Simmon's Sporting Goods

I just returned from a weekend road trip to northeast Louisiana (Sunday, March 4, 2007). The mission was to meet up with fellow BTR Scorers Jack McConnell, Missouri; Ed Waite, Ohio; Steve Lucas, Alabama; Mike Handley, Alabama; and our host, Cecil Reddick, Louisiana to measure and record some of the largest deer entered into the Big Buck Contest sponsored by Simmons' Sporting Goods, Bastrop, LA.

We gathered at Cecil's home on Friday evening and drove to Jim Bowie's Relay Station at Enterprise, LA for supper. The food was excellent and the live southern gospel harmonica music by Billie Williams was very entertaining. There was a huge crowd present.

We returned to our accomodations at the Potluck Duck Camp just off Dummy Lane somewhere north of Little Dick Road for a great visit and restful night. It was by no means a Holiday Inn Express but I sure slept like it was. Camp was so far away from civilization, I thought I could hear "Dueling Banjos" off in the distance.

On Saturday we measured approximately 60 whitetail deer racks. We had some very impressive ones come through the door. I had 9 deer make the record book and three didn't. I will feature a couple of them later on.

We finished the day across the street at the Catfish House 2. We had a really nice fish buffet. Everything tasted great. The fried okra was extra awesome. Four hours later, we returned to camp and visited until midnight.

The alarm clock went off at 6 a.m. and everyone started loading their vehicles for the long drive home. We all had a great time. It was fun but a lot of hard work. Our mission was accomplished on time and under budget. We can hardly wait for the upcoming Buckmasters Expo in Greensboro, NC.

JMc.