4 | EAST - December 2012
DECEMBER 2012
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THE SPORTSMAN Randy McBrayer & Jody Glazner
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PHOTOS Brandon Belt
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HOMETOWN HERO Curtis Berry
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COACH’S SPOTLIGHT Coach Johnson
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PHOTOS Southside Baptist Church
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NEXT LEVEL SFA Club Baseball
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TROPHY ROOM Trophy Hunts
Stephanie Oliver President
Macy Haffey Layout and Design
Beth Johnson editor@tjmag.com Managing Editor
Lisa Crow lisacrowphotography@gmail.com www.lisacrowphotography.com Event Photographer
Kim Iribarren kim@tjmag.com Director of Sales Kevin McCarty kevin@tjmag.com Marketing Consultant Terry Campbell office@tjmag.com Office Manager/Accountant
CONTACT US: MAILING: P O B ox 1 5 0 5 37 L u f k i n , Texa s 759 1 5 P H YS I CA L : 1 1 5 E . S h e p h e rd L u f k i n , Texa s 759 0 1
DISTRIBUTORS Lisa Crow Janet Glover Jared Thompson
936-634-7188 COVER PHOTO BY BRITTANY MCBRAYER
editor@eastmensmagazine.com facebook.com/tjmag twitter.com/tjmeast
randy mcbrayer & jody glazner
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unting is a part of East Texas. We live in an area where even if you do not hunt, you are familiar with deer season. Randy McBrayer and Jody Glazner both grew up hunting. Jody was born and raised in West Texas, and his hunting experience started there. Then his family migrated to East Texas, and Jody learned the East Texas way of hunting. Randy was born and raised in Alabama, and like Jody, knew the hunting in that area. Like many others, after hunting for so long, you want to get out of the area and try new things. For as long as he could remember, Jody had always wanted to do a long packing hunting trip. After retiring in 2007 from Lockheed Martin, Jody was finally able to check that off his list. Jody was looking for a classic elk hunt, the kind you pack in and stay back for 7-10 days. He researched and researched. He asked around about different hunts and different locations. Finally, he found the one. One publication quoted the area that he found as, “One of the most remote places in the lower 48 states.” His hunt was located on the upward drainage of the Yellowstone River in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. He went on a ten day hunt. “This area is like it was 150 years ago. Hunting is just like it was 150 years ago. Camping is just like it was 150 years ago. Besides any modern day amenities that you can pack in, you cannot use anything motorized. This land and area are exactly the same as how God made it. Nothing has been done to it or changed; it’s very primitive. ” says Jody Glazner. This particular area took two days to pack in to get to the area to set up camp, then another 40 miles to hunt. The nearest ranger station was 22 miles away. “There is wildlife in this part of the country that has never seen a human before.” 6 | EAST - December 2012
MCBRAYER & GLAZNER /// THE SPORTSMAN
After that hunt, Jody fell in love. He fell in love with the area, the land, the experience, packing trips, just about everything that came along with that memorable 10 day hunt. Jody booked two more hunts. He became friends with the guides and began volunteering to help guide hunts with them. Later, he mentioned to those friends, “If you ever come across a hunting camp, let me know, I might be interested.” In the meantime, Jody’s daughter was dating her long time boyfriend, Randy, long distance; Randy in Alabama and Brittney in Lufkin. Randy finally moved to East Texas . Together, Jody and Randy have similar interests and skills that made working together and partnering on different projects together possible. After a little time went by, a hunting camp became available. The land is 40 square miles in the Ditch Creek Area in Wyoming. The camp borders Grand Teton National Park and the North end of the National Elk Refuge. Jody ended up partnering with 3 other men to create 4U Outfitters. 4U Outfitters specialize in 7 day pack hunts. Randy brings a lot of bow hunting experience, so they also cater to bow hunters. “We supply everything; guide, horses, tack, wrangler, cook 3 meals a day. It is pretty plush. Most hunters leave weighing more than when they came,” says Glazner. They guide elk, mule deer, and black bear hunts. After the 6-8 week post bugle and rut season, 4U Outfitters offers lodge hunts. It’s a better set up for those that don’t want to camp and pack in. Randy and Jody love the hunting in East Texas and everything that comes along with it. However, there is something about the beauty of the mountains and the wildlife in Wyoming that they want to help others experience, as well. For more information on 4U Outfitters, visit www.4UOutfitters.com.
ABOUT THE BRIDGER WILDERNESS The 428,169-acre Bridger Wilderness is located along the Continental Divide on the west slope of the Wind River Range in Wyoming. It was designated a Primitive Area under Department of Agriculture Regulations in 1931, and later made part of the National Wilderness Preservation System with passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964. In 1984, its original 392,169 acres were increased by 36,000 acres when the Wyoming Wilderness Act was signed into law. The Bridger Wilderness is administered by the Pinedale Ranger District of the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Motorized vehicles and mechanized equipment, including snowmobiles, bicycles, hang gliders and chainsaws, are prohibited within the Bridger Wilderness. Wilderness, as defined by the Wilderness Act of 1964, is an area of undeveloped federally owned land, designated by Congress, that has the following characteristics: • It is affected primarily by the forces of nature, where man is a visitor who does not remain. It may contain ecological, geological or other features of scientific, educational, scenic or historic value. • It possesses outstanding opportunities for solitude and a primitive or unconfined type of recreation. • It is an area large enough so that continued use will not change its unspoiled, natural condition. • It provides the opportunity for (and often requires) self-reliance and challenge. www.pinedaleonline.com
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8 | EAST - December 2012
BRANDON BELT
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HOMETOWN HERO /// CURTIS BERRY
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CURTIS BERRY urtis Berry’s full time day job is a nurse at the Lufkin State Supported Living Center. Eleven years ago, he joined the National Guard Army Reserve.
“I joined before 9/11, so there wasn’t much thought or worry with it. I wanted to do it mainly because I had an uncle that served and I always wanted to do something for our country and community.” Of course after 9/11, there was a lot of worry for all of our military. His wife was obviously very nervous of having him enlisted. The first time he was deployed to Iraq was in 2005. “My first deployment was hard for everyone. It was my first time, and the shape of our country and world was scary. Back then, there wasn’t the technology like Skype, so we didn’t have the capabilities to communicate with each other very often.” SSG Curtis Berry was serving for 17 months. He was gone for the first 6 months for training, and then he spent the remaining 11 months in Iraq. For many reservists, they use their “day job” skills. However, Berry does not; he serves in the reserve as military police. “I really enjoy the change of pace and scenery and doing something that I don’t get to do often. In Iraq, I served as security and convoy escort for supplies. This was a very hostile time. There were bombs and mortars going off every day.” After Berry came home from his tour in Iraq, he was deployed again this past January to Djibouti, Africa. This mission was about security for the base and to train troops from 10-15 different countries. His wife, Shenkina, and two daughters, Cierra, 15, and Cinya, 8, are very proud of their husband and father. “The second deployment was a little easier for my family; they knew a little more of what to expect.
The new advances in technology since my last deployment allowed me to talk to them more often. We talked almost every day through Skype or via magic jack.” Since Berry became a nurse in 1998, his reason for doing so still remains the same. “I became a nurse because I enjoy being able to help people. I joined the reserves so I can help people and give back to our country.”
V
ery few people are blessed with the ability to start and finish in the same career. At the end of this school year, Terry Johnson will fit into this category. In 1981, he first added the title of “Coach” to his name. Coach Johnson began his coaching career at Central ISD. He stayed there for a year. After he realized his bills were a little more than what he was bringing in, Johnson went to work on an off shore oil rig. He stayed on the oil rig for a few years, and then he came back to his first love of coaching. He joined DeKalb ISD as the baseball coach and stayed there for five years. About that time, he met the woman who would become his wife. They married, and she led him back to Angelina County. He accepted a coaching and teaching position with Diboll ISD. When you ask him what he coached, he laughs saying, “I have coached everything. I came here as the girls’ softball coach and got that launched. Then I have been the baseball coach for 13 years, assistant athletic director, coached football, and I will finish out my last year helping coach baseball.”
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photograph by Zane Blount
Behind every coach is their classroom. Coach Johnson was the high school history teacher. “If you didn’t get into the business for teaching and the kids, you didn’t do it for the right reasons. Anyone who understands that knows that teaching is what pays your bills. Coaching is just extra. When I first started, you got a ‘stipend’ for the extra hours you put in for coaching. That was $.25 per hour. Teaching is what we are here for.”
Over the years, he has taught an average of 125 students in his history class each year and coached around 100 students in sports. Add that up, and you find he has reached quite a number of students “All my years here have been good years, but by far, the best part is when the students come back. They come back and you are able to see their success and the results of their hard work. With such a large number of kids over so many years, I have now had the privilege of teaching some of the children of my first students.” Coach Johnson is glad to have been able to come to and stay in Diboll to teach and coach. With a family of his own, a daughter and two sons, he says Diboll is a great place to work, live and raise a family.
photograph by Matthew Evans
He knows there is another stage in his life out there still left to complete. “I do not know what the good Lord has planned for me, but I know that he does have something. I am going to miss the kids and seeing them everyday—but one thing I will miss for sure are Friday Night Lights. The camaraderie with the coaches, your family and the kids-- that is something we all share on Friday Nights. There isn’t anything else like it!” When all the lights are out and the books are closed, at the end of the day, Terry Johnson will always be a coach. “Even if I make it to 90, I will always be ‘Coach’. I will always be ‘Coach’ for the rest of my life.”
SOUTHSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH
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BIG BUCK CONTEST load your gun & aim to win
• Brought to you by East Magazine, Ross Motorsports, Hammer Equipment, & Grogan Clean Care • Thousands of dollars in prizes! • FREE TO ENTER • Registration sign up is going on now through January 4th, 2013 at sponsoring locations (must be signed up 48 hours prior to submitting buck) • Must be killed in following counties by legal means: Angelina, Nacogdoches, Polk, Houston, Panola, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby, or Trinity • This includes archery, muzzleloader, and general seasons • Prizes awarded for each of the following winners: Overall, Archery, and Youth (ages 10-17) • Once entered, must take photo at Ross Motorsports in front of contest banner and email to Kevin@tjmag.com to submit buck • Top 10 entries will be scored by a panel of certified B&C and TBGAA scorers at the end of the contest. Winners determined by gross B&C score. • See complete official rules for contest when signing up at sponsoring locations or at tjmag.com
16 | EAST - December 2012
SFA CLUB BASEBALL /// THE NEXT LEVEL
SFA CLUB
BASEBALL
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ot too long ago, we featured Jonathan Fletcher as a stand out leader in the classroom and on the field. He played baseball for Lufkin High School and went on to play club baseball at the University of Texas. Upon graduating from UT, he came home. Fletcher planned on continuing his secondary education at Stephen F. Austin State University.
His father, Robbie Fletcher, explains, “When Jonathan transferred to SFA, he had 1 year of college athletics eligibility remaining and had hoped to get to try out for the SFA baseball team. As fate would have it, he was not eligible for the SFA college team and SFA did not have a club team.” When he realized there wasn’t a club team, Jonathan decided he would look into what it would take to make that a reality for SFA students. Another former teammate and student interested in club ball, Will Horn, joined him in the efforts. First, they looked into the rules and regulations of National Club Baseball Association (NCBA). Together, Horn and Fletcher met with the SFA club board of directors to get permission to move forward and get the proper paperwork filed for a club baseball team.
At the beginning of October 2012, the team was officially accepted as a club team from the NCBA and recognized as a university club. Then they needed to conduct tryouts to gather a team of 20 players. Once they put their team together, they played one fall game versus Sam Houston State University. Because of the late start, there weren’t as many games available to schedule, but come spring they will conduct another tryout, and the real schedule will be made. At the tryout, Fletcher and Horn will gather the best 20 players that will travel as a team. “Anyone is allowed to come out, participate and play with us. They just will not be able to travel, play or suit up at the out of town games.” Fletcher says he hopes the club team is something SFA is able to keep up, grow and be self- sustaining for years to come.
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TROPHY HUNTS /// TROPHY ROOM
Caitlyn Pyle 8 pt 19 5/8 wide. Killed with 243 Whooley ranch
Bobby Treadway 8 pt. Rhodes Farm Hunting Club
Malcolm Deason First Deer
Worth Gabriel
Trey Tolar killed the turkeys in Brackettville on 11/17/12.
David Dykes 14 pt 16 inches wide Dykes Land
Lena Tate, 10 yrs old. Daughter of Jimmy Tate & Linda Jones. 10 pt buck. 100 yds. Shot with a 7mm-08. Maxwell Ranch in Albany, TX.
Hunter Harvard, 8 yrs old. First buck: 8 pt 15 in spread. Tower Hunting Club.
Heather Hollingsworth 11 pt scored 148 6/8 Sarron Hunting Club
Bobby Tolar Brackettville on 11/11/12.
Courtney Thornton 7 pt. Grooms RanchBrownwood, West Texas
Bosten Oliver First Deer
James Dykes 11 pt. Dykes Land
Larry Morris Ryan’s Lake Hunting Club 153�
Brett King. First deer. Opening youth weekend in Blue Springs Hunting Club in Etoile, TX. 357 magnum rifle shot at 80 yards.
Will Stanaland, 8 yrs old. First deer (8 pt buck). Opening morning of youth weekend. Nacogdoches County.
Rayburn Horton 10 pt buck killed on private land 2012 season
Send a photo of your trophy hunt & information to photos@tjmag.com. Submissions are free of charge.
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