INITIATING A PLAN
Rod knew there was a need for good deer management. He decided right off the bat that no antlered bucks would be taken from the area for several years. This idea was supported by both states' biologists.

Acting upon the biologists' recommendations to reduce the island's total deer population, however, hunting for does started that fall. The idea was to establish a 2-to-1 doe-to-buck ratio. Rod invited family, friends, employees and conservation officers to begin the doe culling. By 2001 it appeared as though that optimum ratio was rapidly being achieved.

Seeing lots of mature bucks was a good sign, but one thing that bothered both Rod and the biologists was the frequent sighting of injured bucks. Since these injuries seemed to be rut-related, Rod knew it was now time to start trimming back buck numbers as well. The same doe shooters were invited to return, but this time they would be shooting selected bucks.

Apparently Rod's vision for the island was working, because during the fall of 2002 several huge-bodied, big-racked buster bucks were seen prowling the island. Trail cameras were set out and trophy assessment was begun. Rod called Mr. Broadhead and urged him to bring some hunters to take a few trophy bucks as part of the management program.

Based on antler size and the body weight of the bucks tallied after this select hunt took place, the biologists recommended that even more bucks be removed. They also recommended some limited turkey hunting. Rod soon realized that a successful pay-hunting program for trophy whitetails and big gobblers might be a way to eventually eliminate the old-growth-timber harvest altogether. Thus began the trophy hunt concept.

The first hunts to take place were donated hunts to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This allowed disabled and terminally ill children a chance to bag a dream buck. Rod planned to sell hunts to able-bodied hunters as well.

A WORTHWHILE ENDEAVOR
In 2004 the Make-A-Wish Foundation sent 13-year-old Christopher Reeves, a cancer patient from Jonesboro, Arkansas, to Brandywine Island. The boy had hunted with his father in past years but had yet to bag a buck. The Reeves were provided with lodging and gourmet meals at the newly built Brandywine Island Lodge. A few of their friends also made the trip, along with a video crew that recorded the event for airing on the "Tennessee Outdoors" TV show.

The next day, a parade of bucks pranced past the excited young man. But none made the Brandywine standards, so they were all passed up. The following day Christopher found himself in an elevated box blind overlooking a field that was filled with deer by midafternoon. After some time had passed, a trophy 9-pointer was spotted, and Christopher was given the nod to take him. He did so with a single well-placed shot. And with that shot, the secret of Brandywine Island's trophy whitetails was nationally broadcast!

Immediately after the show aired, Rod began getting inquiries from hunters wanting to book hunts. He decided to allow 15 paying hunters to take 15 trophy bucks that year (2004). Because of strict antler and age standards, each hunter was to be accompanied by an experienced guide to prevent young bucks from being killed.

Although 15 pay hunters were accommodated in 2004, Rod was not among them. In fact, he had not taken a buck or even hunted any whitetails on the island since initiating Brandywine's Island's transformation.

"Even though I didn't do any hunting myself, I did accumulate quite a pile of trophy antlers," Rod said. "They're all sheds that my dogs and I search for each spring. Each one is numbered according to the date it was found and the area it came from. That way, we're able to keep track of where each buck tends to hang out by marking it on a grid. Then, when a visiting hunter bags a buck, we can usually go through the pile and send him home with one or two full sets of previous years' antlers from the buck he killed."

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