Blog Entries from the WeHuntSC.com blogging crew
Dad and I have been turkey hunting all season. We’ve been successful, but there was one gobbler that had dodged both of us each time we hunted this one specific property. We had both previously worked this same bird and each time he had left out gobbling with two hens going in the same direction. So we came up with a game plan to hunt the bird together. Unfortunately for me, when the day we planned to hunt this bird came, I got called in to work so I couldn’t go. On my way in to work we discussed the pre-hunt while my dad was in route to woods.
Dad came in from a total different direction and located the “Boss Tom” with an owl hoot and then he made his way to our previously planned location in the dark. Once he got to the set up location he hooted again and the Tom sounded off twice. He was very active while still on the roost, which was a good sign.
At daybreak the woods came to life, the two hens gave a fly down cackle and pitched out in the pines. Shortly after the Boss Tom pitched out and automatically fell into a strut. The hens started into dad's direction, but then turned and quartered away. We had previously been calling softly so dad started cutting aggressively and got one of the hens fired up! Within minutes both hens were 10 yards away from dad and the strutting tom was just 30 yards behind. Once the hens started to move out of the way, dad cut real hard and the tom gobbled and stretched his neck out for a clean shot.
Even though I wasn't there with him on the hunt, it still made me feel good that my dad @ 75 years old, was still in the woods "wrecking em"! Truly a blessing!!
Tale of the tape: 20.4 lbs, 10" beard & 6" beard and 1" spurs.
Good Hunting ~ Daryl
#wreckingcrew #it'swhoweare!
This blog post is a little late, but that's better than never! I would like to thank everyone again who came out to see Team Wrecking Crew and who stopped by the Carolina Style Tee-shirt booth at this year’s Palmetto Sportsman's Classic.
Team Wrecking Crew had a booth set up outside with Team WC gear, and an awesome display of RNT duck and goose calls. To make it even better, Elite Team Wrecking Crew member-Butch Richenback, founder of RNT Calls, was there signing autographs, duck calls, new and old, tuning calls and giving lessons to both young and old.
We had a blast and I can honestly say, this was our best show to date! We made a lot of new friends and enjoyed seeing our old friends, clients and WC fans. I would like to give a big shout out to our team members who supported the event: Blake Hodge, Summer Vick, Justin Thomas, Dianna Thomas, Matt Cline, Megan Cline, Ty Parker, Scott Wagner, Kris Faulkenberry, Lisa Hodge, and of course Butch Richenback. You are what makes us what we are today!
Again, I would like to thank everyone who supported us at this year's Palmetto Sportsman's Classic. I realize you had numerous vendors to choose from and you chose us!
#wreckingcrew #it's who we are!
As the 2013/14 last season goose season came to an end, our "crew" headed out one last time. With all of the recent snow and ice, we knew it was going to be tough to get to one of our fields.
The forecast was for 90% chance of rain throughout the night and would be ending shortly after daybreak. So we hooked up to our Team WC enclosed trailer and headed out.
The weathermen were spot on this time with the weather. Once we got our decoys out, the wind picked up and the rain stopped. The wind actually got up to 25 mph. We heard a couple of flocks in the distance but never saw them. As the wind continued to blow the clouds out, the sun just popped out and had the snow shining like diamonds.
Around 8:00 we saw a single goose crossing the field at the other end. He was downwind of us and was able to hear our RNT Goose Calls. He made one wide circle and then starting cupping his wings once he saw our spread. We let him glide in to the 15 yd “in-yo-face” range and then we took him.
It was the only bird we harvested that morning and we were truly blessed to experience it here in SC and in the snow. It would have been easy to stay in bed with all the inclement weather we had, but we can say, "We never gave up". From opening day to the last day, we gave it our all. It's who we are!
Good Hunting ~ Daryl #wreckingcrew #itswhoweare
We've been hunting with some good 'ol boys from Arkansas the last few years and have made lots of great memories. These guys are like family and have treated us as such. Taylor, Eric, Ethan, Bret, Cody, Grant, Mason, Lucas, Evan and "Delta" make up most of the "Cuttin Outdoors Crew".
Their love for the outdoors is just like ours and we really gel together. From sunrises, taking youth with limitss or not, it's all about having fun and sharing Gods Great Outdoors.
Here is some footage from this year's hunts with Cuttin Outdoors and we hope you enjoy. Stay tuned for more "Wrecking" with "Cuttin Outdoors".
Good Huning ~ Daryl
#wreckingcrew #it'swhoweare #cuttinoutdoors
As we prepared for a late goose season hunt, my oldest son Josh texted me (his calling feature doesn't work apparently lol!) and asked about bringing his girlfriend Michael Gainey along for the hunt? So I said yes, she will definitely add some looks to the crew.
We met up with our friend Scott Wagner, unloaded his HuntVe SUV, and packed all our full body decoys and layout blinds. Once we got to the field, everyone started helping with the decoy placement and even Michael helped out too. We thought having her participate in the decoy placement would only help add to her hunt!
Once daylight came and legal shooting hours were upon us, we had seven wild turkeys fly off their roost area into the field where we were hunting. Man was that a treat or what? Not just for Michael, but for us as well. You know it won't be long 'til we start chasing those "thunder chickens" so this was a beautiful sight to see.
After watching the turkeys for quite some time, we heard a distant familiar sound, "honk -honk". Within minutes we had them working our spread, while running our RNT Warbird Goose calls. We worked with Michael about being still and patient while working the birds. Once they dropped their landing gear, into the decoys, I hollered "Wreck 'em!" We harvested three out of the first flock, with Michael shooting her 1st goose. We were so excited. Everyone was giving high fives to each other and laughing.
Fifteen minutes, later we had two more to come into the field, and we started working them. They made one circle and they pitched just a few feet off the ground right in front of my dad and Josh. Again I gave the battle cry “Wreck 'em!” and they did just that.
What a great hunt we had with friends and family. It was also very special to be a part of Josh's girlfriend Michael’s first hunt and first goose. Definitely one to remember and a big shout out to Scott for making it happen!
We have truly been blessed to have the season we have had and to also be involved with some great people.
Earlier this season our "Crew" hooked up with friends Adam and Buck Cumbo of Longhshot TV to film some waterfowl hunts for Adam’s Longshot TV show, which airs on Sunday mornings @ 11:00 WWMB21. We were invited to hunt with Jason Smothers and Justin Wrampler of Graveyard Guide Service, in Arkansas over this past Thanksgiving. We posted some initial blogs here about our hunt and now we’ve got the full episode ready to present to everyone.
We met Adam and Buck in Columbia, SC at Clothing World Sporting Goods Store and headed out for our 13 hour journey. We arrived in Arkansas just before dark and got to witness several thousand ducks and geese going to roost. You see this early on in the video here below. It was a truly amazing sight.
After we arrived we were game planning our hunts, but the weather would soon throw us a curve ball. The temperature dropped into the 20's overnight (which locked up the rice fields) so we switched to plan "B" and hunted a bayou off of a river which had some open water.
The hunt started off a little slow with the wind changing directions which made our set up more difficult to get the birds in for good TV footage. At one point, we broke out the shovels to break up more ice to give us a bigger hole, which definitely helped.
As the morning progressed so did the birds and we ended up with a great hunt with friends and family. Man we really had a great time and can't wait to get back out there with Jason and Justin.
So set back and relax, grab some popcorn and enjoy one of our waterfowl hunts with some great guys from Graveyard Guide Service.
As the 2013/14 Waterfowl season ended, it allowed our "crew" a few days to scout and get ready for the Youth Waterfowl Day here in SC. We scouted public water, and some of our private land, and found birds in both locations, but felt like we had a better chance of getting our buddy Ben his first duck on our private land.
Since Blake had just recently sold 'Ol Red, we loaded up his new ride "Madonna"… and don't ask me why he names all of his vehicles. We attached the hitch and strapped our Drake Waterfowl stand-up decoy bag filled with Drake Waterfowl duck decoys and some GHG Goose Decoys. Due to the freezing temperatures we kept all of our Drake Waterfowl waders in the back of the Tahoe (Madonna) to keep them toasty!
A pic of Madonna
Once we got to our location, we started our journey in through the darkness. We had to break ice going in which just added to Ben's hunt. After setting up our decoy spread it was time to get "locked & loaded".
At first light, we heard the beautiful sound of woodies, squealing through the timber. Right at legal shooting time we had two woodies come in and I told Ben to wreck 'em, and three fast shots rang out with no feathers falling. Just a few minutes later we had a single woodie come by and the three shots followed. Again, with no feathers fell. You could start to see the disappointment in his body language and the "crew" kept talking with him to keep his spirits up.
We saw a lot more wood ducks but they were either too high or too fast but we held our ground. All of a sudden Blake asked, boys do you hear that? Yes, indeed we do. A mallard hen was quacking off at a distance. Not only Ben, but the whole crew shifted into another gear. Blake and I both picked up our RNT duck calls which were hand-tuned by Butch Richenback (founder of RNT) and we started a duet of hen calls. Once we spotted her she had company, a nice big greenhead. As they started working our spread, I stopped calling and coached Ben, and Blake continued to work his RNT Daisy Cutter.
The pair circled for three times before committing and then it was wings cupped & orange feet down. I told Ben to wreck him and wreck him he did. A fat 'ol greenhead in the decoys splashing was a beautiful sight for not only Ben but to the crew as well. We all high fived, and looked at each other hollering, “Who's your Drake???”
As we drove back to Ben’s house we talked more about the hunt and you still couldn't wipe the smile off his face. We are pretty sure this one's going to the taxidermist.
We've been blessed through the years to help many hunters young & old, to harvest their first duck or goose and we were fortunate enough to be able to continue that tradition this year. These moments in the outdoors are who we are and what we live for.
Ben's Mallard
Good Hunting ~ Daryl #wreckingcrew #it'swhoweare Daryl Hodge
The 2013 deer season was another great year for the "crew". We managed to harvest several nice bucks through hard work, land & deer management, and yes a little luck.
For us hunting and being in the outdoors is a way of life. It’s a year round thing rather than being seasonal as most people think about hunting. We’re chasing bucks during deer season, but we are also scouting duck hunting holes towards the end of deer season. When deer season is over we’re hunting ducks and geese and doing a little predator hunting on the side. When duck season ends we start working on food plots (for deer hunting) and we also work on our deer stands in this time of the year too. Then comes turkey season and we chase longbeards. Right after turkey season we put more time in looking for shed antler racks. Looking for sheds is another great way to scout and spend more time in God's Great Outdoors and it also gives insight as to what you can expect for the upcoming deer season. No matter what time of the year it is there is probably something you can do to prepare for the upcoming season.
So before the turkeys start gobbling and the fish start biting, head back out in the deer woods and start preparing for the 2014 deer season. September will be here before you know it!
Here are some of the rack mounts from the 2013 hunting season from the Wrecking Crew
Good Hunting ~ Daryl #teamwreckingcrew #itswhoweare
With a big Artic push coming in, our team hit the lakes and rivers to scout for migrating geese. Blake was the only boat out of three to find any, and find them he did. Everyone has heard about the X spot, but not everyone has found it. Well I must say, this was the X spot!
The only downside to this was that it was on public water so I knew we had to get there early. So, the night before we rigged up more floaters with longer cords for deeper water and headed out @ 3:oo am.
Once arriving at the landing, we launched our Team WC Xpress 18' Bayou Duck Boat. It was 17 degrees with 20 mph winds and the water was "white capping". We trimmed our Gator-Tail 35, zipped up all of our Drake Waterfowl Gear, and rocked on to our destination.
Five minutes before legal shooting hours we had 10 mallards light in our decoys and I thought this was going to be good. Right before legal time… they flew off. Lol!
After legal shooting hours came we heard distant shots on the wate. Our "crew" got our game face on. Within minutes we had a flock of three come in and zero left out. Man, what a way to start off that bitter cold morning! Three more vollies came in and we harvested three limits by 7:15!
We've taken more birds than that in a hunt, but with all of the scouting we put in and having them "do it right" with "in 'yo face action", in crazy weather, and on public water, made this a truly epic hunt.
After a few pictures, we loaded up our Xpress and headed back to the landing before anyone could see where we had hunted. I typically don't mind sharing some information, but I think we will keep this to ourselves!
Good Hunting ~ Daryl #teamwreckingcrew #itswhoweare!
After a good cold front some new birds pushed in and our crew took advantage of it. Blake and I had been scouting several different fields and we had one that was really drawing them in.
The night before the hunt we hooked up to our Team WC enclosed trailer, filled with full bodies, shells and layout blinds heaters so all we had to do was get in and "crank her up".
Once we got to the field and unloaded all of our gear we still had 20 minutes before legal shooting hours. So we started singing and dancing around, just having good 'ol fun (it's all about fun with us) until crunch time.
Shortly after daylight, we started hearing honks off at a distance. We could tell that they were in the air and not coming our way. Blake and I started with our RNT Warbird Goose Calls really loud to try and get their attention. They slowly quartered our way but passed our field. Just before giving up we noticed the lead bird swung back and rest of the flock followed. The flock circled 3 times before committing and when they did, it was game on.
High five's and loud hollering followed after we were jacked up from calling them in from such a far distance. We had three other volleys, which made for an awesome hunt for everyone.
With friends and family experiencing another great morning in God's Great Outdoors, it doesn't get any better than this, especially in our home state. WeHuntSC!
#wreckingcrew #it'swhatwelivefor
