped his knot tying team place second in the team tying event and placing first in the individual event.  He hasn't talked much about our little swim and he seems to almost have forgotten about it.  His Dad however has been reminded about it on a daily basis!

Got to love my friends!!

The Braves Have Been Here Before!

The Atlanta Braves are off to their best start in two decades.  Their weekend sweep of ESPN's favorite team, The Washington Nationals, has the baseball world turning their eyes towards Atlanta to see just how good this team can really be.  They play solid defense, they have excellent starting pitching, their bull-pen has not allowed an inherited runner to cross the plate in the first twelve games, and they hit the ball pretty well too.  After the first 12 games they lead the majors in home runs and run differential.  The scary thing is, I think they can be better.  Now I'm not sure if the pitching quality can keep up this pace, but the batting order can do some improving.  BJ Upton and Jason Heyward are hitting a combined .260 and Dan Uggla is still hitting less than .200.  Freddie Freeman has been on the DL and Brian McCann has yet to play a game.  These Braves have the potential to be lethal!

So who has been carrying the offensive load?  Justin Upton has returned to MVP form clubbing 7 homers in his first 12 games to lead the majors.  Chris Johnson has been rock solid playing 1st and 3rd base.  Our bench players are proving to be the best in baseball, and our current starting catcher has turned into the early season story for all of baseball.

Evan Gattis is a 26 year old rookie catcher that walked away from the game for four years in search for the meaning of life.  I'm not joking.  You can read the amazing story here.  What has he done so far this season?  He has played in 9 games, clubbed 4 homers, is hitting .333, has played good defense, has called 3 shut outs, and has the best nick-name on the team, El Oso Blanco, The White Bear!  Not too shabby for an ex janitor.

Watching Gattis play this year reminds me of another long shot catcher that found success with the Braves in the early 90's.  Greg Olson, who is shown in one of the most famous Braves photographs above, caught fire in 1990 after an off season of driving a Budweiser beer truck.  All he did was play great baseball  for the Braves and helped them go to the 1991 World Series.  The famous picture is from the pennant clinching victory on a game pitched by future Hall of Famer, John Smoltz.  Olson was injured in 1992 and released in 1993 to make way for the Braves future catcher Javy Lopez, but his contribution the the Braves organization will always be remembered.

Beer man?  Janitor??  What's the difference?  Let's play some ball!!  The problem the Braves are facing is what exactly to do with Gattis once Brian McCann comes back from shoulder surgery.  McCann is a six time All-star and 5 time Silver Slugger.  His is being paid $12 million this year.  Those guys do not sit the bench.  McCann is also in the last year of his contract and there was talk that the final days of his playing career may be better served in the AL as a DH (he is not know for his defensive skills).  Would the Braves listen to trade offers on McCann?  They may be willing to take that chance if Gattis continues to rake over the next couple of weeks.  We probably will not resign McCann anyway after this year due to his age and asking price, so the Braves officials have some pondering to do.

In the mean time I guess it is a good problem to have.  Too many bats are seldom seen as a bad thing and stories like Gattis bring good will to your ball club.  It has been a good ride so far in this young season and I plan on enjoying it for as long as it will last.  I feel fairly confident that the Braves cannot continue this pace.  I mean records of 149-13 just don't happen, but here's hoping for a great year and a chance to get back to the World Series!  I'll be watching my new favorite player...

Go Braves!!!!

Off to a Good Start!

The 2013 Turkey season began with forecast of bad weather for South Georgia.  A series of storms were set to hit our state beginning on Friday and lasting through Sunday morning.  As the rains fell on Friday afternoon, my hopes of an opening day Thunder Chicken were slowly turning into some serious doubts.  Daddy and I spoke on the phone Friday night, and after watching the weather decided that we may just get a break for Saturday morning, so we made plans to hit the woods.

The morning was cold, cloudy and windy but no rain was falling as I made my first cup of coffee.  My hopes were being renewed as I gathered up my gear and loaded it into the truck.  We hashed out our plan of attack on the drive to the property and put that plan to order shortly before daylight.  We parked the golf cart in a central location and decided to allow the woods to wake up on it's own.  As the woods came to life a loan crow sounded off followed by an angry gobble fairly close to our location.  Getting to this gobbler was going to be a problem due to the access routes to where he was roosted.  We made an attempt to get a bit closer and set up on the road leading into his location.  As we started to softly call to the bird, the bottom came to life with the sounds of the real thing.  We didn't have to do anymore calling because we had several hens calling for us.  We knew we were doomed.

The Gobbler actually flew down in the other direction and took the hens with him.  We packed up and tried driving around to hear another bird, but we were not successful.  We decided to call it a day and go home to wait out the storms that were coming our way.

I was all ready to take an afternoon nap when the sun decided to try and peak through the clouds.  Bad weather was still in the forecast but it looked like we may get a small window of sunshine.  With clouds in the distance we struck out to try and get an afternoon bird.  We set up on "Death Hill", a place we have had great success in calling birds in the afternoon, and started some soft calling.  It didn't take long for our first birds to appear.  Here he is.....

This is Judas!  Well not the actual chicken that Daddy and I have named Judas, but he looks just like this.  Judas is a Burmese Jungle Fowl and is a part of Fitzgerald's history.  I have written before about how these chickens were released in the wild in this area as a game bird, but found their way into town and have been thriving for the past 30 years roaming the downtown streets.  Well Judas has somehow made his way to our hunting club.  We started catching pictures of him on our game cameras this past summer.  He was hanging out with a group of gobblers.  We felt that Judas's days were numbered, as these birds have never done well in the woods, but he made it through the fall and through deer season.  I guess it helps to have a bunch of turkeys around you to warn you of any danger.  We named him Judas because Judas likes to crow.  A lot!  Little did he know that his crowing would betray his new roost mates and give away their location to us opportunistic hunters.

Back to the story.....  As we were calling, Judas crowed.  Then we heard a gobble.  Another crow.  Another gobble.  Judas came running in to our set up looking around for his friends.  We were laughing.  He hung around a bit and decided he didn't like something, so he wondered off out of sight.  We called again and this gobble was much closer.  I caught sight of his white head as he made his way up from the creek bottom to check out our decoys.  He only had to walk about 15 yards to give me a good shot.  This took a few minutes because he was very cautious in his approach.  This was a young gobbler and I'm sure he was making sure that the "Boss Tom" was not around.  He took a few more steps and I let the Browning bark.  First Turkey of 2013 was down for the count.

I think I heard Judas cry!

Tale of the tape- 10 inch beard, 18lbs, 3/4 inch spurs.  A two year old Gobbler

We are off to a good start!

It was time to Step it Up!

Reid likes to run!  He does not get this from his father!  I have never enjoyed running even though I understand the importance of running for athletes.  Running has always been a little boring for me.  I was more of the type to get my exercise from a pick up basketball game or a racket ball match, but Reid seems to enjoy it and it keeps him active.  He has entered several one mile races and has done quite well winning first place in two of them.  We started talking about a 5k this past fall and this weekend was our first opportunity.

This past weekend was Fitzgerald's annual Wild Chicken festival.  The festival kicks off with a 5k and a fun run on Saturday morning.  We signed Reid up for the 5k and sent him to the starting line with the assurance that we would be proud of him if he just managed to finish the race.  He did a little better than that.

With a field of an estimated 200 runners, Reid finished in 7th place for his age division which included 12 and under.  Reid is 9 and was running against boys that were 12 and others that had a lot more experience.  I was very proud of him for giving it such a great effort!  Someone told me that a kid his age is doing really well if he can run a 5k in about 30 minutes.  He finished in 30.13, and this included a short walking break as he told me his lungs were hurting.

I look forward to watching him in more races to come.  Now that he knows he can complete a 5k, he can work to get faster!  Run Reid Run, but you better watch out....I think your sister may be ready to give you a challenge next time!!



Pinewood Derby 2013- The Bulls-eye was on our backs!

The 2013 version of the First Baptist Church of Fitzgerald's RA/GA Pinewood Derby race took place last Wednesday night in front of a crowd of thousands.  Hometown racing legends, including 4 different "Car of the Year" winning race teams, flocked to the Ministries and Missions building to witness history.  Last years champion, Luckie Race Team, might as well have been wearing a Bulls-eye on their backs as every other race team had them squarely in their sights.  The early local odds had them as a two to one favorite to repeat their winning ways.

This years event featured a new twist, as the girls would be joining the act and having a race of their own.  This would allow two entries from the Luckie Race Team.  The RA event qualifier for this year was a Georgia Southern themed car named "Talon".

The GA racer was this beautiful little number (designed by little princess) by the name of "Flitter".

 

The crowds began to gather and all cars were put through a pre-race inspection.  Luckily we only had two cars that did not meet specifications.  We think they were members of the Methodist church trying to sneak their way into the race.  After a beautiful lip sinc performance of the National Anthem by Beyonce' (she was nervous), we were ready to race!

Both cars from Luckie racing started out well. The first video is Flitter blowing the doors off of her competitor.  The second is Talon getting the job done!



As the races progressed, it became apparent that the Luckie Race Team would have it's work cut out for them if they expected a repeat of last year's performance.  Another race team emerged on the scene and quickly raised eyebrows by defeating "Talon" in the second round race and placing the race favorite in the losers bracket.  At the same time, the same race team was dominating the GA races as well and placed "Flitter" in the losers bracket.  Both cars from Luckie Race Team fought their way back, but the precisioned engineered cars from the newcomer was too much to overtake.  The Luckie Race team finished with two second place finishes and one design trophy!  A great success in our book given the competition!

After the initial races, all the cars were grouped together for one final race to see who would race last year's Car of the Year, "The Under Armour" car from Luckie Racing!  The legend has been patiently waiting for 365 days to defend it's title.  It would come down to "Talon" and the newcomer after everything was all said and done.  Talon showed well running a very close race, but it was simply not to be.  The newcomer would get his shot at the title!  It did not look good for Luckie racing!  No "Car of the Year" has ever successfully defended his title....................until now!!!

The Under Armour added to its already powerful legacy by racing to victory in grand fashion!  He took his place back on his throne in the "Car of the Year" box and will patiently wait for next year's challenger!

It was a great night!!

The Snipe Hunting Crew

It was another beautiful weekend here in South Georgia, so the Snipe Hunting crew once again took to the low lands.  The birds were there waiting in abundance and we collected 13 before we decided to honor their white flag of surrender.  I have found the perfect wing shooting sport to get me through the time between dove season and turkey season!  Can't wait until next weekend!!

Gear used:

Water proof boots
Browning 20 over and under with light loaded 8 shot
Costa Sunglasses
Remington shooting shirt
Polaris Ranger
Josey the Wonder dog
Good friends
and one awesome son!!

Snipe Hunting and the Video Game Free Day!

This past Saturday in South Georgia was a pretty one.  The day started out cold and clear, but the forecast called for warmer weather later in the day with plenty of sunshine.  What is a hunter to do?  No dove season, no duck season, no quail to chase, and a month before turkey season....???, why go Snipe Hunting of course!!

The Common Wilson Snipe is a not so popular game bird that lives around wet areas or small ponds here in South Georgia.  I have written about my previous love affair with chasing these bird here.  On a day like this, I decided it was well past time to share this sport with some good friends and our boys!  Besides, if we had them outside doing a little hunting, they wouldn't be inside playing video games!

I called up my good friend Hal and laid out a plan.  Hal owns about 40 acres of old pasture land that has a good sized creek flowing through the middle of the property.  Just North of his land is a larger pasture that belongs to one of Hal's family members that also has a creek and several natural wet areas.  Prime time Snipe habitat!  We got permission to hunt this property and decided to make a go of it.  We called up our third partner in crime, Steven and he brought his son.  All of our boys are the same age and get along well together.  We met up for lunch with a promise to the boys that we would do some hunting and shooting and riding the Rangers, but no I-pods, DS's, tablets, etc. would be allowed.  They agreed and off we went to make some memories!

We drove down to the property and surveyed the lay of the land.  We decided to walk the first small ditch that we came to.  We walked it out with not one bird spotted, however as we circled back to catch one last wet area that fingered off of the ditch a single jumped and passed in front of us.  As we shot to bring down the single, a group of birds left their cover and took to the sky.  Here is what is fun about snipe hunting!  As you walk along, birds will flush like a quail moving very fast, but if you miss on that opportunity just be patient.  They do not want to go far.  Most of the time they will circle back overhead and present you with another shot or allow you to watch them land in another area not far away.  This was the case with this group.  We watched the birds fly in a big circle and land about 300 yards away along the big creek.

We decided to split up and approach them from each side and maybe get up a few more birds along the way.  Hal took a Ranger and the boys to the other end of the creek so he could cross (the boys really liked that part, they got to go mud boggin' in the Ranger).  Steven and I stayed on this side of the creek and started walking.  It did not take long to find the group of birds and when the smoke cleared we picked up six.

We continued working the wet areas of the property and at the end of the afternoon we had managed to pick up 10 Snipe, three muddy boys and no video games!  After the hunt we let the boys shoot their guns at a few skeet.  We then cleaned our kill, thawed out some steaks and deer sausage and had ourselves a little feast.  The steaks were great, the sausage was fine and the snipe tasted as good as any dove that you can prepare.  It was a truly awesome day and one that I hope will be a good memory for us and the boys!

 I'm ready to do it again!!

Drew, Cole and Reid- Master Snipe Hunters!