For $795, you can access club property on a self-guided basis for a three or four-day hunt. Most hunting is done from ground stands, which Shawnee Club co-owners Spike Stacey and Jimmy O'Daniel will help you set up. They are both hunters themselves, but you may be on your own when deciding on the best spot from which to hunt. Stacey says he plans on erecting several additional permanent stands; he now has one that I know of. Furthermore, he's planning to buy some ladder stands to be used by next season's hunters. Just in case, I'd suggest taking your own stand along. I'd also suggest that those booking the first three-day hunt should arrive a day or two early to pre-scout and pre-position stands, if Stacey or O'Daniel agree that it's okay to do so.
There are plenty of good places to hunt, but most shots will be 75 yards or less because of dense undergrowth. The club's property consists of impenetrable thickets, swampland and sloughs, as well as some impressive bottomland timber. In places the swamp is so overgrown that it's difficult to negotiate. If it gets dark before you get back out, you're going to be in serious trouble because you won't be able to find your way through the areas where swamp water spreads across bottomland muck, called "scatters." Get stuck here and you'll soon be exhausted.
On my first day out I was covered up in beggar's lice and cockleburrs - it took me hours to remove them from clothing and gear - and........(continued)
