When Angela Smith and eight Guy Harvey Outpost Whale Shark Expedition members plunged into the Caribbean Sea off Mexico earlier this month, they thought they might not be able to keep up with the school …
Official Letter of Congratulations to Dive Bimini’s "Name That Boat" Contest Winner
1 Nov 201010:37 PM
Letter of congratulations to Karen Bond, winner of the Dive Bimini “Name That Boat” contest, from Guy Harvey and Neal Watson:
Karen’s submission, Bimini Blue, won out over several hundred entries. Congrats, Karen and enjoy your trip to the Bimini Big Game Club!
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![](mailto:?subject=Okeechobee: Hunters’ Paradise&body=A dwindling number of regions in fast-growing Florida have the vast open stretches of pasture, forest, prairie and swamp of Okeechobee in the Sunshine State's heartland. Though dedicated mostly to agriculture, those thousands of acres of undeveloped land represent Shangri-La to the outdoors enthusiast-- a haven for wild hogs, deer, turkey, alligator, ducks, quail, and other game.
A mandatory vacation stop for increasing numbers of hunting tourists is Little Lake Lodge-- a remote camp located about a half-hour's drive north of Lake Okeechobee operated by outfitter Bob Hayes. It is highly possible here on the lodge's carefully-managed acreage to bag a wild hog and a trophy Osceola turkey on the same day. I know this because I was here a couple weeks ago when it happened.
Well before dawn that morning, Hayes had escorted Tim and his nine-year-old son Hunter-- both of Chapel Hill, N.C.-- to a blind adjacent to a gobbler travel route in a nearby pasture that the guide had discovered during pre-season scouting.
While Hunter sighted his 20-gauge and the three listened to the woods' melodic waking sounds, Hunter's mom Julia and I boarded a swamp buggy back in camp with hog hunter Jesse of Rhode Island, his wife Elle and their guide, Logan.
Jesse, a lifelong hunter, wanted to celebrate his 30th birthday by harvesting his first wild hog which he hoped to turn into pork tenderloin, bacon and sausage for the freezer. Unlike Jesse's native New England where there are no hog hunting opportunities, Florida is riddled with the animals. Descendants of livestock brought here in the holds of Spanish galleons in the 16th century, the wild porkers are considered a nuisance by farmers and ranchers because they tear up pastures and destroy crops in their insatiable rooting for food. They are also very prolific.
"One hog will breed once every two months and have five to six pigs each time," said Logan. "They are multiplying faster than we can shoot them."
The five of us bumped along in the swamp buggy on a rutted dirt path into a pasture and Jesse loaded his rifle.
"Take your best opportunity," Logan told the hunter.
Good thing Jesse was ready because about ten minutes into the ride, we all spotted a black hog trotting along a fence line about 100 yards away. Logan gunned the engine to close the distance but, despite the noisy pursuit, the animal for some reason began running toward the buggy.
Jesse aimed and fired, dropping his quarry in its tracks: a sow about 150 pounds.
"I love hunting," Jesse said. "A lot of meat and you don't have to go shopping."
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/buggy.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4658" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/buggy.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1920" /></a>
After posing for pictures with his prize, Jesse and Logan loaded it onto the buggy and we headed back to camp where Logan would dress it.
Jesse seemed not quite able to believe the brevity of his hunt.
"I'm used to sitting in a tree stand and not seeing anything for days on end," he said.
Julia kept shooting anxious glances toward the camp's entrance gate. She had tried texting her husband and son to check the progress of the turkey hunt but had heard nothing.
Julia explained that this wasn't just ANY turkey hunt: the family has been spending all their vacation time for months to help Hunter accomplish his dream of a wild turkey grand slam-- bagging all four U.S. subspecies in a single year. The youngster, who's been involved in the sport since he was a pre-kindergartener, had so far taken two of the four: the eastern and the Rio Grande. The family was here to check off the Osceola-- found only in Florida-- and would then head to Nebraska to complete the slam with a Merriam.
A little while after we bade goodbye to a smiling Jesse and Elle, Hayes' pickup pulled up to the lodge and Julia rushed over to greet the party.
At first Hayes and his clients acted like they were disappointed, but then they began to smirk as Hayes opened a large cooler to reveal a hefty gobbler with at least a 12-inch beard-- a trophy by any measure.
"Oh Hunter, I'm SO glad!" Julia said, hugging her son.
Recounting the hunt, Hayes said they never had to use any calling devices to summon the bird. It just ambled by the blind on a well-worn travel route, and Hunter shot it from 20 yards.
The family drove back home that afternoon, planning to get the Osceola mounted and confident of completing their nationwide quest.
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Little Lake Lodge has no more openings for the 2017 spring gobbler season, but hunters are invited to reserve for next year. There are plenty of hog hunting slots open now. Call 954-448-0015. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/okeechobee-hunters-paradise/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Spring Into Adventure with Mermaids and Manatees&body=<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3422" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/12698307_10154157285116756_9106479937438679828_o.jpg" alt="12698307_10154157285116756_9106479937438679828_o" width="1280" height="853" />By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
[Weeki Wachee, FL--] Sitting in a subterranean amphitheater watching through clear glass as young women wearing glittering mermaid tails swim gracefully more than 16 feet deep underwater can almost make you suspend disbelief in the supernatural.
"There's Ariel!" a little girl in the audience shouts in delight, and nobody in the audience scoffs. Indeed, we all start applauding.
We are watching one of the live daily performances of "The Little Mermaid" at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park on central Florida's west coast. Here, since 1947, generations of young women (and a few young men) have delighted audiences with their unique stunts and choreography-- all executed while taking intermittent breaths off free-flowing air hoses scattered around the spring that serves as their underwater stage.
It takes considerable skill to do this. Wearing neither buoyancy compensation devices nor dive masks, the mermaids must control their depth by the amount of air they inhale and exhale from the hoses-- all while dancing, miming and staging mock combat for the audience watching through the glass. Often they must deal with surprise intruders in the spring that threaten to upstage them-- manatees, turtles, a snook that just won't leave-- and several times-- drunken patrons from the adjoining Buccaneer Bay water park. Unflappable does not begin to describe their demeanor.
The Weeki Wachee mermaid shows were the brainchild of Newt Perry, a champion swimmer, diver and attractions promoter. In their heydays of the 50s and 60s, they drew large crowds, and fans included the late Elvis Presley and other celebrities.
Attendance suffered after Walt Disney World opened, but the shows still went on, albeit to smaller audiences. Buccaneer Bay was added in the 1980s, and the attraction also includes an animal show, gift shop, restaurant, riverboat tour, and kayak rental. It became a state park in 2008.
The spring itself is dazzling. Bubbling up from deep within the earth's core, more than 110 million gallons per day of fresh, clear, 72-degree water form a narrow river that flows west from the mermaid theater for about 7 1/2 miles to the Gulf of Mexico near Bayport.
A friend and I paddled a five-mile section of the river, renting from the <a href="http://www.weekiwacheekayakrental.com" target="_blank">Kayak Shack</a>. It was a fun, relaxing, non-strenuous three-hour float from the park to the shop's headquarters over water so clear it appeared invisible. Surrounded by cypress and shady oak, we glimpsed schools of bass, mullet and bream as well as heron, ibis, turtles and at least five resting manatees. Gorgeous.
Visiting Weeki Wachee is but one of many fun outdoor adventures to be savored around Florida's Springs Coast. Visitors should also make it a point to explore nearby Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park where they can see a hippopotamus, a Florida panther, and a black bear as well as other mammals, reptiles and birds --and view fish and manatees in an underwater observatory. Dr. Guy Harvey and fellow marine artist Wyland painted the colorful mural that decorates the outside wall of the visitor center in 2000.
Bicyclists will enjoy pedaling the Withlacoochee State Trail-- a 46-mile-long former railroad track that's been turned into a multi-use path. A good place to start is the Inverness trailhead and bike either north or south.
All this activity tends to stimulate an appetite. Here are several recommendations for après-adventure food and drink in or near Crystal River, FL:
-West 82 Bar and Grill at the Plantation on Crystal River
-Peck's Old Port Cove Seafood Restaurant
-Vintage on 5th
Here's to happy trails-- paddling, hiking, biking-- and to putting a spring in your step.
***************
Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
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Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/spring-into-adventure-with-mermaids-and-manatees-2/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=The Family Easter Weekend is on at the Big Game Club&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/eco-easter12.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-549" title="Easter at the Bimini Big Game Club" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/eco-easter12.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="751" /></a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/the-family-easter-weekend-is-on-at-the-big-game-club/){kind=link}
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