Brantley Letterman Hunt proves successful

Published 4:26 pm Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Trigg White (left) and his son Hayes (right) have travelled to the small town of Brantley for the past four years to participate in the school’s annual Letterman Hunt. Hunters from all across the country take the time to travel and hunt with the folks of Brantley and explore the woods of Alabama. (Photo by Beth Hyatt)

Trigg White (left) and his son Hayes (right) have travelled to the small town of Brantley for the past four years to participate in the school’s annual Letterman Hunt. Hunters from all across the country take the time to travel and hunt with the folks of Brantley and explore the woods of Alabama. (Photo by Beth Hyatt)

With the sudden warmth of the weekend finally sneaking away, many hunters from the Town of Brantley are proudly showing off their spoils from the hunt.

This past weekend marked the fourth year of the Brantley Letterman Hunt, and the crowd was ready and waiting at registration Friday afternoon.

“It’s part of our Letterman Foundation, and that goes to fund a lot of different projects. It’s been a very successful fundraiser for the school. There’s definitely some needs, so this really goes a long way to help us to find the things we need for our kids,” said Kris Odom, principal of Brantley High School.

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When the hunt originally started, there were only about six or seven hunters interested. In the years following, the attendance tripled at a record participation total of 36 for this hunt. According to Odom, many of the participants are repeat attendees, many of whom have attended all four years. The hunt costs each hunter $750 for the weekend and includes processing and packaging deer which are caught. Throughout the weekend, door prizes are also offered for hunters.

Hunters from all across the country flocked to Alabama this weekend to participate in hunts like these, and in the past participants have come all the way from Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and North Carolina.

“I would say the majority of the hunters are from another state. It’s good to talk to them about what their home is like, and it allows them to be a part of our community for the weekend,” said Odom.

Trigg White, from Sulphur, Louisiana, has attended this event with his son for the past four years. He originally found the advertisement in a Louisiana sportsman’s magazine and couldn’t resist the call of the hunt.

“We really enjoy it. The first year we came, the weather was horrible and the hunting wasn’t all that great, but we had such a good time. The people were so friendly that we decided to come back. We’ve made close friends with a lot of these people over the years,” said White. “As long as they do it, we’ll probably be coming back.”

The hunt proved to be an overall success, and each hunter left with complimentary gift bags, personalized camouflage hats and stories that will last until next year’s hunt.

“Anytime that people from Brantley get together we have fun just being around each other, talking to people from different parts of the country and showing off our little community that we’re so proud of,” said Odom.