The 13th annual Fort Dale Academy Deer Hunt was nothing but a success according to FDA Booster Club President Drew Gaston.

“It went really well,” Gaston said. “We had great weather and everyone had a great time. We harvested 57 deer with 37 hunters.”

Even with about 10 hunters canceling a day or two before the hunt, Gaston said everyone had fun and he believed everyone got a deer.

With each hunter entering with a $700 fee that will go toward Fort Dale Academy’s booster club, the total weekend raised $25,900.

“The money goes to the FDA booster club and at the end of the year, we’ll field requests from the school on what is needed and where,” Gaston said. “We’re not specific on athletics or academics. We try and sit back and see where it is needed most from year to year and that’s where we’ll put it.”

As for the weekend, Gaston said he believed the biggest success was 10-year-old Hunter Yancey from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. getting his first deer, which was an 8-point.

“That was exciting to see and he was excited,” Gaston said.

There were not a lot changes from last year Gaston said, but he said he might be tweaking a few things in the next year including the cost to make it more father-son friendly.

“We may adjust the price on it, but we haven’t decided on that yet,” Gaston said.

Overall, Gaston said he was glad everyone had a good time.

“My favorite part was just watching everybody and that all of our hunters enjoyed themselves with the Fort Dale family and southern hospitality,” Gaston said. “We had hunters from California, Arizona, south Florida, North Carolina and they were just really impressed with the way everyone came together and put it on and raised money for a good cause.”