Dan Geddings: A hunting club

Posted

Back in the old days, the deer hunters gathered at our house before daylight. Some sat out in their cars in the yard, and some came in for coffee at the kitchen table. The hunting dogs out in the backyard kennel knew what was happening, and they sent up a steady chorus of excited barking. Nobody had any camouflage clothing back then, and my usual attire on those Saturday mornings was a red-and-black flannel shirt and canvas hunting pants. Any kind of boots would do. If it was cold, a canvas hunting jacket would be worn. We all wore little short-billed caps that would fold down over the ears in cold weather. I would strap onto my belt a big hunting knife in a leather sheath.

It was my job to go out and load the hounds into the homemade dog box on the back of the truck. I would take each dog out of the pen individually and hang onto the collar while the dog lunged toward the truck. Sometimes there would be ferocious fights that would erupt in the dog box when those canines were cramped into such close quarters. We'd beat on the top of the box and scold them for being so mean. The fights didn't last long, and there usually weren't any injuries.

The hunters would head outside from the kitchen when good daylight came, and the ones in the cars would get out and join them. We would usually have a fairly decent crowd gathered out in the yard. It seemed like everyone would be talking at the same time. There was an air of anticipation and excitement. Everyone seemed happy and glad to see each other. I felt privileged to be a part of this group of men.

We didn't have a clubhouse, lease any land or pay any club dues. We hunted by permission from the landowners and farmers. The hunters were all invited members. They were friends and family from our community. We always had a few guys from the Air Force base because some members worked there and invited them. They were good people and good hunters. There were no timber company lands in our part of the world back then. But they came later.

The hunt would be planned out, and it usually involved drawing a crude map with a stick in the driveway. Standers would be assigned and any special instructions given before we all loaded up in pickups and cars and headed out to the hunt. Sometimes instead of planning a hunt, we would all head out, some in different directions to drive the dirt roads looking for a track. If a good fresh deer track was found, we would get back together and then plan a drive.

Deer were not so plentiful back then, and there were no turkeys. We hunted large areas, just trying to find a deer. Most of our hunts lasted half a day, and if the dogs ran a deer out of the drive, it would lead to some long hours on a stand, not knowing what was happening. Any deer killed on a drive would be cleaned and the meat divided among the hunters. We drew numbers out of a hat to match the numbers on each portion of the meat. The successful hunter usually got to pick which portion he wanted.

The hounds we used were mostly redbones, black and tans and walkers. Later, we went with beagles. We always had a pen full of hunting dogs, and a few of the other hunters had dogs. It was the only way we knew to hunt deer.

We thought the first still hunters that we encountered were crazy. "Why would anyone sit out in the woods and wait on a deer to walk by?" we wondered. But there got to be more and more hunters doing that very thing. The ones that sat on bean fields seemed to have the best luck. Eventually we gave it a try ourselves. It was an easy way to extend our hunting time.

Still hunting got to be a thing. Timber company land has helped. Dog hunting has hung on, but it gets harder and harder to do. I'm in a Lowcountry dog drive club. We have thousands of acres of timber company and farm land to hunt. The clubs on three sides are also dog clubs. The other side is across the river, and the dogs rarely cross over there.

Hunting clubs have changed. CB radios and GPS dog collars are used now. Still hunters rely on corn, food plots and tower stands. I'm also in a local still hunting club. We have a nice clubhouse. Almost all the hunting land is leased, and hunters pay membership dues. It seems like everybody wears camouflage clothing, and most use some type of international orange.

There are turkeys to hunt now, after the deer season, and that is a bonus to any hunting club.

Reach Dan Geddings at cdgeddings@gmail.com.