Change in direction

If its alright with you, I am going to expand the depth and breathe of the Bollingbrook Blog. The farm in Georgia is my passion, my escape and my neverending project. In order to better coomunicate my sporting life, however, I will now be including stories and reports from my entire sporting life, not just those events thsat happend at Bolingbrook. As with everything else in life, one must sometimes travel away from home to better apprieciate it.

Quail Hunting at P Arrow Plantation

Most of my days chasing quail have been spent in the famed south Georgia quail belt. So when my friend Jeremy Brown invited me to accompany him to the P Arrow plantation in the heart of Alabama's Black Belt, I was more than just curious about the quaility of hunting I would find.
The lodge at P Arrow is beautiful, a refined southern quail lodge that immediately feels like home. The proprietor, Drayton Pruitt is the quintessential southern gentlemen, and he welcomed us with a wide smile and warm greetings, I could tell immeditely Drayton operated P Arrow more for the love of the outdoors than the love of the profits derived from such a buisness.
Our hunt was lead by our guide Wesley and the dogs were handled and points called by Pete who rode ahead of our jeep atop a fine Tennessee Walker. Unlike the endless sea of open pine forest one finds in South Georgia, P Arrow's land is a mix of rolling wood lots and open fields. The property harkens back to the way southern quail hunts used to be. Quail love edges and P Arrow has plenty.
Lunch was served afield overlooking a beautiful horseshoe shaped lake that I am sure was home to many largemouth bass. We hunted our was back in the afternoon, rotating pairs of guns between the four of us. The two none shooters relaxed aboard the jeep and never missed an opportunity to comment on the missed shot of one of our friends.
The day ended where it started, at the lodge. To my suprise, Mr. Pruitt's favorite pointer, who was locked up on a covey just an hour before, was curled up on the couch enjoying a warm fire and college football, and I was more than happy to join my new hunting friend.

for more info see: http://www.parrow.net/

Whitetails at Bollingbrook

While my days in the field have been limited, they have been productive. On the 6th of Decemeber a mature 8 point stepped into our south field to freshen the scrapes he had established weeks earlier. As I saw him, I was reminded of the story of the 8 point my father had seen one one year earlier. This was the same buck, undoubtly. He had not grown and it was obvious this deer was maxed out. At 150 yards my model 700 30-06 found both lungs and the old buck was anchored to the ground. Hopefully, this is not the largesat buck harvested at the farm this year, but if it is the season will still be considered a success.

Spring Creek Co-Op

I am really excited about the recent develops in Early County Georgia. A couple of weeks ago while visiting with our neighbors I learned about a group interested in promoting Quaility Deer Management in our area by way of a cooperative among landowners. The name of the group is Spring Creek Cooperative, and I am proud to report that Bollingbrook Plantation is now a member.

The group's goal is to promote a quality deer heard within the Spring Creek/Early County Area by taking only mature bucks ( 4 1/2 years or older) and controlling the doe population in order to have a more equal ratio. I think this is really going to improve the hunting for us and everyone else in the area. Its also easy for us because we have been practicing QDM since we bought our farm. This is the link to the site http://springcreekcoop.com/

2009 Update

My apologies for the absence of new posts. I have a few updates that may be of interest. First, we have planted an additional 27 acres in longleaf pine. This was done last week, just in time for a good rain. Our forester is one of the most upstanding individuals in the industry and I am always happy to see his prompt and expertly executed handy work. In a week or so we will burn a large portion of our pineland which will result in one of my favorite sights, the explosive rebirth of the forest in the spring.

Also, my father has begun the undertaking of rasing quail at his home for release at the farm. The idea is to release young quail that will take up residence at Bollingbrook and procreate. We will see...

Finally, turkey season is approaching and although my spring schedule is full of family, work and a trip to Argentina I hope to try my hand at calling in a tom once or twice. However, luck usually sides with the longbeard when the hunter has as little time in the woods as I. Till next time.

Our new President

My son is not yet one year old, however, he has already felt the cold chill of a winter morning on his face, seen ducks fly over his head, deer feed in fields, dogs retreive game and sat in a field of wild paper whites with his cousins. My son will know the outdoors. He will understand the beauty that is all around him and the peace and understanding it can bring.

The last time we were in at Bollingbrook these thoughts ran through my head the entire weekend, How can it be that the man who is going to lead our country barely knows it. Yes, he knows the problems, and the opportunities and exist in our citites. Does he know the wonders that exist in our country's wild places? I don't think so. I do know that for the first time in a long time, and maybe ever, we have a president who is not a sportsman, not an outdoorsman. He does not fish, ride, hunt, walk in the woods or do any of the things that bring so much meaning to me and many of the people I know.

I am in no way against our new President, I wish him great success, we all need a great leader at this point in our history. But, I also believe that part of the American spirit lives in its wild places, and to not know those places is to not know all of America.

A Quick Trip

The immortal words from Jimmy Buffett rang true this week,



..."I ran away from politics, its too bizarre at home"



Don't tell anyone but I ditched work on Tuesday afternoon and and headed to Bollingbrook. By 10:30 on Wednesday I was on the road, headed home, and back to work, with a proverbial B-12 shot of God's Country in me. Unfortuantely, or fortunately, I will need another soon.

As I made my way through the front gate I was greeted by a beautiful Accipiter, perched on a newly planted sawtooth oak. Of course I left my camera in Pensacola, so I have no proof of how close he let me get to him before he lifted off to a safer perch much higher in an enormous pecan tree.

The pond is filling up due in large part to three days of rain, and with more in the forecast, worries will hopefully be submerged.

The hunting was ok, nothing special, but it was beautiful and solitary. I saw the usual cast of young bucks, that remind me of adolescent boys at a high school dance. The young bucks are constantly roaming this time of year, not running, not walking, not eating, but smelling the air for Ms. Right. The mature bucks are fashionable late, and won't make apperance until the time is right. With any luck I will be there too. Stay tuned.

Weekend Report

The activity is heating up ayt Bollingbrook as the rut approaches. I saw quite a few deer this past weekend. At least 10 deer on two seprate hunts. We seem to have alot of young bucks as well, everytime I've sat in a stand I have seen at least one buch, however, most are about the same size and age as the two pictured above. Nevertheless, as the rut appraoches, the big boys will start moving more.

First Published Photo

Great News! A photo that I took at the farm was recently published in the University of Florida's IFAS Extension Gardening in the Panhandle Newsletter. This is very exciting because it represents my first published photograph. It looks like I am on my way to being a full time wildlife photographer and blogger. Ha, yeah right! Nevertheless, I am very excited for my early fall whitetails that made the newsletter. Hopefully this is the first of many. Honestly, it motivates me to get out there and take more photos. check the link below to read the newsletter, not only does it have Bollingbrook Plantation whitetails in it, but its also a very informative publication.
http://santarosa.ifas.ufl.edu/documents/November-DecemberColor.pdf

Spring Creek Lodge

The photos above were taken recently at a neighboring farm called Spring Creek Lodge which is owned by Nick Collins. Along with having a beautiful place, Nick is a great story teller, and serves good strong drinks. In other words, he's my type of guy. Great photos and great looking bucks as well. I'm getting excited about this weekend.