• Home
• Contact the Bottoms

2005 Youth Hunt

The Gallatin Bottoms hunting outfitters hosted the 2nd Annual Youth Hunt at its headquarters located on Round Pond Road north of Shawneetown, Illinois along the Ohio River. This Youth Hunt and Ag Day was held October 8th and 9th of 2005 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 emcompasses 9,500 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 twenty two young hunters, both male and female.

The Bottoms sponsored the Hunters Safety Course September 23rd and 24th, 2005. The course was instructed by Jim Raper, Fred Winders, and Conservation Officer Mark Folden. Donuts were served for Saturday morning breakfast and pizza from Gillio's Pizza for lunch.

Friday October 7, 2005 the hunters were brought to the farm for a special hunter education class to orientate these young folks on what was to be expected of them. The youth were allowed to fire their weapons at some two pallets of watermelons to see impact and reaction of those involved. New hunting clothes and boots were given to the young hunters provided by sponsors and The Bottoms.

The hunters were assembled at the farm at 5:00 AM on Saturday morning and paired with an 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. Tremendous meals were served (over 400lbs) of meat was prepared.

The youth and adults were allowed to drive the farm equipment (under supervision) supplied by the farm to include farm tractors, bachoe, fork lift, two semi trucks, dozer, along with four wheelers and John Deere Gators until time to go back into the woods that afternoon on Saturday. Sunday hunting started at 5:00 AM and breakfast and lunch was also served. The Youth Hunt eended around 10:00 AM on Sunday with prizes awarded to the three top hunters. There were 15 deer taken by these youth hunters and the meat was made into summer sausage and given back to the hunters. Approximately 60 boys and girls were present throughout the weekend events.

Sunday Randy Oitker of Plainville, Illinois demonstrated different techniques utilizing different shots from a compund bow. Randy spent man hours socializing with the guests.

Everyone had a great time.
A special thanks to everyone that helped with this special day.

Without the help of all the volunteers this hunt would not be possible
Thanks to everyone who stopped by for the weekend events.

Thanks to everyone involved this year in helping make this years Youth Hunt a big success. We had 20 boys and girls hunting this year with 15 deer harvested. The whole weekend was full of smiles on the faces of everyone involved.

Thank you.
Tim and Tracy Bickett, Edmund Bickett, Donna Short, Kim Bickett, Bickett Farm Tiling and All Employees, Truitt Clements, Downen Farms, Mike and Paula Hise, Carroll and Lori Hise, Scott Bosaw, Jason Bosaw, Jim Henson, Wes Henson, Jeff Disney, Tom Pinkston, Gary Holmes, Josh Holmes, Jerad Bickett, Josh Turcott, Maverick Marvel, Matt Duffy, Steve Downen, Terry Banks (NWFT), Doug Schimp, Keith Watts, Kevin Weldon (Country Music Singer and Hunting Comedy), Wayne Cornett, Dave Price, Kevin Edmunds, Brent Morgan, Tom Mitchell (Gallatin County Principal), Justin Martin and Reality Outdoors Crew, Joe Capeheart, Bob Braden, Tom Jennings, Matt Jennings, Tim Emerick (John Deere), Eric Alinger (Pioneer), Brent Morgan, Gasden, AL (Assistant Principal), Reggie Cook, Brandon Phelps, Gallatin County School System
Cooks: Tony Chrisman, Carroll Hise, Rick Rider, Jim Rigsby, Sr., Bob Stacey, Donnie Gowan, Pat Lawler, Buddy Hise, Bud Schmitt, Gary Holmes.

Thanks to our Sponsors:
  - Bickett Farms and All Employees
  - Bickett Tiling and All Employees
  - Cebela's for the Boots
  - Whitewater Outdoors, Pants & Realtree Camo
  - Banterra Bank for the Orange Vests and Hats
  - Knight and Hale, Harold, David, and Pro Staff
    member Gary Keeton for the Videos, Calls, &
    Hats
  - Strictly Outdoors, Corey, Dave and All
    Employees - Harrisburg, IL
  - Reality Outdoor Productions, Justin Martin and
    Crew for all the Video Work
  - Dinger Bats, Randy Drone, Ridgway, IL
  - Diamond Equipment, Evansville, IN
  - Emerick Brothers (John Deere)
    Tim Emrick and Reggie Cook
  - Illinois Department of Agriculture, Tom Jennings
  - NWTF Local Chapter (Terry Banks, Scott Bosaw,
    Jason Bosaw, and Gary Holmes)
  - Randy Oitker, Archery Trick Shooter
  - Locust Street Company (Gray Estates) Mike Cole
    and David Simmons
  - Illinois Dept of Natural Resources, Bob Ruff
  - GloTell Corporation
  - Pioneer Seed

All Rights Reserved, The Bottoms 2008

Created by Fritschle Communications