One Man Gang
Member
So many questions about that pic? Welcome. Impressive boat dock/pier/airboat platform
Thanks. I don't post much here. Mostly read.
The pic of the deer rescue is a old one that has been around in my circles for a long time. I believe it was Tom Shirley who worked for our old GFC. He wrote a book called 'Everglades Patrol' about his days on the job when south FL was still a true sportsman's paradise (by my definition). He was a legendary officer. I know his son, Troy, who has done some taxidermy for me in the past.
Back in those days when the water got high in the glades they would try to catch and relocate deer, or hold special hunts to cull the deer so they wouldn't drown, starve, or spread disease on the limited amount of dry tree islands available. Buggies and airboats were used during the hunts as a necessary means to get around and make quicker work to mitigate the emergency. The deer herd thrived for years where those "mercy" hunts took place.
Today, the water managers have unnaturally flooded and artificially kept the water levels too high for the deer to thrive which in turn has eroded much of the tree island soils away. They also close vast areas (hundreds of thousands of acres) out there to the public during high water under the guise of protecting the deer from stress... I won't go too much more into it, as it is a lost battle and a forever destroyed ('altered') ecosystem that will likely worsen as Florida continues to grow.
The crazier thing is, the managers keep restricting the public users, while not doing nearly enough to curb the invasive plants and animals that are over running the entire place.
It's sickening to see. Florida's game and fish agency is now nothing more than a political tool that makes its decisions and carries out its functions under the blanket of political correctness instead of science.
Anyway, I built the boat and motor with the help of a couple good men who have the knowledge and expertise in things I do not. The motor is a junk yard ls3 that I pulled out of a wrecked Denali. The camp with the ramp is very well known down here and if the owner doesn't park his boat there, it's because he may have a helicopter on it instead. It's a beautiful place. If I don't come up to Georgia next week to turkey hunt with my son, we will be somewhere near that camp gigging frogs.