Their deer business is also a family business with Trey, the oldest, and Kalee, who is starting her second year in college at Ohio University. They all contribute to the smooth running of the operation, even their dog Boss joins in by mowing with Mitzi. Their son, Trey, works in the office keeping things organized. Billy and Mitzi are completely hands on when it come to the deer. Kalee, their daughter, helps in the summer with the fawns and has spoiled some of them so bad they will still come up to her years later as a Big Buck and let her pet them.
In Kalee's Own Words
"Waiting for the Dynamite to Blow"
Humble beginnings were the way things always started at S&S Whitetail Galore. We learned early on never to count out the little guy, because he might just turn around and surprise you. That lesson was reinforced during the summer of 2010, or the summer of the Boys in Black. During a spring fawn check; we found what is still a great surprise today after many years of deer farming. We found a set of newborn quadruplet baby boys. Four little spotted miracles stumbling around mama, already up and trying to get on their feet. Black number twelve, fourteen, thirteen, and fifteen. After vaccinating, tagging, and making sure everyone was healthy, they were left to mama's care and some much needed colostrum. The smallest of the boys, black twelve, quickly took a turn for the worst over the next twenty-four hours. He was found crawling on his knees, mama unable to care for all four boys. He was immediately brought into the barn along with one of his brothers, black fifteen. Black twelve had managed to do some serious damage to his little knees. His ligaments appeared to be torn. He was unable to walk and we feared he would never be able to walk again. He was an "intensive care" baby. After many hours of daily attention and remaining in the fawn cradle to prevent any further damage, he appeared to be on the mend. His brother, black fifteen, who was quickly becoming quite spoiled, was named Tebow after former Florida Gator star quarterback Tim Tebow. Black twelve was named Riley Cooper after Tebow's teammate and roommate at the time. With some Florida-Georgia rivalry going on at the farm, another boy in black was named Herschel after the famous Georgia Bulldog running back Herschel Walker. The game was on and it was a race to see which buck would become the most impressive player. After much time and TLC, Riley Cooper was back up and walking again and extremely spoiled after all that attention! Three years later Riley Cooper, or TNT as we like to call him now has proved just what the little guy could achieve. Now scoring 300+ with a 240 mainframe and 35-inch wide rack, Riley Cooper has certainly won the game. The fuse has been lit and the dynamite has exploded with this buck.
At S&S Whitetail Galore it has always been about putting the best pedigrees possible together. Over the years, we have assembled the mothers and sisters to the greatest northern sires; sires such as Maxbo, Rolex, Shadow, Sudden Impact, Hardcore, and many more. After creating many powerful northern crosses, we wanted to bring in some new blood. High Roller Whitetail's Express was the perfect option. Express had the pedigree, the look, and the inches we were searching for. Little did we know after using him in our breeding program the following year, he would produce the greatest yearling the industry has ever seen in Sudden Express. Now, here it is a year later and Sudden Express has grown by two hundred inches and is producing giant sons all over the country. As a Texas sire, Express's production is the head of the class even at his young age. Being privileged and blessed as we are to of produced and owned Shadow, we feel we know a little about good production and Express will definitely bring in the right mix to the Bone Factory.
Billy and Mitzi's philosophy is "We care for them the best we can and pray to be blessed with a few nice bucks". We are blessed to have our whole family involved in caring for one of God's greatest creations, the Whitetail Deer.
This year, Express was named the DBC's "2013 Golden Buck" grand Champion winner! He was voted on by DBC active members out of over 100 record breaking entries this year. About Express Billy said, "James bred him and Billy's Sudden Express made him".
If you are ever up in Ohio and want to see a beautiful, well run deer facility stop by S & S Whitetail Galore and see the farm that "Shadow" built. The Sage's hard work and lots of prayers have paid off for them in the deer business! |
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