Blog Entries from the WeHuntSC.com blogging crew
About 2 years ago our office decided to go on a ?team building? trip. As many of you probably would be, I was very ?excited? about this great day away from doing anything that I really needed to be doing at work. We all knew we had to go, but we didn?t know where we would be going at first. Initially, I envisioned a lame day that would only get me further behind at my job and that would have me playing catch-up on emails the following day. Boy was I wrong.
Our boss took us to the US National White Water Center which is located just southwest of Charlotte NC. It?s right off both I-85 and I-485 (the belt loop around Charlotte). See directions to the White Water Center. It?s actually very close to Belmont, NC if you know where that is. Anyway, this place is awesome and I do mean with a capital A! I was very surprised at how something this cool could be tucked way back in the woods and yet not many people know about this facility. The location is also an Olympic training center where rafters and kayakers train. When we walked up to the facility we were walking uphill and then when we got to the top we saw the whole place and it is a very nice setup. Somebody put some time, money, and thought into this facility.
To attempt to describe the view?the scene consists of the white water rapids that are directly in front of you with the rock climbing towers to the left. The aroma of the food coming from the restaurant (which serves a really good menu...including sweet potato waffle fries) comes from the right. The restaurant also has a balcony where people eat, sit, and watch others raft. Also from this vantage point you can see the long zip-line that goes across the water to your right. There is a big platform where you can see them start the zip-line. Yes, you can get hooked up and zing from one side of the facility to the next. On your left near the restaurant is the White Water Store where you can buy any kind of shirt, hat, or outdoor oriented gear. Beyond what you can see are a lot of biking trails, hiking trails, and ropes courses. I?m telling you, this place is jam up?.not to mention that they have bands out there to play all the time and they?ve got a stage for the bands too! If you want to bring your dog, no problem?the facility is dog friendly as we saw a lot of people walking their dogs around the park. They also have huge rocks scattered throughout the center where you can sit and watch people do whatever activity they?re doing. I mean really you can sit about 5 feet from the rafters as they go buy. You could probably high-five one of them if you wanted. It?s neat to see them laughing, yelling, some crying as they hit the rapids.
From a technical standpoint (because you know I?m always analyzing someone?s web site and all things technical) they have something very neat. Throughout the day while visitors are rafting, the center has photographers that walk around and take pictures. At first I didn?t know who they were, but after going through the whole process I quickly learned. The pictures that these people take are sent to a database and it is done very quickly. We rode the rapids (and oh yeah, my boss got tossed from the boat which was awesome) and then after we were through we went to leave. On the way to leave you have to check your gear back in and in that building they have all these flat screen TV?s where you see the pictures that the photographers took. We actually saw a pic of our boss eating it and we all just died laughing. Instantly you think about buying a pic, but you?re all wet and don?t have your wallet on you?no worries because they store those same pics on their web site and you can go back and look through all the pics and purchase however many you want. A well thought out process that is efficient and uses the web site to the max?impressive. You know I loved it!
I should mention that you aren?t just thrown out there on your own. Each boat has 6 people in it + a guide. The center gives you a guide who directs the raft and tells everyone who needs to paddle and when they need to paddle etc. Even before getting in the boat we had a 30 minute sit-down lecture where we had to sign our life away and learn how to properly wear our helmets, life-vests, and even how to get back in the boat should anybody have fallen out. Another safety thing I should mention is that throughout the rapids, they have people who are only there for your safety?that is, if you fall out, they literally ?throw you a rope? and pull you to the side. I think the ladies who went on our trip really found that comforting. Keep in mind that this whole facility is man-made and they create the rapids with a huge pump. So the environment is a controlled environment in a small sense, but I will also say that the rapids are no child?s play.
My wife and I went there last night just to eat dinner and it reminded me of how much I enjoyed going out there. She had never seen the place before so we decided to do something different and venture out. There was even a wedding reception going on while we were there. We ate on the balcony and watched the last few rafters and kayakers go through the rapids while the band played below. We enjoyed it and yes the food was good.
The White Water Center also has Catawba River access and a ton of activities such as mountain biking, kayaking, climbing, eco-trekking, rafting, walking/running/hiking trails, zip lines, mega-jump, and an adventure course. They host events, have a conference center, and all kinds of programs for everyone. Yes, I took that right from their web site which is here: www.usnwc.org. Check it out for more info.
I would definitely recommend this place to anyone. If you like the outdoors and adventure, you will like the White Water Center. The only complaint I have about the center is that they charge you for parking. There is a $5 fee just to park. It doesn?t matter whether you?re going to eat, raft, walk, make a u-turn or whatever. They have a little guard shack out front who stops you and charges you. That?s the only thing I didn?t like. Other than that, I give it 2 thumbs up. I think this would be a great place to take your family, church group, office team, etc. It is definitely worth the drive from wherever you may be in SC to get there. Before you come though, you may want to call ahead and also look at the schedule. This place gets booked up in the summer so you want to be sure to reserve your time when they have available options. You can buy various combinations of passes with the most expensive (for one day) being $49. See their pricing options here. This will get you access to every activity they have.
If you do venture out the whitewater center, respond in the comment section below and let me know what you thought about it!
Regards,
Clint
* All photos in this blog credited to the US National White Water Center
On the way up to DC I spotted a huge Gander Mountain store on the left side of the road somewhere near Richmond, Virginia. We made a mental note to stop on the way back down just to see what is was like. I?ve always heard of Gander Mountain and have seen the magazines, but have never seen an actual ?brick and mortar? store like this. It seemed relatively new.
The store is huge and sits right off of interstate 85. There?s no way to miss it if you?re ever up that way. We did learn some valuable information about Gander Mountain though. Garth asked the guy why there were no Gander Mountains in South Carolina and he told us that the organization is having trouble setting up stores in South Carolina and Georgia due to some tax issues. He didn?t elaborate on the matter, but we told him that we?d love to have them anywhere around the state if possible. According to the greeter, the closest store to South Carolina, well at least Pageland, is located in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
The store was really nice, clean, and big. For the most part it was really similar to a BassPro, but they did have some different name brands and different gear around. They also had a lot of flat screens around the store which I thought was neat.
As we were walking and videoing around the store the clerks and workers were looking at us kind of oddly?imagine that! As we got near one specific section we met Jamal Stanton who is a worker in the store and also a member of several pro-staffs. Jamal said he?s a big turkey and deer hunter and since he was standing beside a Thermacell display, he gave us a Thermacell testimony. See Jamal?s endorsement below.
We continued around the store and just looked at the displays and products. It was a really neat store. I did take the opportunity to buy a diaphragm call so I could practice in the car on the way back down the road which made Garth very happy! And if you listen to the sounds I making, then you can see why I need practice!
Garth did attempt to insert some comedic value in the video tour of Gander Mountain so be ready for it in the below video. Also, sorry to spin the camera so fast on the one shot. I got dizzy watching it myself. Another area for me to tighten up in! I'll get better.
So I don?t know if you?ll ever be around Richmond, Virginia or Fayetteville, North Carolina, but if you are, it?s worth your time to give Gander Mountain a stop!
Bud and Betty Game Calls Exhibit
Today Will and I road down to Columbia to check out this year?s Palmetto Sportsmen?s Classic. As soon as we pulled up it was obvious that a good crowd was already on hand. The parking lot was crowded at around 3:30 in the afternoon.
Will and I asked the first few Game Wardens if they knew Charlie Caldwell and? of course they did. So far in my life, no matter where I?ve been in South Carolina? it never fails... If you ask a game warden anywhere around the state if they know Charlie Caldwell, the answer is always yes! What can you say, Pageland people leave their mark. We looked for the bald one around the event, but were unable to spot him. Since we couldn?t find Charlie C to entertain us, we decided that we might as well walk around and check the event out.
I was impressed with how well the event was laid out and also with the sheer amount of vendors that were on hand. I know this was not a national trade show, but for South Carolina it was more than I expected! There were literally hundreds of vendors, displays, attractions, and people to see at this event. Anything you could imagine in the realm of products from tree stands, 4-wheelers, game-cams, feeders, turkey calls, fishing lures, decals, T-Shirts, hunting guides, raffles, food, cooking spices, fishing guides, archery contests, real estate brokers, antler decorations etc?they were all there. Any new products that are being featured were there and the place was as busy as a bee?s hive. Today was Friday and so I imagine that Saturday will be even busier.
If you like to see neat items or any neat concepts involved with hunting and/or fishing, then it?s definitely an event that you would want to attend. Hoot, I must say that I did not see any rabbit exhibits, but I was unable to really focus on all of the displays because it was such a busy place. While at the event, we were both inside and outside looking at a smorgasbord of exhibits that would get the attention of any hunter.
If you?ve ever been to any event similar to this or attended something of this ?expo? like atmosphere, you probably left with knowledge of many new or trending items, but there were just a few that really stuck out to you. Well the same was true for our trip today. I will say though that not only did these items stand out, but even more so the people behind the booths were memorable. Maybe it?s just me, but when I meet someone (in any setting) and get a real genuine vibe from them, I usually connect with them in a different way, like on a more real level. There were tons of salesmen pushing all kinds of products, so what could make some stand out more than the others? I guess if I had the answer for that question then I would have a money-maker on my hands! Though, the ones who stood out to me today were a few different vendors all based out of SC. I can tell you that all 3 of these organizations are not only passionate about what they do/produce/sell, but they were easy to talk to and came across to me as good, down to earth, genuine people. The vendors I left impressed with were Cornell Huntin Products out of Honea Path, Bud & Betty Hunting Calls out of Pauline, and the Target Taxi out of Little River.
Cornell Huntin Products had a product that really struck Will?s fancy. It is called the ?HuntPac? and is a very light, padded, chair that you can carry in on your back to sit on when hunting. Frequently Will complains about his seating arrangement in his ground blind and ?they had him from hello? with this product. It can support a very high weight capacity, is light, and almost perfect for getting you up off the ground enough to easily shoot in a ground blind. The crew from Cornell Huntin Products was very cordial and really easy to talk to. I encourage you to give their product a look. More on them at www.cornellhuntinproducts.com
See the below video of the ?HuntPac? demo
Bud & Betty Hunting Calls sells a lot of differing products, but turkey calls seems to be their specialty. The creator of the turkey calls is a National Wildlife Turkey Champion Hunting Call manufacturer. I didn?t know that we had such prestige and recognizable people here in the state! I guess I don?t get out enough. Anyway, Russell and Kathy were nice people and if you?re into turkey calls I would give them a look. Find more information on them and their products at www.BudAndBetty.com
Another vendor who made an impression on me was Jason Bellamy from Target Taxi. What is a Target Taxi you might ask? well it is the invention that you see and immediately say to yourself ?Why didn?t I think of that?? (Does that ever happen to you too?) The Target Taxi is a essentially a remote control car on wheels that you strap your decoys too and you drive it out, shoot your arrows or bullets at the target, then drive it back to see where you hit the target and remove your arrows. You can see from the below video how this thing operated. Not only was the product a neat one that stuck out to me, but Jason was a really nice guy! More on this product at www.target-taxi.com
See the below video of the Target Taxi in action
So all in all the SC Sportsmen?s Classic was a neat event to see. I am glad that I took that half-day off work to be able to make it down. We met a lot of people, saw some neat things, gave a few stickers out, and started forming some good relationships with people in the industry. We even had some people say ?Yeah I?ve seen your sticker somewhere before? which made me proud!
Here's the wrap-up video with a collage of what all was going on
I?ve had hunters ask me which video cameras we use for our videos on the site. Well, that is a question with a two-sided answer. For any video that we shoot HD in 1090DPI that will be edited and professionally produced, our camera guy from YellowCapeCommunications.com brings his gear down and sets up shop. I can?t even begin to describe his cameras as they are every expensive and have more model numbers than I can remember. If you are interested in that level of camera, then you may want to contact [email protected] . I will tell you that everywhere those cameras go, so goes some source of lighting. So if you?re interested in getting into high quality video production, you must also get interested in learning about lighting!
Anyway, for our ?in the field? videos, several of the WeHuntSC.com team members carry ?Flips?. We carry them in our hunting bags and/or pockets because you never know what you might find in the great outdoors. Most often, we use these to shoot short videos that we embed in blogs or for videos that we post on the site. I go back and forth between shooting videos on my IPhone and my Flip. With my IPhone I can shoot a video and upload it straight to YouTube from a tree stand or really anywhere, but the quality of the IPhone video is not nearly as close as the quality of the Flip.
The Flip The specific model we use is the Flip Ultra HD which sells for around $189. The Flip Video Ultra HD is a small, lightweight video recorder that can fit in your pocket. It is very easy to use and only has a few buttons on the camera. You don?t have to be a ?tech-head? to understand how to use this thing. It has 8GB (120 minutes) worth of memory and you can play back the videos you shot on the internal screen on the back of the Flip for quick viewing. The Flip comes with rechargeable batteries, starts up quickly, and can record within moments. One of the features I like most is the ?Turn Sound Off? feature. I turn the sound off so that every time I click a button it?s not beeping out in the woods/swamp/tree stand. The flip has a USB port (the plug that plugs into your computer from the camera) on the side of the flip. You simply click the button and it opens up and it directly interfaces with your computer. The software you need to get your video off the flip is right there on the flip itself. If you own multiple computers, you can install it on however many you like. The program you install lets you edit and share the videos. For our purposes we use it to sometimes give our movies intros and credits at the ends of them. The software also allows you to merge multiple clips together and edit the length of the movies as well. (See an example of a video created with the flip using intros, merging clips, and credits here) Again, its user interface is very intuitive and simplistic in comparison to standard video suite software, so it?s nothing to be scared of. Once we shoot the videos, load them into FlipShare software for editing, we export and then upload to YouTube. Uploading the HD videos to YouTube does take a little bit longer, but the clarity in the videos makes it worth it in my opinion.
Benefits
Drawbacks
So, if you?re looking for a relatively cheap video camera that shoots HD and can fit in your pocket?look no further. As you see on the site, we love to integrate YouTube videos and you can contribute yours on the ?Game? pages. Whether you get a flip or not, we encourage you to start posting some videos! Regards, Clint
If you ever need a burst of energy fueled by a sweet tasting beverage, then look no further. Wildlife Energy Drink is a unique tasting drink that definitely gives you energy. Sometimes the WeHuntSC.com team has to pull some long hours and there have been many hunts that have been fueled by Wildlife Energy Drink. Late night blog postings have also been written while sipping on this unique drink.
I went hunting this morning and it was my first time wearing my new Coast Headlamp and I have to tell you that this thing literally lit up the forest. It is awesome! I?ve never seen a headlamp as bright as this before. Will works at Lowes and since they sell them he bought one to try out. He was wearing one the other day when we were hunting and he looked at me to talk to me and he momentarily blinded me?seriously. That?s how bright this thing is. So I told him to pick me one up from Lowes. It operates off 3 AAA batteries and you will be amazed to see much more visibility you have with this than others. The company is not paying me to market for them either! So if you?re in the market for a new headlamp, I encourage you to try one of these out. They even have the package where you can click the button to test it out before you buy it. Go into Lowes, pick it up, turn it on and see if you can look at it without being blinded. After you regain your vision, you may want to try it out.
As for the hunting, I had a 4 point come through the woods right at 8:30. I was just about to get out of the stand and he cut through the woods. He was moving relatively quickly too. I had hoped to get some good footage, but he was gone before I could get the gun-cam up. Going to check out some corn piles today and then will be back in the woods tomorrow morning.