The Backwoods Life Online Journal

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2010-03-31T09:15:00.001-04:00

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A Week for the Record Books!

2010-03-31T09:14:00.000-04:00

The first week of the 2010 spring turkey season has been like no other for the Backwoods Life crew. Things kicked off in Georgia and spread all the way to Texas in a matter of days with tags being filled all along the way. Michael Lee, Kevin Knighton, and Trey Wetherington started things off in Georgia for the state Ducks Unlimited Turkey hunt. With only two days to hunt there, the guys knew they had to go for broke the entire time. With several encounters over the two days, Trey was finally able to help DU hunt winner, Mr. Dan, to connect on a GA long beard. Ironically it was the same bird that Michael and Trey almost called in for Mr. Dan on the previous day.

Stop two was with the crowd at the annual Country Goes Huntin' event in southwest Georgia. Michael was paired up with country legend Aaron Tippin and helped Aaron tag a nice long beard on camera during the two day hunt. Kevin also helped country star Rhett Akins tag a stud Georgia gobbler. Kevin also spent time hunting with country newcomer Josh Thompson during the hunt. The guys made new friends and left with some great video for the 2011 episodes.

Next, Trey, Kevin, Jeremy Johnson, and others headed to the lone star state of Texas to hit the woods after some Rio Grande turkeys. It didn't take long for the guys to fill some tags as Jeremy dropped two gobblers in one shot on the first morning while Trey and his son Treb also both tagged a nice tom on the first day. After a couple swings and misses with his bow, Kevin tagged himself a Rio on the last morning to complete his grand slam.

While part of the team was in Texas, Michael, his wife Beth Lee, and father Mike Lee joined Zach Thwaite in Georgia for some more gobbler chasin'. Mike dropped a GA bird on the first afternoon as Beth tagged her first gobbler on the first morning as a stud long beard came to the Jake Intimidator decoy for a shot. Mike then smoked another gobbler on the second afternoon and Michael finished things up with filling one of his tags on the last morning of the hunt with a nice gobbler as well.

Talk about a strong start to the spring! The guys are heading to Florida next for the annual Rollin' for Gobblers turkey hunt for disabled kids. There will for sure be more good times, memories made, and hopefully tags filled in the days to come!

God bless and good hunting,

The Backwoods Life crew!

A Southern Tradition

2010-02-24T16:18:00.000-05:00

When many people think of the South and the outdoors, different things pop in their heads. You think of whitetail deer, wild turkey, maybe even a lake, pond, or even a beach or two. When I think of the South, the first things that come to mind are giant, open pine trees filled with wire grass and other thick cover that has always been native to the Georgia. The next thing that I think of are coveys of quail, top notch bird dogs on point, and the fellowship involved in a good ol’ southern style quail hunt. This past Friday, my fellow show hosts, Kevin, Trey, and I had the privileged of traveling to Shadow Oak Plantation and spending the day in the woods with our friends from Johnson Distributing, Mr. Joe and Lynn Johnson.

We arrived a bit before 9AM where we were greeted by our guide, Caleb. The morning was cool and crisp as the sun began to rise over the pines and warm the 30 degree temperatures. It was a perfect day to be in the woods.

We were glad to be able to document the hunt with some great photos from our Nikon cameras throughout the day, one that will for sure be in our memories for a long time to come.

Still Hunting?

2010-01-19T08:55:00.002-05:00

Yep, we're still hitting the woods! I know the season is out in most of the country, but Alabama and Mississippi, among a few others, are still going strong with the rut even wide open!

We're still filling tags too! Michael Lee arrowed a nice Alabama buck at Rockbridge Lodge with his dad, Mike Lee, behind the camera and junior Bohnhead, Treb Wetherington, tagged a southern Alabama stud with his dad and show host, Trey Wetherington, running the camera for him!

Talk about more great father and son moments while living the Backwoods Life!

Only a few weeks left, and we're still in the woods!

God bless and good hunting,

The Backwoods Bohnheads!

The Backwoods Invades Alabama

2009-12-17T09:03:00.003-05:00

Michael Lee and Kevin Knighton joined crew members Scott Cooper and Jimbo Yance for a great hunt in south Alabama. Michael started things off with a nice eight point the second afternoon of hunting and then filled another tag the next morning with a jacked up cull buck he was able to get an arrow through.

The afternoon hunted capped off a great trip of hunting when Kevin was able to fill one of his tags with a nice eight point as well.

The guys are off to Kentucky next with CCW Outfitters and then more from the great state of Alabama coming up to close the season off!

Happy Holidays from the Backwoods Life crew as well and we'll check in with you in 2010!

Up a tree,

The Backwoods Life Crew

Fall in Full Swing

2009-11-17T10:29:00.005-05:00

We've been on the road for weeks now covering as many states as we can in search of the whitetail rut. So far we've had some close encounters with some giant whitetails and even filled a few tags along the way. We've covered Georgia, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, and Ohio so far filling several tags along the way. With a lot of hunting left to come, here are some pics from the past few weeks.

Sorry I can't write more but the rut is wide open! Gotta go!

Sitting in a Family Traditon lock on,

Michael

Lizards and Bucks!

2009-10-21T11:45:00.003-04:00

We've been wide open traveling and hunting all over for far this Fall. We covered the swamps of Florida all the way to the corn fields of Illinois so far and aren't slowing down at all!

We hunted swamp lizards with Mark Land from Muzzy and Bryan Hughes from Backwater Outdoors then with Switchgrass Outfitters and put nine nice gators in the boat!

Then to Illinois with Midwest Whitetail Adventures where we had some great close encounters with some GIANT Midwest bucks.

Most recently we spent some time here on our home turf and tagged a nice Georgia whitetail on video while some other members of the Backwoods crew tagged a stud in Alabama!

Wow, talk about covering some miles and having a great time living the Backwoods Life! More to come!

Gators, Gators, Gators!

2009-09-16T12:29:00.001-04:00

This week we are heading down to Titusville, Florida to hunt with our good friends of Switchgrass Outfitters. Nothing like bowhunting alligators at night from an air boat! Talk about an adrenaline rush! Kevin and I were lucky enough to fill our tags last year while hunting with Seth and Mike. This year Kevin took his brother Brent down already and he tagged his first gator. Now time to get after the big boys. We’ll be joined by Merrill Sport from the Pursuit Channel as we chase these big swamp lizards and hopefully bring home some fresh gator tail!

Check them out at www.SwitchgrassOutfitters.com

God bless and good hunting,

Michael Lee

First Hunt of the "Season"

2009-08-24T09:53:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since we've posted a blog and we apologize for that. Call us lazy, crazy, or both :) Either way we're back in the saddle after a long summer of hitting trade shows and all kinds of other things for the show.

Finally we were able to hunt something! Well, sort of. Kevin Knighton and I hit the waters of Lake Eufaula with Mark Land of Muzzy, Bryan Hughes of Backwater Bowfishing, and our own Backwoods crew member Jeremy Johnson.

Anyone that hasn't been gator hunting before, be ready for an adrenaline rushing experience. Legal hours for Alabama were 8pm until 6am, so you're on the water pretty much all night (since we had 3 tags to fill). As darkness sets in, so do the gators. They hunt mostly as night for an easy meal. We loaded up in Mark's awesome bowfishing boat and headed out.

About midnight, we filled the first tag as Bryan arrowed a 12+ foot monster gator! It took 5 of us doing all we could to get the giant lizard in the boat. With two more tags to fill we had plenty of time to get it done and just before daylight we capped off a great night with two more 8+ foot gators in the boat.

Here's a few pics from the past month of trade shows and the gator hunting!

Now off to catch up on sleep!

Michael Lee
www.BackwoodsLife.com

Taking the Summer Off?

2009-07-21T16:11:00.003-04:00

We get asked a lot of times what we do during the summer. My best answer is get caught up on work! Honestly, we do take a week or two for spending time with the family any getting caught up on things we don't have a lot of free time to do around the house and such. Not to mention making the episodes that have to go to the networks for July - December airing.

We also attend a lot of outdoor shows during the summer, especially in July and August. We get fired up just like everyone else and like to be a these shows to help promote sponsors, outfitters, and to meet all the folks that enjoy what we do.

Here are a few events that we'll be at in the coming weeks:

July 30 - August 2nd: Bowcast At the Bird (Utah)
August 7 - 9: GON Outdoor Blast (Georgia)
August 14 - 16: Buckmasters Expo (Alabama)

And we have more to come after that but then it's time to hunt!

We'll post some pictures and maybe a video or two from our adventures on the road just living the Backwoods Life!

Don't forget to watch us on Mondays at 5:30pm and Tuesdays at 10:00pm EST on Pursuit Channel as well as listen to Backwoods Life Radio on Wednesdays at 6:00pm EST (www.BackwoodsRadio.com)

East bound and down,

Michael, Trey, and Kevin

Finishing Off the Spring

2009-06-04T10:21:00.000-04:00

Another great turkey season has come to a close for the Backwoods Life team. The Boneheads set a new record for turkeys taken on video for the show. Since the first week of March, the crew had been wide open all the way through the end of May chasing long beards all over the country. Covering Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Texas, Nebraska, and Indiana, the 2009 spring footage will be hard to top.

Thanks to Bryan Clines and Chris Vaughn for a good Trip to Nebraska with Adventures Wild to wrap up one of our best turkey seasons ever! www.AdvWild.com

Now off to sit in the A/C and see the wives again until Fall! :)

The Boneheads

Bring Spring to A Close

2009-05-12T09:05:00.000-04:00

We've been so busy lately I haven't had time to update our journal. We've been wide open turkey hunting and even doing a little fishing as well. Since our last update we've laid down several more gobblers all across the country. Kevin Knighton in Georiga at Clay Hill Hunting Lodge, Trey Wetherington in Kentucky at CCW Outfitters, Chase Gregg in Indiana, and Jeremy Johnson in Missouri at Robinson Hunts just to name a few.

Kevin Knighton and myself hit the waters of Destin, Florida recently as well accompanied by my dad Mike to fish with Daniel Pike of the Inshore Angler and Inshore Angler Charters.

Next to wrap up the Spring filming season is a trip to Nebraska for Rio and Merriam turkeys with our good friends at Adventures Wild. With a little luck we will close the book on our best spring turkey hunting ever.

Well back to work and living the Backwoods Life!

God bless and good hunting,

Michael Lee

Turkey Turkey Turkey

2009-04-10T13:48:00.000-04:00

We're wide open in the woods. Heck I'm even in the woods right now typing this! We've had a great spring so far and hopefully we can keep it all adding up. Trey, Kevin, and my dad Mike have all smoked gobblers on film since our last post here. All of them right here in south Georgia. Then we headed to Clay Hill Hunting Lodge in Morris, GA to hunt with hunt winner Dennis and put the hammer down on another one in the rain!

Here are a few more pics of the Backwoods crew and the aftermath of some spring turkey hunting!

Spring Is In Full Swing

2009-03-13T14:41:00.001-04:00

Backwoods Life hosts Michael Lee and Kevin Knighton joined Backwoods Bonehead staff member Scott Cooper and Hayes Lusher for a south Florida turkey hunt outside of Labelle, Florida with the guys from Full Contact Outfitters. The guys were on a flash two day hunt due to time constraints but they made the most of the opportunities.

The first morning it took Scott and Hayes only minutes to tag the first bird of the season. Hayes took his first Osceola with a long 68 yard shot with his 10 gauge.

After a long morning hunt, Michael and Kevin headed back out with their guide Denny Bell after the same gobbler they watched all morning. Michael called one time and the bird answered. One hour and 18 minutes later the bird gave Michael a 52 yard shot and he made the most of it!

It was a great start to the season for the Backwoods crew!

Waiting on a gobble...........

The Backwoods Boneheads

The New Look!

2009-02-03T10:45:00.000-05:00

All good things evolve over time to become more appealing to a wider range of people. The latest changes for the Backwoods crew is along the sames lines. We have evolved Southern Backwoods Adventures into a new and even more action packed television show that is now called "The Backwoods Life". Many people have asked us why the change, and the best answer we can give is that this represents us better. It is short and sweet about the life that we live, we are and will always be the Southern Backwoods guys, but the day in and out life we live is the Backwoods Life. This is a more in-depth look at our group of guys, the core of the outdoors, and what it means for each of us when we get time to spend outside in God's great creation. We live it to the fullest with no holds barred and no regrets. It's the Backwoods Life.........LIVE IT!

The Backwoods Boneheads :)

Winter Wonderland!

2008-12-15T14:48:00.000-05:00

Well the holidays are almost here and with that, the hunting seasons are on the down hill side but still wide open. With deer, duck, quail, small game, and much more still on the menu the weather is now the biggest variable to look at. AS I type this we have Kevin Knight, Jeremy Johnson, Dean and Floy Gregg all in Iowa and Missouri hunting. Kevin tagged him an Iowa buck yesterday and then the weather went south. I talked to Dean earlier today and the temp was -1 degrees! WOW!

I also want to mention that Jeremy took a stud in Michigan this year as well as his wife Elizabeth took her first buck with a bow. How cool is that!

We have a few more hunts lined up this year and into 2009 for deer, one will be a great late season bow hunt with CCW Outfitters in Kentucky. Then off to the ATA show and SHOT show hopefully.

The SBA family would like to wish all of you a merry Christmas and a great 2009! To finish this post off, here is a pic of Kevin's Iowa buck, Jeremy's Michigan buck, and Elizabeth's Alabama buck!

Stayin' warm,

The Backwoods Crew

More Backwoods Bucks!

2008-11-24T11:43:00.001-05:00

The SBA crew of Michael Lee, Trey Wetherington, Kevin Knighton, and Mike Lee just returned from Nebraska where filling tags was part of the plan! The guys were hunting with Chris Vaughn of Adventures Wild on his private leases in south west Nebraska. On the last full day of the hunt, Michael, Trey, and Mike all filled their tags with corn husker bucks!

The guys are staying around home for the Thanksgiving holiday, then heading out on the road again for even more whitetail footage!

Up a GA pine,

The Backwoods Crew

Stuck In the Middle

2008-11-12T15:07:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since we've actually written a blog, I know, it's our own busy fault. We've been traveling and filming all over. Right nre we're stuck in the middle of hunting season. So far we've been to Wyoming, Colorado, Alabama, Florida, and right here in Georgia so far and have taken home mule deer, whitetails, gators, and antelope. Next on the agenda is Nebraska for mulies and white tail very soon. Maybe we can get luck and get a big one on the ground.

Here are a couple of photos from our latest adventures:

We'll try to post here more often, we know we've been slack! Until next time, God bless and good hunting!

The SBA Crew

Come On September!!

2008-08-01T14:39:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting here at this computer thanking the good Lord I get to be inside this tmie of year since it's 100 degrees outside! All the while, I'm SO READY to get outside this fall. Dad, Trey, Kevin, and I all found out today that we drew antelope tags for Wyoming, so we're jacked up about that!

Boy the Backwoods Crew is gonna have a busy fall. Antelope in Wyoming, Mule deer in Colorado, Whitetails and Mule deer in Nebraska, Idaho elk, Florida alligators, Indiana whitetail, Kentucky whitetail, Iowa whitetail, and let's not leave out Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama for whitetail and hogs too! Good Lord willing and the creeks don't rise we hope to have a LOT of critters at the taxidermist after 2008 ends and a TON of great footage for you all to see. Speaking of taxidermists, I'm proud to say we have a new one on board. Southern Wildlife Taxidermy in Leesburg, GA will be doing some work for us this year. Sean Knights and his crew does a great job and we are really excited about it all.

Whew, I'm tired already! Anyway, where are some of you all hunting this fall? Did you get that tag you've been waiting on? Are you just gonna kill a big un' in your home state? We'd love to hear what everyone else is doing.

God bless and good huntin!

Stayin cool,

The Backwoods Crew

Finishing Off the Spring!

2008-06-03T11:15:00.000-04:00

The Backwoods Crew went out in style to wrap up turkey season in Nebraska. Michael, Trey, Kevin, and good friend Greg Turner headed out west to hunt with Chris Vaughn and Bryan Clines of Adventures Wild. The guys touched down in Denver, CO and made the 3 hour drive to Nebraska where the turkey season was in it's final days. On the first morning the guys saw a ton of birds and gobblers everywhere, but had no luck right off. Michael and Kevin were hunting with Chris and shortly after lunch both of them scored with in 15 minutes of each other. About an hour after Michael and Kevin scored, Greg missed a nice gobbler in almost the same spot!

Day two began with Trey hunting with Michael and Chris. Not long after daylight Trey's shotgun roared and he put a tag on a stud Merriam's. Greg would soon get another chance as he sat and watched a gobbler strut for 6 hours with Trey videoing and Bryan guiding. Finally Greg got a shot at the bird and made this one count, filling his tag.

Day three had more birds gobbling and strutting and two more tags used as Bryan and Trey both scored to cap off a great trip and turkey season for the SBA team.

God bless and good hunting!

Southern Backwoods partners with Game Plan Gear

2008-05-01T12:05:00.000-04:00

Southern Backwoods is proud to announce that the SBA logo will be featured on the packaging for the new Game Plan Gear Treestand Transport System (TTS). This product will make carrying those lock ons, climbers, and more that much easier going in and out of the woods.

The crew at Game Plan Gear has all kinds of new exciting products out for 2008, please check them out at www.GamePlanGear.com

Turkey Turkey Turkey!

2008-04-25T08:47:00.000-04:00

The SBA crew has been wide open hunting this spring all over the US. We've had some great times so far and many more to come. Here are a few things that have gone on in the woods this spring so far.

Mike Lee and Michael Lee headed to Oklahoma and scored on two nice Rios in the same afternoon. Michael's had a longer beard, but Mike's weigh a pound more and had 1/4 inch longer spurs. You can't stop the older Mike, just hope to contain him!

Just a few days later, Mike and Michael were back in the woods on the family farm in South Georgia. The first day the weather was a wash and the afternoon was all quiet. The second morning the weather was clear and cool. The gobblers were hammering and after a couple of hours calling and working a group of gobblers Michael scored with his second bird of the week! This bird had 1 inch spurs and a 10.5 inch beard to cap off a great week of father-son hunting!

Spring Time in the South!

2008-04-10T09:46:00.000-04:00

We've been wide open in the turkey woods this spring and these dang Georgia gobblers have been kickin' our butts. But we've only begun to start. Dad and I are headed to Oklahoma to hunt with Troy of TL Guided Hunts and my good buddy Alan Sentell. We've also got a trip lined up with my bud Chris Vaugh of Adventures Wild for some Nebraska steroid chicken hunting. So things are looking up for the SBA boys.

Also we just got back in from the Country Goes Huntin' charity event and we had a blast. It was good to get to hang out with some of our pals that we don't get to see often enough.

Well, keep em' gobbling and hunt hard!

God bless,

Michael "headed out west" Lee

Spring Has Sprung

2008-03-28T14:10:00.000-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, spring is here! The turkeys are gobbling, flowers blooming, fish biting..........it's here! With that, we've been in the woods chasing long beards for a couple weeks now and the first SBA member to put a gobbler down was Mike Lee, now imagine that! Lucky as a leprechaun on March 15th, actually March 23rd though, Mike busted up the nice gobbler with a 10.5 inch beard on one of our private farms here in Georgia.

Well, can't chat long, gotta hit the turkey woods!!

God bless and good hunting,

The SBA Team

Number One!

2008-03-10T11:32:00.001-04:00

With 2008 running wide open now, we have introduced some new changes to the SBA website as well as a new blog / online journal. We'll keep everyone up to date on the latest news and successful hunts right here. Even throw in a few pictures and who knows what else!

As many of you know in the past we had three blogs, one for each of the hosts. To be honest, the guys stay so busy it's hard for each of them to keep a current blog going. With this, each of them and the SBA team members can post info and much more!

Good hunting and God bless,

The SBA Team