• Home
• Contact the Bottoms

2004 Youth Hunt

The Gallatin Bottoms hunting outfitters hosted the first annual youth hunt at its headquarters located on Round Pond Road north of Shawneetown, IL along the Ohio River. This youth hunt and ag day was held October 9 & 10 of 2004 for hunters between eleven and fifteen years of age.

The Bottoms started managing their herd in 1995 and in turn lead to their establishment in 2001 by the owners of Bickett Farms, Tim and Kim Bickett. The Bottoms realized a need to get younger people involved in the sport and the only way was to organize a hunt strictly for the youth that may never get a chance to participate in such activities.

The Bottoms encompasses 9500 acres in southern Gallatin County dedicated to whitetail deer, duck, geese, and turkey hunting. The Bottoms is noted for some of the largest deer in the tri-state.

The staff at The Bottoms, put together a fun filled weekend of hunting with adult supervision for some eleven hunters, both male and female. Friday evening the hunters were brought to the farm for a special hunter education class to orientate these young folks on what was expected of them. The youth were allowed to fire their weapons to see the impact and reaction of those involved.

The hunters were assembled at the farm at 5:00 am on Saturday morning and paired them with and adult of more experience. Hunters were paired and taken to deer stands that were set for two people (safety being the main factor). Breakfast was served at 9:30 am each morning along with lunch supplied by The Bottoms.

Randy Oitker of Plainville, IL demonstrated different techniques utilizing different shots from a compound bow. Randy spent many hours socializing with the guests.

The youth and adults were allowed to drive the farm equipment (under supervision) supplied by the farm to include farm tractors, backhoe, fork lift, two semi trucks, along with four wheelers until time to go back to the woods that afternoon on Saturday. Sunday hunting started at 5:00 am and breakfast and lunch was served also. The youth hunt ended around 10:00 am on Sunday with prizes awarded to the three top hunters.

Everyone had a great time. A special thanks to everyone that helped on this special day. Thanks to Brandon Phelps for all of his energies in helping us get this started. Without his help this event would not have been possible.

Randy Oitker, Plainville, IL
Career Highlights: At the age of 17, Randy Oitker has the type of archery resume most shooters twice his age would long for. As an amateur, Randy was a two-time NABH World Champion and was named Shooter of the Year three times. He also holds 17 national titles. Currently, Randy Writes a column "Through the Eyes of a Young Hunter" and hosts a TV show of the same name.
Hobbies: Randy is well known for his trick-shooting abilities. He also enjoys spending time on the family farm.

Thank you.
Bickett Farms & All Employees (Tim & Tracy), Bicket Farms Tiling & All Employees, Truitt Climents (Bickett Farm Tiling, The Bottoms), Edmund Bickett - Donna Short, Locust Street Company (Allen Grey Estates), Downen Farms, Mike & Paula Hise, Carroll & Lori Hise, Scott Bosaw, Jason Bosaw, Shawna Cox, Jim Henson, Wes Henson, Dave Disney, James Back, Tommy Pinkston, Gary Holmes, Josh Holmes, & Jerad Bickett.

Thanks to our Sponsors:
Bickett Farms, Glo Tell, Strictly Outdoors (Harrisburg), Cabela's (Boots for all Boys & Girls), NWTF (National Wild Turkey Federation) Local Chapter, Randy Oitker (Team Realtree & "Throught the Eyes of a Young Hunter"), Randy Oitker Sr., Darla Oitker, Don & Kandi Kisky, Randy Birdsong (Kisky Productions), Jay Gregory, Kyle Weiter, and Ryan Beckman (All 3 from The Wild Outdoors), Shawneetown Fire & Police Departments, Locust Street Company (Grey Estates), Mike Cole, Jay Williams IDNR, Bob Ruff IDNR, Brandon Phelps (State Representative), and Tony Chrisman & Carrol Hise (Cooking).

Thanks to anyone we may have neglected to list.

All Rights Reserved, The Bottoms 2008

Created by Fritschle Communications