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GSO UPDATES 2000 - 2002
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Update: October 2002
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The leaves are changing colors in south Alabama, and most would agree that this is the greatest time to be in the outdoors. We have been looking for every way possible to find an excuse for work and get outside to enjoy the day. This weekend we had the opportunity to take a little time off to shoot sporting clays with the president of the Alabama Sporting Clay Association, John Clayton. We were also honored to have with us Mike and Jan Green, who are the owners of our neighbor sporting clay course, Shooter's Sporting Clays. The day was filled with a lot of fun and some excellent shooting. John Clayton was the high scorer of the day with an 87/100. If John could have hit the rabbit, he might would have had a better score.Thinking about fun shooting, nothing but quail hunting comes to mind. On November 19th, we will begin our 2002-2003 quail season that will run all the way until March 31st. This year we're going to be doing a lot of duo hunts. This is where Great Southern Outdoors gives you the opportunity to quail hunt while you are here on your deer hunt. This is what we like to do to keep our guests from sitting around in the middle of the day. Those of you are interested in quail hunting only, there are some great deals available as well There is no better place in the world to quail hunt than South Alabama. With the grass turning brown and the temperature dropping, now is the time to make plans. Just log on to our website to keep up with the monthly specials.Quail season is not the only hunting that is right around the corner for Great Southern Outdoors. On November 23, we will begin hosting our guided whitetail hunts. With all of the rain that Alabama has received this year, our fields look great. The Great Southern Outdoors guides, Mark Riddle, Adam Smith, Joseph Parden, and Hal Hepburn, have been non-stop trying to make last minute preparations for the season. The guys knocked off work a little early last weekend, and they decided to each go to their favorite place on the property and do a little relaxing and watching. Among the four guys, they saw five shootable bucks, 2 nice hogs, and enough does to feed an army. These guys are ready to put you into one of those stands to take that trophy whitetail you have been dreaming about. If you have been thinking about taking a whitetail hunt in the south, there is no better time or place than at Great Southern Outdoors. We would love to give you our southern hospitality and friendship, and watch you harvest that trophy animal you want. Keep in touch with us, and good luck in the woods. Great Southern Outdoors
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Newsletter Update: October 2002
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Great Southern Outdoors is in full speed and enjoying our favorite time of the year. Most outdoor lovers would agree that this time of year is the best for getting outside and doing what you love to do. Not only is it beautiful right now, but hunting season is nearly in its peak for options of enjoyment. At Great Southern, it seems as though one season ends the day another begins. We have a fall calendar that is second to no plantation in the world. Saturday, October 19, we held are last dove shoot for the season. It was a great honor to host the Alabama chapter of Ducks Unlimited, and they definitely showed Great Southern their ability to bird hunt with some impressive shooting. We also had our annual burn the barrels. This is a Saturday filled with a morning sporting clay tournament and an afternoon of dove hunting. I think there were quite a few embarrassed men this year when a young lady took the prize money for the sporting clay tournament. From dove season, we moved on to getting ready for deer season. This year, we had a special day for hunters that were interested in booking a hunt with us for the 2002-2003 season. They came in and looked over our land to see if they could find something that would catch their eye. Not only were there hunters, but magazine companies as well. They each spent a Saturday in the woods. The hunters took report of seeing 86 does and 44 bucks. 11 of the bucks were 10 points or better. This estimates our doe to buck population at a little better than 2:1. This left us just right for starting our white tail bow season on October 15. We have had some very successful hunters already in bow season. This year, Rebecca Estes, from Pratville, Al, won our female bow hunt of the year. She saw 16 deer on her hunt, and killed her first white tail deer when she harvested a nice large Alabama doe. Rebecca definitely has a story to share with her friends in the Alabama Bow hunters association now. This will go down as another great memory and great friendship made at Great Southern Outdoors. Great Southern Outdoors takes a lot of pride in its customers, like Rebecca Estes. The hunters that come and visit us, become more than another person stuck in a lodge and then drug through the woods. Our staff makes great friendships and enjoy some of the best times any person could have in the outdoors. For the 2002-2003 hunting season, 68% of the bookings are repeat customers. Some of these hunters are friends coming from 4 and 5 different states, who have not visited with each other in years. What an honor it is for Great Southern to take part in that. Our goal is to treat you like family and have fun with you as you pursue your dream of taking whatever Alabama wildlife trophy you desire. Speaking of trophy animals, if you have not visited our web site recently you need take a look. The trophy harvest winners from last season are posted, and they are great pictures. The staff at Great Southern Outdoors finally convinced the Ol' Boss, Mr. Rex Pritchett, into purchasing a digital camera. Maybe this year we won't lose any pictures of good animals like last year. The only problem now, is teaching him how to use it. Who knows, you may be the next person on the home page of the web site with that trophy you have always wanted. Great Southern Outdoors is doing its part to make sure
that the trophy animals are ready for this season. We have been feeding protein every day, and our crops are getting all of the rain they need. The mornings have been absolutely gorgeous in south Alabama this fall. There is nothing better than sitting on the front porch and listening to Bob White Quail. We will be opening our quail hunting up on November 20. The birds, dogs, and guides are ready to go. Now all we need is to get the rain to stop for just a little while. With this wet weather, we have been keeping an eye out on our Gobblers. We spotted 42 gobblers over the past week. The turkey crop is going to be great in the spring, and if we have a 100% kill ratio like last spring, there will be a turkey season of memories at Great Southern Outdoors. We will also be starting hog
hunts back in April. That will be just about time when you get the need to get back in the woods after deer season. It is going to be a great season and a lot of fun. We hope that whatever you enjoy doing the most in the outdoors, you will let Great Southern Outdoors take part in it with you. Keep up with our newsletter through the fall, and visit our web site frequently to let us know how your outdoor adventures are going. We appreciate your friendship and good luck in the woods.
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Newsletter Update: September 2002
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Dear Outdoor Men and Women, The time to hit the woods is finally here. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources stated that there is more wildlife in the State of Alabama this year than ever before. Here at Great Southern Outdoors, we are making sure we make the best of it; we have planned a variety of events that fill our entire calendar up for the 2002-2003 hunting season. Our quail hunting for the year will begin on October 1st and run through March 31st. Hog hunting begins September 27th and runs through October 18th. Bow season for whitetail deer begins on October 15th, and we will be offering a great opportunity for our women bow hunters. The first weekend of the season October 17-20, we are allowing only the first 20 women who call and sign up to come go hunting with us. We are closing the entire plantation down for the weekend to be for women only. A bow hunt this early in the season could be very promising. On hand will be outdoor writers and distributors to take part in the weekend. From there, we move to what we have all be waiting for. The opening day for gun hunting whitetail deer, is November 23rd. Great Southern Outdoors is excited about this upcoming year and the new additions to the plantation. We have 1100 acres of solid hardwoods we added to our bow hunting land, the new hunter's hideout lodge that holds 25 people, and our new sporting clay course. We are ready to take bookings for all our events and now is the time to get ready for your trophy wildlife hunt for the 2002 hunting season. While Great Southern Outdoors has been waiting on hunting season to get here, we have had some very exciting events take place. We had our annual parent/child dove shoot, put on by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. There were 80 adults and children on hand to take part in our old southern Saturday tradition of dove hunting. We also held the S.T.E.P. Outside media event hosted by the ADCNR. The State of Alabama has a great year planned for outdoor lovers. Great Southern Outdoors hopes that you are as excited about the upcoming season as much as we are. If there is anything we can do to help in getting your 2002 trophy wildlife hunt planned please contact us, and until next time, enjoy the outdoors.
Great Southern Outdoors,
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Activities Update: September 7 2002
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Parent/Child Dove Hunt
On September 7, Great Southern Outdoors hosted its first parent/child dove hunt of the 2002 hunting season. This event is set up through the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to provide a free opportunity for a parent and their child to come and enjoy an old southern Saturday afternoon tradition of dove hunting. This is one of our favorite events to host each year at Great Southern Outdoors. We had forty adults and forty children come and take part in the day. It began in the morning with a round on Great Southern Outdoors 12 station sporting clay course, then we gathered under the pecan trees for a cookout, and last we all moved to the fields where the shotguns did not waste any time getting fired. By the end of the afternoon there were happy dove hunters and hot barrels
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Activities Update: September 2002
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Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources S.T.E.P Outside Media Event
Great Southern Outdoors was very honored for the S.T.E.P Outside Media Event hosted by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to have their annual meeting at our plantation. The purpose of this meeting was for all of those involved with the S.T.E.P. Outside program to come together and line everything up for the coming year as well as recap the many events taken place over the past year.
The S.T.E.P Outside team, consist of Jerry DeBin (Chief of Education and Information ADCNR) and those who work under him to make up the Education Department of the ADCNR. This department came together with different media representatives from all over Alabama. They ranged from city newspapers, outdoor magazines, news broadcasters, and outdoor networks. Those of you who appreciate the outdoors would have been very pleased with many of the things discussed at the meeting and what Alabama is doing to improve our outdoors. Over the past two years, the S.T.E.P. Outside program has concentrated on providing opportunities for those who do not have the chance to get out in the outdoors the opportunity to come and see what we love so much.
The first point of focus of the S.T.E.P. outside program has been the kids. The State of Alabama has provided parent/child dove shoots all across the state. This is an opportunity for a parent and their child to enjoy a Saturday afternoon tradition of dove hunting paid for the by the State of Alabama. Also, S.T.E.P. Outside has worked hand in hand with our Alabama school program to provide field trips to plantations across the State and learn about the outdoors. Here at Great Southern Outdoors, we are living proof that this program is working. We have hosted more than 4,800 kids in the past two years. When the state of Alabama has a statistic stating 34% of the children in Alabama have no basic knowledge of the outdoors, this is a program we need desperately.This program is not just set up to help kids, it is now concentrating heavily on getting women involved in Alabama's outdoors. The S.T.E.P. Outside program has just developed its new BOW program, (Becoming an Outdoors Woman). There are some great upcoming events that were scheduled during this meeting for our women in Alabama.
The last thing that the S.T.E.P. Outside program focused on, was getting all adults in the State of Alabama involved in the outdoors. When the conclusion of the meeting came, I was so excited for the outdoor lovers in Alabama. After the meeting was finished, the team stepped outside themselves for a little enjoyment. Great Southern Outdoors provided the 25 who attended the opportunity for fishing on our 125 acre and our 15 acre lake, Hog Hunting, a round on our 12 station sporting clay course, wildlife viewing, and shooting on our 3 dimension target range. After the time spent meeting and having fun outside, everyone was tired.
At the conclusion of the afternoon, the 25 S.T.E.P Outside team members slept in Great Southern Outdoors brand new Hunter Hideout Lodge. This was definitely a great weekend of planning and fun in the outdoors. When the whole weekend was over, I could say that the outdoors are in good hands with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
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Activities Update: August 17 2002
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Great Southern Outdoors hosted the Alabama Bowhunters Association for a day of fun and fellowship. The day started off with several members participating in a competition course that had been laid out earlier by other members. Later that evening the staff of Great Southern Outdoors was hosted by the association to a Steak Dinner Banquet. Thanks goes out to all members who participated for a job well done...special thanks goes out to Mark Edwards for his hard work in putting it all together...and for a delicious steak.
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Activities Update: August 2002
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Great Southern Outdoors is sending you this last summer newsletter reminding you that it is time to get ready. If you didn’t already know, we are just one month away from the opening day of dove season. Not only that, quail season and deer season are quick to follow. If you have not been gearing up for the fall then now is the time to get started. The animals are definitely feeding their appetites right now and we have had great opportunities to begin tracking our herd for this fall. The food plots are plush and our supplemental feeding worked just as planned. Things couldn’t be going any better for the hunter in South Alabama.
If you are looking for opportunities to get involved with some of the Great Southern Hunting you have been hearing so much about, we have many great options coming up for you here at Great Southern Outdoors. On September 7 and 14, is our annual parent-child duo. This is an opportunity for you to bring your child out to experience an old southern tradition of Saturday afternoon dove hunting. Also, our Governor Don Siegelman will be on hand to speak with everyone and maybe even show us how to shoot a bird or two. This great opportunity is free, and you can begin booking on August 5. If you prefer a different type of bird hunting,
October 1, is the beginning of our quail hunting for this year. Whether you have never experienced a five star guided quail hunt, or you take annual quail hunting trips with your friends every year, let us provide a great experience for you. Great Southern Outdoors provides a quail hunt and experience that can be matched by none other.
But, if bird hunting is not your thing, then Great Southern Outdoors knows what you have on your mind. October 1, is the opening day of bow season for Whitetail Deer. We are more excited about this bow season than we have ever been before. We have 800 acres of solid hard woods that were just added last fall to our bow hunting area. This year we are geared up and ready to put you in a hardwood bottom that will be breathtaking and heart pumping. We are also honored to have to national Bow Hunters of America annual meeting to be held in our activity center on August 17th. If you are interested in joining Bow Hunter’s of America and attending this event, all you have to do is log onto our website at www.GreatSouthernOutdoors.com and register under the caption. This is sure to be a evening of fun and excitement. The last bow hunting offer we have, is a new opportunity that is being provided by Great Southern Outdoors. On October 17, 2002, we will be hosting the first ever ladies bow hunting classic. We are taking the first weekend of bow season and allowing only the first 20 ladies that are interested to come and be the first in the woods for this fall. There will be outdoor suppliers and big name hunters on hand to give tips on how to improve your bow hunting. A bow hunt this early in the year is promising for a great experience. We only have a few spots left so hurry and make plans to attend.
If you just can’t wait until October to come and get in the outdoors, then we have one last offer for you. For the entire month of September, Great Southern Outdoors is opening its entire plantation for those who are interested in coming and scouting for the 2002-2003 hunting season. This is a chance to bring video cameras and view our herd first hand and decide if you would be interested in booking a hunt here this year. For more information look at our website or
call us at 334-738-5066.
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Activities Update: June - July 2002
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This is Great Southern Outdoors just checking up to make sure that everyone is enjoying their outdoors to the fullest this summer. This first month of summer didn’t waste any time getting hot. If you don’t agree with us, then you should have been here giving hay rides to local school kids throughout the area. We just finished up our second year of the Step Outside Program. This is a program where we take kids, who for some have never experienced the outdoors, and teach them things that people like you value very much about the outdoors. It was a great success, and we thank the Alabama Wildlife, and Conservation Department for using this program to help our kids.
We have not only been learning in the outdoors this summer, but we have been hunting in them as well. Great Southern Outdoors offers three different periods throughout the year to hunt wild hogs. We have just finished our second period this month. We experienced a 60% kill ratio this time around, and had some really nice hogs harvested. The size of the hogs this period were really impressive, but I guess they should have been considering all of the food they have been eating out of the feeders. The next hog hunting period will run from the first week of August to the third week of September. We are booking hunts already so go ahead and contact us about your wild hog hunt. If you would like to see some picture of the hogs from this past month, they are posted on the web site.
Even though our hogs do eat a lot, I don’t know if they eat half as much as a white tail does. We have been feeding our deer herd in our feeders since the second week in February. Twelve tons of corn have already been fed, and five tons of soybeans. Now we are getting ready to go heavy on our proteins and build the mass we like to see in our trophy bucks. We haven’t been seeing many small deer yet. There is a lot of food in the woods for the new young deer to eat right now, and we don’t expect to see them until the end of this next month.
Before this hunting season can begin, Great Southern Outdoors is making some big steps of improvement to be prepared for the 2002-2003 hunting season. The land layout for the sporting clay course has begun, and our new hotel is 70% complete. This hotel will be a great new benefit for our customers. It will also be a bighelp this August when we host the Alabama Bow hunting Association annual meeting for 2002. This is a greatorganization that we are very proud to be able to takepart in. Our website has a couple of other important itemslisted as well.
There are two coming up real soont hat you don’t want to miss. First, we have ourladies bowhunting classic. This is the first weekend of bowhunting season in October, offering only women the chance to be the first in the woods and the first to harvest trophy bucks. There are going to be a lotof good activities going on throughout the weekend as well. Outdoor suppliers will be on hand as well as key instructors to provide tips and merchandise that will improve your bowhunting skills. Great Southern Outdoors is taking the first 20 women and we only have a few slots left, so contact us soon as possible. The second big event coming up in the near future, are our parent child dove hunts. The State of Alabama and the Alabama Conservation and Natural Resources Department are taking part with Great Southern Outdoors to offer the first two Saturdays of dove season, September 7 and September 15, free to any parent and child combination. The numbers to contact about signing up will be listed very soon, so keep up with this newsletter and our website for more information. We would love to hear from you about anything that is going on in your outdoors throughout the summer months, and as you can see we definitely have a lot going on, so keep up with us. Great Southern Outdoors wants to thank you for your appreciation of the outdoors, and we hope that you enjoy them to the fullest.
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Great Southern Outdoors Host “America’s Heroes”
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Pictured from left to right: Rex Pritchett (Great Southern Outdoors), Ron Cammarata (NYFD), AL Governor Don Siegelman, Ginger Curry (Great Southern Outdoors), Gary Theriault (NYFD), Phil Guarnieri(NYFD), AL Commissioner Riley Boykin Smith, Jerry deBin (AL Department of Conservation and National Resources)
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Great Southern Outdoors experienced one of its greatest honors this past January when Governor Don Siegelman called to inform us that three of New York's firefighters were interested in coming to Alabama for a few days to get away and hunt. Here at Great Southern Outdoors we wanted to do anything we could to show the men our appreciation for what they have done.
Once we met Phil Guarnieri, Ron Cammarata, and Gary Theriault it was more than an honor to spend time with them. It was a time of good laughs, as well as heart breaking stories. Listening to them speak of what happened was an experience that cannot be replaced by even the best television coverage of the September 11 tragedy. The opportunity to spend time with someone involved with the incident, brings a whole different perspective on what happened. With our nation in the situation it has been in over the past six months, it is a good feeling knowing that there are people like Phil, Ron, and Gary to support our country. These three men are true American heroes.
With the month of March making six months since the tragic day of September 11, we want to extend a special thanks to Phil, Ron and Gary, and all the others who were involved with the incident on September 11. The memories there, the loved ones lost, and all who helped will never be forgotten here at Great Southern Outdoors.
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Activities Update: Nov - Dec 2001
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Children's Hunt Dec 28-29, 2001
Great Southern Outdoors teamed up with Wheelin' Sportsmen NWTF to host 24 disabled children for a weekend of fun, fellowship, and deer hunting. This was the first hunt for some, while others were returning for this annual event. Many took their first deer. All were honored at a banquet and each received a trophy.
Several Outdoor TV shows and outdoor writers attended to make sure the children got the recognition they deserve. Representatives and speakers from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resouces included Jerry deBin and Rick Claybrook. Great Southern Outdoors would like to thank Kirk Thomas and Pam Morgan of Wheelin' Sportsmen for their part in putting together and helping with the event. A special thanks goes to Linda Powell of Remington Firearms and Brenda Valentine who took their time to take a child hunting. Also, special thanks goes to all of Great Southern Outdoors Staff for helping to make
this event a success.
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Activities Update: Sep - Oct 2001
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“Great Southern Outdoors welcomes Governor Don Siegelman”
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Governor Don Siegelman welcomed 97 youths and their parents to the first ever youth dove hunt as part of Alabama’s new step outside program. The Inaugural event, hosted by Great Southern Outdoors Wildlife Plantation, was a tremendous success.
Electric energy and outdoor education were prevalent as the youthful hunters gathered for governor Siegelmans welcoming. He stated “It is programs of this nature that will allow us to insure the great Alabama outdoor traditions are passed on to our children”.
On hand to welcome Governor Siegelman and support the step outside event was State Senator George Clay and Bullock County Commissioner Johnny Adams. Mr Jerry Debin, Chief of Information and Education for the Alabama Department of Wildlife and Natural Resources spear heads the step outside program along with M.N. Pugh, Director of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries and Riley Smith, Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. All were joined together with Governor Siegelman in welcoming the young hunters.
GSO Employees Mitzi Powell and Ginger Curry with Governor Don Siegelman and Al Dept of Conserv. Comm. Riley Smith
Debin states. “We chose Great Southern Outdoors Wildlife Plantation not only for its outdoor facilities and hunting area but also because of the wonderful attitude of the plantation owners. Rex Pritchett and Wayne Green are serious about our youth.” The youth ranged from 2 to 16 years old. All were required to have a youth hunting license which required the youth to sign a pledge stating, “As an Alabama Youth Hunter, I will respect and obey the law and develop state hunting skills, respect the right of other hunters and property owners, and learn more about wildlife and the outdoors”.
As the youths returned from he fields, Pritchett and Green made a personal inventory of those youths taking their first dove. Pritchett watched as Jimmy Smitherman walked by with his two year old daughter, she was carrying the only dove they had taken that day. The excitement in her face and the father-daughter relationship was obvious. Pritchett smiled with pride and could only say “that is what it is all about”.
Rick Claybrook and Richard Hartzog are among many Conservation officers who together to insure a safe and productive event. Other local officials who supported this event were County Commissioner Alonzo Ellis, Mayor Earl Henson and County Extension Agent Jimmy Smithermen. Additional Services were provided by Coca Cola Enterprise, Hayne’s Ambulance Service, and the staff at Great Southern Outdoors. Congratulations to all who made this outstanding event a success, a day these children will always remember.
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Activities Update: Aug - Sep 2001
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Great Southern Outdoors hopes that you are having a great summer and doing well. We just finished up another Step Outside Program. During this session Great Southern Outdoors was able to host over 350 children who had the opportunity to come and experience the outdoors. The step outside program has turned out to be even greater than expected for us, and Great Southern Outdoors wants to give a special thanks to Rick Claybrook and Jerry DeBin (State of Alabama Wildlife Department) and Bill Clem (Alabama Forestry Department) for coming out and investing time to teach the kids about the outdoors. This session was the last of our sessions this year, but we are really looking forward to making the Step Outside Program a continued tradition here at Great Southern.
Another tradition that has been carried on for years here at Great Southern Outdoors, is producing big deer with massive antlers. No doubt about it our deer love to eat, and with all of the rain that Alabama has received this summer, our crops and land are progressing right on schedule. We have grain sorghum, brown top, clay peas, and iron clay peas carefully laid out in the fields all over our property. We have also been filling feeders and bunkers with food for the animals since the second week in February, and we will continue to feed them until the first day of October. We have definitely seen lots of growth in our deer over the past six months. Not only are the bucks showing big growth, but are does are getting really big and popping up everywhere too. Great Southern has also seen a lot of those old southern hogs roaming around the fields here lately. If you have never been on a true southern hog hunt it is an experience like no other. We will continue to provide hog hunts until October 1. So if you are ready to do some hunting now, this would be a great adventure to hold you over to the winter.
Great Southern is very excited about an event coming in September. The State of Alabama has decided to take the Step Outside Program one step further. They are going to provide parent-child dove shoots open to the public for free here at Great Southern Outdoors. There will be a hunt on September 15, 22, and 29. If you and your child would like to come go dove hunting, then you need to call the Conservation and Natural Resources extension in Bullock County at (334)-738-2580. They are booking the hunts right now, and they are taking 100 kids and 100 parents for each hunt. If you call and one hunt is already booked up then they can book you for the next hunt. Great Southern Outdoors is really excited and we look forward to seeing everyone enjoy some good Alabama dove hunting. Whatever you are doing to finish out the last few weeks of summer, Great Southern Outdoors hopes that you are enjoying it.
When you are watching your outdoor television programs at home, Great Southern Outdoors would like for you to keep an eye out for our new video. Archie Phillips next fishing video will be the one he just filmed here at Great Southern Outdoors. This was one of the most enjoyable and exciting videos ever made here at Great Southern. On the video it shows over 180 bass being caught in one day. A lot of people think it is to hot to go fishing right now, but here at Great Southern Outdoors the fish are biting like crazy. It is not to late for you to get one last summer vacation in, so come spend it with us.
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Activities Update: May - Jun 2001
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Great Southern Outdoors hosted over 1,500 children in our “Step Outside Program”, some who had never experienced the outdoors, and provided outdoor educational and recreational activities to teach them about the great things the outdoors of Alabama has to offer. Great Southern Outdoors has had the opportunityto take part in many events in its first year of business, but the "Step Outside Program" was truly one of the greatest.
Great Southern Outdoors is also very honored to host the Alabama State Senators on June 21, we hope our senators have a wonderful stay here at Great Southern.
We have another event that not only are we excited about but we think you will be too. The State of Alabama Wildlife Conservation Department has asked Great Southern to host the 2001 father-child dove hunts. The State Wildlife Department has selected the first three weekends of dove season, September the 9, 15, and 22 to have the shoots. The State Wildlife Department will be posting billboards and advertisements in coming weeks that contain information about these hunts.
Well it isn't September yet, but summer is already here. Great Southern Outdoors hopes that you and your family are enjoying the warm weather to its fullest. There are so many great things to do in the outdoors right now. One of Great Southern's favorite outdoors events for this time of year is fishing. We would love to have you come and go fishing with us. We have two lakes. One lake is a 15 acre lake and the other is 143 acres. Both lakes are stocked with bass, bream, crappie, and some of the biggest catfish around. We have boats and equipment ready and waiting on you. With all the fishing, playing and other outdoor activities you may be busy, but if you are anything like us you are still thinking in the back of your mind about the whitetail deer or covey of quail in store for you during this upcoming 2001-2002 hunting season. Great Southern Outdoors has made some big plans for this year, and we want you to be a part of them
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Activities Update: March 2001
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Just a quick update on what's going on at Great Southern Outdoors.Our turkey's have been gobbling for about 2 weeks now and are ready to be bagged. Our wild hogs are getting fatter everyday with all the feed James has been putting out. Wayne said "get the grease ready because it's going to be a great year for fishing" and he's ready to eat some great tasting fish!
One of the newest hunts that's premiering at Great Southern Outdoors is that we will be opening up October 1st, 2001 to offer Quail Hunts! We are very excited about offering Quail Hunting, as this will serve a great purpose for the land we have not been using. The wagons are in and the dogs will be ready to go. We're looking forward to serving all outdoorsmen in this newest event at Great Southern Outdoors.
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Activities Update: January 2001
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 Kirk Myer of Jackson, Alabama visited Great Southern Outdoors on January 7, 2001 with his father Marvin Myer. The first afternoon Kirk sat patiently in his stand but unfortunately the deer selected alternate routes of travel that evening. However, the next day would bring renewed excitement to the young heart of Kirk Myer. Kirk was placed in his stand at approximately 5:30am and with the first break of day he spotted a couple of does traveling a nearby tree line. Then a 4 point and a nice 7 point appeared following the does. Kirk waited, hoping that a larger buck might pass his way. Within the hour, he caught a glimpse of 2 more does traveling with a 5 point and 6 point buck. Then suddenly a large bodied deer appeared, sporting a nice heavy rack. Kirk glassed the deer and counted 11 points, a real trophy for any hunter. Unable to get a clean shot at this trophy buck, Kirk decides to pass up the buck of a lifetime rather than take a questionable shot. The afternoon hunt was equally exciting as Kirk saw several does, two 4-points, two cowhorn spikes, a 6-pointer and a nice 8-point while hunting over a food plot. I hope that Marvin and Kirk will visit us again at Great Southern Outdoors and perhaps next time, Kirk will be rewarded with clear shot. We as hunters should all admire Kirk’s decision to pass on the shot at the 11-pointer, and we would like to personally thank Marvin for teaching his son the TRUE MEANING OF BEING A SPORTSMAN.
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Activities Update: December 2000
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Rex Pritchett III and Wayne Green, owners of Great Southern Outdoors, opened their hunting facility to host the Ultimate Parent/Child Duo hunt on Dec. 30-31. This event allowed a parent and child team to participate in a deer hunt, while also giving them the opportunity to fellowship with other families who face disabilities on a daily basis.
Great Southern Outdoors / NWTF Wheelin Sportsmen Parent/Child Duo Hunt was a great success. To the left are some of the kids who participated in the hunt, each taking their own deer..
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Activities Update: Oct. 2000
Great Southern Outdoors was proud to host Doug Houston Outdoors TV show. Along with Doug Houston was David Rainer, Outdoor Editor with the Mobile Register and Al Hubbard, Outdoor Editor for the Panama City News Herald.
On the evening of October 10 everyone arrived at the lodge at approximately
4:00 p.m.. Wayne and Rex provided Doug, David and Al a tour of the Great Southern Outdoors. While touring the plantation we were pleased to capture several large bucks on video. We called it a day around 7:30 p.m. with a wonderful southern meal provided by our cooks.
The morning of October 11 we began our scout for larger bucks. We filmed about 23 deer, 46 geese, and 9 gobblers. Around 10:00 a.m. we returned to the lodge to do some target shooting at the shooting range. After lunch we went out to see who could "land" the biggest and most fish. One boat caught 41 bass and the other 11 bass we were all very pleased to say the least.
We returned back to the lodge for Doug Houston to begin his "wild hog hunt" video. Around 5:40 p.m. Doug had bagged his first wild hog at Great Southern Outdoors. The hog weighed 135 pounds. Doug was able to capture several wild hogs fighting on video during this hunt. Doug enjoyed being able to video 7 bucks with at least a 16 to 18 inch spread after his hog hunt.
We had a wonderful time hosting Doug, Al, David and all of our guest this month. GSO will be featuring some of the highlights of the shoot on our website in the coming weeks. We'll keep you posted on current events that interest you in the Great Southern Outdoors.
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