What can I say but WOW!

When I got selected by Buckmasters & Streamlight as their Challenged Hunter of the Year for 2004, they told me that I was going to get to hunt with the Buckmasters' crew on a place called Sedgefields Plantation near Alberta, AL.

And what a terrific hunt I found myself on when dad & I showed up on January 12, 2004.

Right away we got settled in and went out with the cameras on our first afternoon in camp. But first, we were given a warm southern welcome by the good people who put on the Life Hunt Classic, fed a quick meal, assigned a guide who took all the hunters to the shooting range and then we headed off for the deer blind.

It was a perfect afternoon for hunting, clear, cool & sunny. And deer started popping out of the woods even before we were through setting up. We were on the edge of a a big wheat patch that apparently was quite a popular feeding area. But what was really exciting was the fact that the rut was on and bucks were chasing does all over the place. We didn't see anything shootable, but the smaller bucks put on a show for us until dark

My new friend Pete Hurst from Louisiana took down this beautiful 10 point with one shot to bag his first deer ever. Way to go Pete!

Pete was kind of shy at first, but he warmed up to everyone after a while. A few days of hard hunting with some good folks will do that to you.

I wonder if he had a good time hunting or not?

Back at camp, a hot meal was waiting along with some succesful hunters who were posing for pics. That evening, Jeff Foxworthy joined our group along with country singer Troy Gentry and songwriter Neil Thrasher.

After dinner, we gathered around the campfire for an impromptu show where Troy & Neil hammered out some songs followed by an informal comedy act from Jeff that everyone loved. You don't get to see that around the deer camp fire very often.

The highlight had to be when Ashley coaxed Troy to sing a song with her from one of the Montgomery Gentry albums.

On the 2nd morning, this nice 11 point non-typical came cruising by, turning a very slow morning into one i'll never forget.

My guide Hinson and I were already talking football because it was almost 9 o'clock and we hadn't seen anything but a lowly squirrel so far when this buck burst out right in front of us.

By the time Hinson grabbed his rattlin' horns and hit 'em together, he was 125 yards away and I had a dead rest on my new VRS versa rest.

You know what happened next.

Thanks guys for putting on a fabulous hunt for a lot of people who needed it. Everybody who helped did a tremendous job and really put their heart into it.