Fishing and hunting have allowed me to meet some true heroes.
A number of years ago, my family used to support a small, wounded warrior-style group out of Madison run by Col. Mike Steele.
Now, for those of you who might not know Col. Steele, he was the man who led the troops on the ground that night in Mogadishu. Yeah, that night was Blackhawk Down night. Col. Steele was also on the 1980 Georgia Bulldogs National Championship team. He’s an awesome guy who I loved hunting with and being around.
Anyway, I was asked to take a wounded veteran fishing for one day last spring. My buddy, Jon Parish, just told me to show up and said our friend, Alex McLendon, would put a guy I would enjoy on my boat to go striper fishing. Well, of course, I told him I would and arranged a couple of other boats for some other veterans.
However, the guy who got on my boat will remain nameless because, frankly, I didn’t ask if I could use his information, and as a U.S. Army 5th Group sniper, I am just not interested in making him upset.
I only have one rule on these types of trips. You can talk about anything you want with me. I’ll listen and provide a shoulder if needed. If you want to talk football or about your dying best friend, I’ll be there. They all know this when they get into my boat or my truck.
On this day, we were discussing deer hunting, and of course, I had to ask a sniper what the longest shot he ever made on a deer was. His answer was surprising. He said he’d only hunted east Tennessee and had shot one only at the most 125 yards. He then asked how far for me, and I said 350 yards in Nebraska.
We sat there trolling for about five minutes when, all of a sudden, he slapped me on the arm and, laughing, said, “I shot a dude once at 650.” I humbly admitted he won that competition. After all, the doe wasn’t shooting back at the time.
Flip Pallot is another of my heroes. For those who know, he needs no introduction. For those who don’t, he created modern shallow saltwater fishing. With Chris Morejohn and Hal Chittum, Flip started Hells Bay Boatworks in the 1990s, bringing us the entire flat skiff genre that can float in chicken spit.
Flip is a man I’ve been honored to talk with on several occasions. In each one, I learned so much and walked away believing he was the greatest outdoorsman to ever grace a flats skiff or airboat. Flip embodies our spirit and what is great about life outdoors.
If you are an old Georgia turkey hunter, you might remember the name Roscoe Rheems. Ol’ Roscoe was a celebrity to us all in the 1980s, one of the original turkey hunters in this state who could call a deaf turkey right across a highway. He was that good. Roscoe just understood turkeys better than most.
He would tell stories about killing birds by hiding under tarps in the middle of a clean-cut cutover or by hiding in a big oak tree. One of the highlights of the old NWTF convention held up at Unicoi State Park was seeing Roscoe swap turkey stories with my grandaddy.
These are just a few people who fit my “hero” bill, which is just my opinion. I’ve known many. Both my grandfathers, for instance, were WWII Pacific Theater veterans.
In short, this was just a small hat-tip to those who mean so much to me, who have impacted my life, and who have stood up for us in one way or another.
Tight Lines and following seas, y’all.