Christmas is a special season for us all.  From Thanksgiving to New Years, the holiday cheer is abundant around The Webb Farm, just as it is in your home.  Everyone's step is a bit lighter.  The pines seem a bit greener.  The weather has a bite in the air.  It is holiday season for sure!  With that in mind, we wanted to bring you some Christmas memories from some of the folks here at The Webb Farm.  Perhaps sharing our memories will evoke some of those early Christmas times you spent with family and loved ones as well.  

Bill penned a very memorable Christmas memory for us last year and we received so many notes and calls on it, we thought it deserved another look.  So, from Christmas 2010:

The time from Thanksgiving to Christmas has always held a special significance for me; the excitement of opening day of bird season, the warmth of that golden glow of light that you only really see  during this time of year as you follow a pointing dog to your favorite cover in hopes of finding that sundown covey.  It is the most special season for a bird hunter raised in the Sandhills of North Carolina.  I know I developed my love for this time of year by seeing it through a child's eyes as I watched my dad and my Uncle Elsie Webb, both avid quail hunters.

Life slowed down for them around this time of year, especially the Christmas Season.  Dad would close down the sawmill for an extended time, and Uncle Elsie would vacate his law office for about a two week stretch.  Their interest in making a living was irrevocably transformed into the pursuit of bobwhite quail on The Webb Farm.

During my early childhood years I was too young to go with them, but I remember the blue and white '59 Willys panel Jeep pulling around the drive with Uncle Elsie at the wheel. I would follow Dad out as he grabbed his vest and 12 gauge A5. The Jeep has a permanent dog box built in the back end (they were serious about this sport) stuffed full of setters and pointers, and there was always a big cardboard box on the top of the dog box.  It was amazing.  It was full of hoop cheese, crackers, fig newtons, peppermint candy, Vienna Sausage, sardines, and everything else imaginable.  And there was always a bottle of bourbon, or in the later years a Mason Jar of Junior Johnson's moonshine with white peaches stuffed in it, or Peach Smash as it was called, with which they would toast their day afield. Dad rolled in after dark in the evenings with a red nose and a vest full of birds.

As I grew older, I was able to get in on some of this holiday fun until my Dad's unfortunate stroke in 1969 that hampered his hunting for a few years, and the death of my Uncle Elsie in '72.  His death was a big blow to the family hunting heritage.  Dad got back in the field in the mid-70's, and the two of us spent many Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve mornings behind a bird dog until his passing in '97.  These were very special times for me that I will always cherish. He really taught me a lot about the outdoors.

I've also spent many holiday hunts with my buddy David Huffine,  a Wilmington attorney.  David and his son Will have  spent a lot of the last 25 years hunting here at the Farm.  David's dad, the late Bill Huffine was a realtor when he wasn't hunting or field trialing his dogs, so David got the bug honest too.  I look forward to Christmas hunts with David in a few days. It will be great fun.

But my special time afield for Christmas this season I hope will be with my middle daughter Jenna, now 23 who is studying to become a gunsmith at Montgomery Community College. She will ultimately be charged one day with carrying on our  family hunting traditions. Based on our outing at Thanksgiving she will do fine!  We spent a special afternoon together watching fine dog work from Dixie and Buck and many wonderful covey rises. I also watched a young woman who shot a lot and giggled a lot "'cause the birds were really fast."  She's a lot like her  granddaddy, and I believe she will develop into a great wingshooter like him.

In closing , let me encourage everyone to create your own Holiday Tradition with a child if you have not done so. It doesn't have to be a hunt.  It can be a hike on your favorite trail, searching a field for arrowheads, a winter trout fishing trip, or looking for shells along a quiet beach.  Whatever the activity, it will be a great thing for you to enjoy, and lay the foundation for a child to develop the appreciation for the outdoors we all share.

         Merry Christmas, Bill

Wade  -- Growing up here in the Sandhills with a dad who was a dog trainer, bird hunter, and local minister created a lot of great memories for me.  One of the most vivid is when I was just a child.  A couple weeks before Christmas, I accompanied my dad, Ralph, Elsie, and Bill Webb on an afternoon quail hunt.  You've no doubt heard about the famous blue jeep that we rode the farm in on our hunts and this outing was no different, except that on this afternoon, we stopped and cut a Christmas tree for our home.  It was a cedar as I recall, and for a boy who got to swing the axe once or twice, it was the most perfect Christmas tree I ever saw!  We took that tree home and mom and dad helped me, my brother and sisters decorate it as we wanted.  A Christmas tree from The Webb Farm!

Steve -- My grandfather was a special man.  Papaw was a gunsmith and outdoorsman who taught me most of what I know about hunting.  We always spent Christmas morning at Papaw and Mamaw's house, but when I was about eight years old, I was invited to spend Christmas eve with them too!  That evening, PaPaw said he had a special present for me and presented me with a Winchester Model 61 -- a pump 22 rifle of my very own, with a promise to take me hunting the next morning.  Needless to say my excitement didn't afford me a lot of sleep that night.  At day break on Christmas morning we left the house and eased into the woods behind the house for a bit of squirrel hunting with my new rifle.  The morning was cold and crisp and Papaw called in a few squirrels for me to shoot.  My Winchester barked a few times that morning and I was successful in my hunt.  While many many Christmas mornings have passed since that one, and I have a family of my own now, I am happy to say that I now live in that home that was once Papaw and Mamaw's and still hunt those very same woods.

Ken -- Coming home for the holidays was always a special event for me.  One Christmas eve I found myself at the home of my parents alone.  It seems they were off visiting my brother and his family and would be returning later Christmas morning.  Crawling out of bed early that next morning, I took the opportunity to grab my bow and head for my favorite tree stand.  Sitting deep in the woods on a frosty morning in quiet solitude is a treat I still enjoy today.  I remember that morning vividly.  The only sounds were the awaking birds and small animals of the woods.  My breath hung heavy on the frosty air.  As I sat there in the quiet, I remembered some of the wonderful reasons we celebrate this time of year.  I was growing older and my family was spreading to other cities and creating families of their own.  The holiday season was a time that drew everyone back together to celebrate life.  While I didn't draw my bow that morning, I returned home very happy and excited.  It was Christmas!  And that is reason enough to celebrate.

And that my friends is what Christmas is all about!

The Roost

After months of watching the construction, the new 2,500 square foot expansion to The Lodge opened in mid November.  Dubbed The Roost, the addition allows us the flexibility to accommodate more hunters, as well as separate groups of guests.  The Roost is complete with four additional sleeping rooms with private baths, a den with fireplace, dining area and kitchen.  The addition of the Roost brings a new dimension to The Lodge, allowing for more guests to experience traditional North Carolina wingshooting at The Webb Farm.  Call Bill to book your next visit!

   

Duck and Quail Hunt with Us

The Final Shot

PS -- Have we told you about our story in Garden & Gun?.

Click to read about TWF in G&G