Trade a Trip Adventures in Kentucky
Capt. Rob Womble
October 8, 2008
Panama City - Saltwater Fishing Report
Well it hasn't been all fishing the last couple of weeks!
A couple of weeks ago Capt. Todd and I had the opportunity to travel to Kentucky and hunt for an entire week with Jason, Cassi, Hutch and Vera Purvis who own and operate CCW Outfitters. Capt. Todd and Jason had been talking for a couple months about trading out a guided hunt for guided fishing trips. Jason and his family wanted Capt. Todd and I to have one of the first hunts available so they asked us to travel up during the first week of Bow Season. Fortunately there was a schedule conflict on both sides and we got delayed by one week. This was fortunate because the first week of Bow Season the CCW hunting grounds were hit by the remains of Hurricane Ike dropping a ton of rain and winds up to 70 MPH. We would have been a little upset if we had to drive to one of the best hunting areas in the country only to get shut-out by a storm. Lucky for us our timing was a little better this time.
CCW Outfitters is a Bow only hunting outfit located in Marion Kentucky. They own or lease over 4000 Acres of prime Whitetail property that is the perfect mix of farmland, open fields, hardwoods, persimmon trees, crab apple trees and natural growth brush as well as a number of creeks and ponds all throughout their property. Their property really has everything a mature Whitetail deer could want. When you combine their wonderful property with their very impressive conservation efforts on top of the fact that all the hunting on the CCW lands is Bow only, you end up with some spectacular hunting and that's just what we got.
Capt. Todd and I saw deer every time we sat. Now every time you see deer does not mean that they are going to be in range. The first morning he watched six bucks and several doe cross the ridge line in front of his stand. Unfortunately none of the bucks were the 120 to 130 class we were looking for but it's always nice to see a couple nice whitetails like that on your first day. On the second day I watched three bucks work their way down an acorn littered trail for about twenty minutes before I could see that one of them was easily a 120 to 130 shooter. Now my stand was pointed in the opposite direction of the trail so I had to stand and turn for the shot. I waited and hoped the big guy would move into a small clearing in the trees just to my left and he did. I focused my front sight on his lungs and let the arrow fly. Now from the time you trip your release and let the arrow fly to the time your arrow is suppose to hit the target at 35 yards only takes about half a second but that is enough time to see your arrow hit the branch of the oak tree between you and your target. Yup, I focused on the deer and hit a tree. I figured I would go ahead and tell everyone I did it before Capt. Todd got a chance to.
Nice little 6 point decided to bed down at the base of my stand.
We hunted three more days and saw several more nice bucks but neither one of us got one in range again. Jason Purvis asked us if we would mind filling our doe tag and donating the meat to the lodge so we decided we would use one of our last hunts to take a doe. Todd sat on a good spot that produced a couple nice bucks just out of range but I sat in a stand that had 9 doe and 3 bucks show up. I decided I was going to take the first doe that stepped in range and I didn't have to wait long. I dropped a doe about 130 to 140lbs before 7:00am. It was a great hunt.
The CCW lodge is absolutely beautiful and everything any hunter could possibly need is provided. The rooms are top notch and laid out so two hunters can share a room without getting in each others way. There are four room's capable of housing eight hunters at a time. Each room has two very comfortable double beds with plenty of leg room for taller hunters. Across the hall is the main lodge that has a central living room and fire place with several nice reclining chairs along with a pool table, wet bar, huge flat screen TV and a wraparound porch that overlooks the two story tower standing above the 3D archery practice range. When your not hunting or practicing with your bow you can enjoy a home cooked meal usually prepared by Cassi and or Vera Purvis. I have to say that the food was out of this world and I found myself looking forward to climbing out of that stand so I could dig into some good cooking. The occasional (nightly) nightcap from the fully stocked wet bar was nice too. I took a couple of pictures for the report but their web-site show it off better. Check them out at www.huntccwo.com
Brand New Lodge with very comfortable rooms.
Our overall experience with CCW Outfitters was outstanding. The entire family tries very hard to make you feel at home and it shows in everything they do. They are some of the nicest people you will ever meet and their hospitality and professionalism is second to none. We would like to thank Jason, Cassi, Buddy, Vera and Cowboy Jason (friend of family who works the farm with them) for inviting us up for one of the best hunts I've been on. We look forward to fishing with them as soon as possible. Hopefully we will be hunting with them again soon.
Of course we have had a little time to get out on the water. I took the girls out for some R&R and we were able to pull in some Reds and Trout.
Capt. Todd and I are still going to be running a few trips this winter but a majority of our cold weather activities are going to center around deer and duck hunting. For those duck hunters out there, we still have a couple days open but they are filling up quick. We are also taking a trip to South America in November so those days I will be fishing, just not in our neck of the woods.
We will be taking on a third partner this winter with a larger bay boat so for those of you who call with parties of up to six people, we can cover you. I'll post more on this when we get it all set-up.
Good luck on the water and the woods. Remember to hunt and fish safely.
Capt. Rob Womble & Capt. Todd Jones
Back Bay Adventures
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