"The Ultimate Outdoorsman Search 2005"
The very next morning I went to www.oaoa.net, There I found an entry form and filled it out. This contest has begun for 2006, an entry form and rules are available at the link above.
Veteran's Day, November 11, 2004, during the early muzzleloading season here in Western Virginia, my office closed so my son Brendan and I went deer hunting. The plan was to shoot a few minutes of tape demonstrating the use of a muzzleloading rifle.
Brendan happened to get his very first buck that day, a good 7 point whitetail. we incorporated that into the video as well.
I wrote a few minutes of dialog and spoke directly into my little video recorder, out in the woods and back at the office.
During the first week of December, I was preparing for a local election re-count, when I received a phone call from Todd Woodruff again. He asked if I minded being placed on speaker phone. When the speaker came on, there was Wayne Pearson congratulating me on being selected for an all expense paid hunt to 2 bayous lodge in Angleton Texas to hunt ducks and geese. I was taken aback and don't really remember much of the conversation.
January 3, 2005, I board a plane for the flight to Houston TX. I was met at the airport by Matt Hall, the lodge owner and Matt Sullivan, the other contestant. We began hunting immediately. I went out with Guide Mike Hutto, and my "Judge" Bert Wilson of the OAOA and two cameramen, Terry Waters and Mark Shroyer. All of these guys were super to be around and great to work with. They all really know their stuff.
After our inaugural hunt that first afternoon, we went back to the lodge where we were greeted by Wayne Pearson. Wayne explained that what they were trying to accomplish was actually a competition. The competition was not to see who could get more ducks, but instead who would make the better outdoor host! The basis for the competition would be "Action , Entertainment and Education" and various other intangible hosting qualities as determined by the judges, the guides, the cameramen and Wayne.
No Pressure.
When I found out that Matt Sullivan has been guiding for ducks and geese in his home state of Michigan for several years, I nearly gave up. But realized that maybe I could play off of the fact that I didn't know anything. And that's what I did, I asked questions. Lots of questions.
The trick I found was not paying attention to the fact that the cameras were there.
Soon, they blended into the background and normal conversations were able to take place, and that's when the good stuff happened.
We continued to hunt on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon we were asked to get cleaned up and come in one at a time for "Interviews".
Terry Walters, also the shows producer, asked questions and our answers were recorded for incorporation into the show. The next thing we knew, we were seated at a table, with Wayne and the judges. Bert sat with me and Todd Woodruff sat with Matt.
Wayne took center stage and explained what he liked and didn't like about our performances, when the hammer fell, I was chosen to go on!
This was the first show of the series and first Aired July 2 and 3 on ESPN2.
