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Saturday, December 20, 2008

Still Hanging Around!

OK...so I was stoked after my nice buck kill last weekend. I mean, I have hunted all year long and finally got a chance at a nice buck in December...one I knew was there all along! However, he was not the big one I have been hunting. The nicest buck I have seen on camera this year is a dandy 8 pt that I think would easily score 125 or higher...but I have never been great at eyeballing B&C scores so I wouldn't really want to speculate. I caught him on my trail camera from August 23 at the exact same stand that I killed the buck out of last weekend, Dec 14. I hadn't seen any more sign of him since...until this week! I just got back from Richfield where I corned up the stands for a hunt tomorrow with Brian Miller of Baltimore, Md. Brian is the husband of one of Jennifer's friends that she grew up with in Beaufort, Jodie Bush. I set up a new blind in a great area, and had a camera at that stand all week. I corned up and checked the camera-Well the big guy had decided to visit this area over the week! Unfortunately, my camera is acting up so the date and time is incorrect...but at least I know he is still Hanging around! Perhaps we'll get one more shot at him before the end of the season!



Nice Buck from August 24


He's Still Around!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Finally!

I finally was able to harvest a nice buck tonight! I have been hunting hard this year, harder than I should have since we have a new baby! Did I mention Jennifer gets the International Wife of the year award?! But since I missed not 1, but 2 really nice deer at the beginning of the year, I have been determined not to be shut out...but I have to admit once the calendar turned to December I had pretty much given up hope of a nice buck for 2008. As a matter of fact, I really don't know anyone that has killed a nice one in December in the lowcountry of South Carolina (with the exception of James Wedgeworth, who killed a monster two weeks ago!).
Well, tonight I had a chance to hunt my leased property, Richfield Plantation, and take along my future brother-in-law, Charlie. I sat in a stand I call "Carolina Bay" because it is tucked away in the woods around an old dried up bay. I put Charlie in a ground blind in a new spot I have been watching.
About 5:25 pm or so, I looked up and happened to see a nice buck moving from my right to left. He was feeding and walked to within 80 yds or so of my stand, and I decided this was a shooter buck and laid the hammer down. I dropped him in his tracks with one shot! He was a nice 7 Point with a 15" spread. I would estimate him to be 3 1/2 years old. A great buck for December nonetheless! I am having him processed at Ramsey's in Sheldon, SC. They are also going to do a nice European Mount for me. Interestingly enough, I have a picture of this deer from August with my scounting camera. I killed him about 15 yds from the spot of the photograph taken in August! just goes to show you that bucks will stay in the same area year after year!
Thank goodness Charlie was there to help pull this big guy out of the woods...I estimate the distance we had to drag him out was about 300 yds...not sure the exact distance but it was a long way!!! Thanks Charlie...and hopefully next time we hunt I'll be able to return the favor!

Nice Lowcountry Buck taken at Richfield Plantation Hampton Co, SC

Another Shot...Buck Taken at Richfield Plantation Hampton Co, SC



Pre-season scouting photo of this guy!

Harbourtown Sponsor Day

Just a quick note, most folks know that the PGA Tour Verizon Heritage is played on Hilton Head every April at Harbourtown Country Club in Sea Pines. Well, the hospital is a major sponsor and we have a luxury suite on the 17th green. Last Monday, they had a Sponsor appreciation day and hosted a series of speakers and then a tournament in the afternoon. I had the chance to play with Pat Hastings and Toby McSwain in a threesome. We did not win the tournament, but had a great time as the weather was beautiful.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Lowcountry Weekend

OK, to most people I admit my life is either cool or nerdy...depending on where you are from. I enjoy many things most guys love, such as sports-see College Football, action movies, politics, etc. And I absolutely love hunting, be it deer, turkey, birds, or other game. To most people, that is cool, unless you are a sustaining member of the PETA Foundation or something!
However, I also like to do another type of hunting-Relic Hunting! To some, like my lovely wife, this is the stupidest thing on the planet. Walking around with a metal detector trudging through dirt and weeds to find a silly little button or bullet-"why waste the energy when you could be walking around the mall or boutiques searching for the latest fall fashions", she normally asks. But to me, I love history, especially Civil War history, and our part of the country is loaded with former plantation sites and old civil war camps and bases. To me, finding an old bullet or button that hasn't been touched in 150 years is a really neat find. I always think of who was the last person to touch or wear the item, and what their life must have been like back then. I could care less if the item is worth anything financially, to me the link to the past is reward enough. So, depending on who you are, you may find that tidbit about me neat or nerdy. Regardless, that is me and it's a pretty inexpensive way to get out of the house and enjoy the outdoors on a cool fall day!


Some of the items I have collected over the years

So now, for my weekend, I went to Yemassee this past Saturday morning to put out corn for the deer to feed on, in hopes of preparing for a hunt next week. While I was up there, I spoke to a friend who has a family plantation (Richfield) dating back to the early 1800's, Melvin Lane, who told me that he and some friends were going to hunt Quail later in the day, but were relic hunting one of their Dove fields that morning. I told him I would stop by and visit. When I arrived, they were still detecting away, but had not located much-a few buttons and bullets, that was all. While I was talking with Melvin, I started picking up old plantation china shards that were all around my feet in the middle of this cut corn field. I must have picked up 20 pieces of antique China shards-pretty neat pieces. I like to collect these any time I find them and display them together on a plate or dish. They make for good conversation pieces for sure. After visiting and putting out feed, I headed home to get ready for the Hospital Christmas Party...a black tie affair-Read more about it on Jennifer's Blog. Jennifer's mom and dad were kind enough to come down from Beaufort and spend the night looking after Anderson for us-thanks Phil and Sandi!



China Shards found at Richfield Plantation

I was able to hunt Sunday afternoon with my friend James, and I saw 10 does and 1 huge buck, but unfortunately they were all at the opposite end of a huge field I was sitting, about 700 yards away! The does filed out one after another, and played and chased one another for about 20 minutes when the big guy showed up. He immediately began chasing the does, and man was it fun to watch. I just chose the wrong end of the field to hunt, but that's how it goes sometimes. It was a great evening regardless...and I am always appreciative of the chance to spend and evening at Trowbridge!

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Hunting over Thanksgiving!

Fortunately I was able to take a few days off over the Thanksgiving Holidays to spend with the family, but also to get in a little Deer Hunting! I hunted Wednesday afternoon in Yemassee, and saw a doe. Then, I was able to take my soon to be Brother in law Charlie hunting Friday morning, but neither of us saw anything. This was Charlie's first deer hunt, and he did great with the exception of peeing right by the stand. Charlie, yes, that could perhaps be why you didn't see anything!! Rule #1: Relieve yourself at the truck, not at the stand!

Here I am with Charlie-after fishing in the Paddocks Pond on Thanksgiving Day


I got a call from my friend James Wedgeworth Saturday during the Clemson/Carolina game inviting me to join him for a hunt Saturday evening. Well you know I couldn't turn that down, so I headed up to Estill and sat for the evening. In spite of the dreary conditions, the rain let up about 4pm and we headed to the stand. Also hunting with us were James' son in law Drew Hunter, a med school student in Charleston, and his father, Mr. Hunter. I was sitting in one of my favorite stands at Trowbridge, the 14 acre Pea field stand. Here's a view from yesterday.





14 Acre Pea Field

About 5pm, 3 doe came out into the field, and since I was wanting another deer for the freezer, I was more than willing to shoot a doe. Well I focused on the largest one, shot, and the deer ran off into the woods, and the other two ran into the field. I shot at another, cleanly missing it. I then decided to shoot a third time, as the other doe was still standing in the field. I hit her cleanly and she ran about 15 yds in the woods and piled up. I was sure that I hit the largest one with my first shot at 165 yds, but could not find any sign of a wounded deer. in spite of 3 shots, I only came away with 1 doe! It was a young doe, and will be great for the freezer. James, I'll hold off on taking a chance with the young ones in the future, so as not to mistake a doe for a button buck-thanks for the tip about deer that run into the field after a shot!



This one will "eat good!"





Thanksgiving!


Well we hosted the entire family here on the island for the holidays! Jennifer's family came over from Beaufort, and my folks came down from Spartanburg for the weekend. Jennifer and I did most all of the cooking-the menu consisted of:


Fried Turkey

Smoked Turkey (Smoked by my father in law, Phil)

Oyster Dressing

Sweet Potato Casserole

Creamed Collards

Green Beans

Cranberry Sauce

Biscuits


We had a great time, and everyone enjoyed time with Anderson. We had one small issue-the disposal backed up early that morning and made things a bit interesting...but we got through it!



Frying the Turkey!!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Dream Hunt!


Okay, so here's the deal-I got a call the other day from my friend James Wedgeworth inviting me to join him for a hunt at Roebuck Plantation, the personal hunting retreat of Mr. Wise Batten. Wise is a respected landowner and timber farmer in the lowcountry. As a matter of fact, he owns the 1600 acres of property our hunting club leases! I have followed him through his website for years, but it wasn't until I met James that I had an opportunity to meet Wise and his son, Wise Jr. What is also interesting, is that I have followed http://www.lowcountryhunting.com/ for several years now, and a gentleman routinely mentioned on that website is Mike Casstevens, who happens to be Wise's plantation manager. It was great meeting Mike and after following him for years on LH.com, I felt like I knew him well, even though I met him for the first time Tuesday night!

There were about 8 folks that hunted Tuesday evening, and Wise provided a nice cookout afterwards around the fire-we had steaks, baked beans, hot bread, and Ice Cream for dessert! As for the hunting, I saw a couple of cowhorn bucks, James saw three does and shot a fox, although we couldn't find him. Brian Carmines of Hudson's Restaurant on Hilton Head had the hot stand, with 20 does and 6 bucks showing up in a food plot he was hunting! He said he had a 130 class buck he was getting ready to shoot when Mike drove in to pick him up from the stand! Out of everyone that hunted, only 1 doe was shot, but what a great time at Roebuck Plantation. I hope that one day I'll be asked back-Wise is a wonderful man, and James is a great friend to ask me to join him. I felt humbled at the opportunity to hunt with a great group of people on what is argueably the best hunting property around.

View from my stand...one lone young buck

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Latest Hunting News

I've been sick all week with a horrible Sinus Infection and working late, so there's not much to report. I went to the farm yesterday to put out fresh corn for the deer and good thing I did, they had eaten every bit of corn I put out last weekend! I checked my camera and had 109 pictures at my new ground blind off of the powerline, and there are a few nice bucks in there. Unfortunately, all the pics were at night. I also had a few friends enjoy the corn as well, such as a fox squirrel and turkeys. It's raining today, so I'm going to lay around the house, Help out with Anderson, get over this infection, and watch some football. Clemson is winning big as I type, and I guess I'll force myself to watch the Carolina "lamecocks" play Florida, while keeping up with the Terriers playing at Samford. Here are a few pictures of the bucks I've got my eye on at my new stand.

Turkeys!
Nice Buck

Another Shooter

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Hunting Blues

Well,


I went hunting this past weekend-Jennifer let me out of the house to go both Saturday and Sunday evening! However, I have nothing to show for it. I did not even see a deer, which is very unusual. I have a trail cam up at one stand and the deer are definitely moving, unfortunately at night! All the pictures were between 10 pm and 12am. However, with the full moon this week, they should be moving, probably more during the day, but you never know. Ii hope to get out there one afternoon this week, but we'll see how that turns out. If I do, I'll post the report online.


Until Then,


Brad






Thursday, November 6, 2008

Brian and Kim come to visit




my good friend brian weatherby and his girlfriend Kim Edwards came to visit us last weekend. Brian is an orthopedic surgeon completing a fellowship in Foot and Ankle surgery in Houston, and was in town to interview at our hospital-but was able to spend the weekend with us. Brian and I got in a few deer hunts, and Kim and Jennifer took Anderson on a shopping trip-FYI, I think he is ready to go hunting with the boys!




Halloween!




Anderson was a Cowboy for Halloween-his great grandmother Mommie got him his outfit before he was born-it fit perfectly (except for the hat!), and he was dressed well for the neighborhood hayride! He was a little small to join the neighborhood kids on the hay trailer this year, but next year, watch out!


Everyone on Jonesville Road gets together each halloween and the kids ride on a trailer of hay and go from home to home trick or treating-We had about 25-30 kids, and they all came at once! It's a neat way to spend time with the neighbors and we enjoyed getting to know everyone on the street.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Friday


I wanted to post a link to Anderson's photo shoot from Wednesday evening. He was well behaved and the photographer, Janet Powell from Silly Goose PhotograAdd Imagephy, did a great job! You can click here for the photos. Select "Talbert family" on the website to view.


I am taking a half day off today as we have Brian Weatherby and Kim coming to stay with us this weekend. Brian is going to interview at out hospital this coming Monday as he is an Orthopedic surgeon fininshing up a fellowship in Foot and Ankle out in Houston. That's Brian on the left in the picture from a few Wofford Homecomings ago! We are planning to get a few hunts in as this upcoming weekend is the best rut weekend of the year. I sure hope he gets that rifle through security!


I hope everyone has a great Friday and keep gearing up for the election next Tuesday-Go McCain!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Wofford blasts Elon, Dorman beats USA Today #1 Byrnes



I have to give a huge shout out to the Terriers for showing up on the road and taking Elon to the woodshed, 55-20. This game was never close, and Wofford (#4 in TSN poll) showed that they belong in the elite of the FCS. This will set up a huge game next Friday night, Halloween, at Three time defending national champion Appalachian State, currently ranked #2 in the nation. For those of you that don't know, my mom is an App grad, so there will be a small amount of contention this week in the family! Actually, mom could care less, and will probably pull for Wofford! The game will be televised on ESPN2, so all you terrier fans make sure you catch us on national TV!

As for high school, I really could care less normally, although I can't help but check the scores on Saturday morning to see how the ole' alma mater (Dorman High School) did. However, any true sports fan would be remissed not to pay attention when the #1 ranked team in the nation is playing in good old Spartanburg, or, eh, Roebuck! Well, suprisingly, Dorman pulled out perhaps the biggest upset in school history last night, beating Byrnes 35-28 in front of over 15,000 fans. Not bad for a high school game!

Paige and Charlie's Engagement Party and scouting at Richfield Plantation


Jennifer and I attended Paige and Charlie's Engagement party at Meme Trimmier's house last night. It was well attended and everyone had a great time. It all reminded me of our own celebration just 5 short years ago! (we had our engagement party at Meme's as well). Fortuntately for Paige and Charlie, all of the "kinks" were worked out during our gathering (since Jennifer was the first of the grandchildren to get engaged!), so their event at Meme's went off without a hitch! Sadly, we forgot the camera so we have to wait for friends and family to forward pictures for us to share!

We left Anderson at the house with Mrs. Jan for the evening. This was the first time we left him since he was born, but weren't too concerned because Mrs. Jan is such a wonderful lady! She took great care of him and said he was an absolute angel! He napped, took his bottle, and napped some more! Now, why can't he be that way with us all the time?!

Yesterday morning I went to the farm to scout out a few new places to set up and hunt, and found a great Antler shed from last year. It's amazing to find any remnants of them this time of year, as squirrels and raccoons chew them for calcium, but I was able to find what appears to be the remnants of a good 8 point shed, but it had been chewed on for some time. Even still, this tells me I found a very good spot!. Here's a pic of the shed.



Later,


brad

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Hunting at Trowbridge Plantation and updates of Anderson
















I spent yesterday evening hunting with my good friend James Wedgeworth. "Wedge" is one of the premire realtors in all of Hilton Head, but you would never know it from meeting him. He is one of the nicest, most down to earth folks you would ever meet. He also happens to be a member of our Board at Hilton Head Hospital.
James also happens to have one of the best hunting plantations in the lowcountry. He has over 700 acres of prime hunting real estate outside of Estill, SC and has renovated a fabulous old 1800's house on the property. He sat me on a Cotton field that his fieldhand "Junior" has kept corned up all year. Unfortunately, we didn't see any deer moving that evening, But even still it was a great evening spent in the outdoors at Trowbridge.
As for my plans this weekend, it's the rut! I am hunting Saturday morning and Sunday evening. We have to attend my Sister-in-law's engagement party at Jennifer's meme's house Saturday evening, and hopeful to attend church Sunday morning, if Anderson is accomodating! Jennifer's sister, Paige, is getting married in May to a great guy and fighter pilot, Charlie Sprietsma.
As for Anderson, he is really starting to show his personality-smiling, "cooing", etc. He is such a joy, and I can't wait to get him in the outdoors...whether it is hunting, fishing, sports, etc. Here are a few recent pics, including a few of my "hunting Buddy" and the field I hunted yesterday evening!
Later,
Brad