Letters To The Editor January 2017

Special Hunt With Popee In Laurens County

Dear GON,

Since I was a little boy, I have gone hunting with my grandfather Larry Roberts, who I call Popee. As a general contractor, he comes home with sweat on his back every day and frequently doesn’t get to see the weekend. He is not big into cars, movies, sports or fishing. His passion has always been hunting. I can remember as a young boy watching him flip through the GON every month.

I have accompanied Popee on many hunts. The most memorable was when he bagged a 13-pointer, which currently hangs on his wall. Last year, I bagged my first buck while hunting with Popee. To be with him in the stand for my first kill meant just as much to me as it meant to him.

Fast forward to this year. It’s been a very rough season to say the least. Where we hunt in Laurens County, it has been very dry and hot. They have been cutting timber and using planes to fertilize on the property next to us. Some would call it quits, but not Popee. He loves hunting and just being in the stand is enough for him.

Jordan Valentine, of Jacksonville, Fla., with a Laurens County 9-pointer he killed while hunting with his Popee, Larry Roberts.

On one hunt together, we were in a box stand. I saw a yearling doe, followed by another yearling doe, and then the next thing I knew, there was a big buck in my crosshairs. I shot, and we tracked it for 75 yards, and Popee walked up on it. I was very surprised to hear him say, “It’s a great buck.” It was a 9-pointer. Long story short, I thought I would share this story with you guys in hopes that maybe it can make it in the magazine. It would be great to be able to show him we got in GON!

Jordan Valentine

89-Year-Old Lady Still Loves Her GON Magazine

Dear GON,

I want to let David Wingard know how much I enjoy the GON subscription he sent me. It was so thoughtful of him to think of an old lady like me. In February, I’ll be 89 years old. I still love the outdoors and am getting a little slow but trying to keep going.

Where you are allowed to, take your old GON magazines to the doctor’s office or nursing home so others can enjoy reading and looking at the pictures.

I am waiting for the next copy of GON to put on my coffee table by the Bible. Remember that a little old lady loves you. Take care, and do the things you like. Life can be short. We are not promised tomorrow.

Miss Emmie Christopher,

Editor’s Note: In September, we received a letter from Miss Emmie telling us good-bye. Although she loved her GON, she was not going to renew her subscription because she said she was getting too old to hunt anymore. We got a number of subscribers who stepped up to the plate to make sure Miss Emmie didn’t miss an issue of GON. David Wingard was the first to volunteer handling her $19.95 yearly subscription. Thanks to all who contacted GON about this.

GON Social Media

Dylan Avant took this monster the morning of Nov. 11 while hunting in Jones County. Dylan goes by the name southernboy2147 on Instagram.

Joe Ledford, of Fairplay, shared this with GON: “My 11-year-old daughter, Noelle Ledford, shot this deer with a muzzleloader on Friday, Nov. 25 in Carroll County.”