As everyone knows, there are always two sides to every story. Often, it can be difficult to determine which is the closest to the truth. Unfortunately, the more popular one wins everyone’s attention whether or not it is the truth. The necessary research is not performed before the story gets passed along to the next person and is accepted as truth once more. The further the story gets passed on, the further from the truth it becomes, and the facts are misconstrued and lost in the process.
The point I am trying to make is if this business is going to be successful, we all need to start working together and being more competent and reliable. We need to be careful and do some background research on information we receive and its resource and not assume everything we hear is in fact the truth. We all know what happens when we assume…
Without taking the approach to work together, this business is going to fall apart quickly. It has already made a turn for the worse, and anyone who does not notice this is living under a rock.
Now would be a good time to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Michael Goodman, and I was born into this business. As many of you know, my dad is Mick Goodman, and he has been raising deer for over twenty-seven years. He was actually one of the first people to start raising deer when he started Goodman’s Whitetail Haven. My younger brother Andy has been involved with the deer all of his life as well.
Being around deer all my life, I have seen what has gone on and changed throughout the years. The one issue that has bothered me the most is seeing pedigrees of animals that are not truthful, complete, based on fact, or it could be a total lie. The reason for the faulty information stems back to assuming the truth instead of taking the time to get the correct information. Credit needs to be given where credit is due. There is a reason these deer exist, and it is because of their ancestors which were propagated by the founders of this business. If not for them, who is to say raising deer could be something we would have the choice to do today, or that such leaps and bounds of progress could have been achieved in this industry?
This is why it is so important for people to be responsible when they share information and ensure it is true. More respect should be given to those who started this industry and have made it a reality.
My feelings are based on an actual example I have experienced during my time in the deer industry. Years ago when we started raising deer, it was harder, and it took a lot longer to build up a herd. You could not just go out and buy deer anywhere to get started right away. There were only a handful of people in Pennsylvania at the time that raised deer. Sure, we bought deer, but most were acquired through the Pennsylvania Game Commission. They would bring an orphaned fawn or a fawn that was ignorantly taken in by someone who thought it had been abandoned by its mother. These fawns were brought to us to save them and give them a chance. This is unheard of today. The Game Commission takes these fawns into their own hands now and decides their fate.
These fawns are where we got most of our deer, and we bred these deer to produce a larger herd. We were able to produce a lot of respectable deer in this manner. We realized over the years we had a particular doe that produced nice bucks no matter what she was bred with. This doe was named Sugar, and she was one of the fawns we received through the Game Commission. She was found by a high school student who was keeping her in his car in Greene County. She was in fact from the wild of Pennsylvania. We took great care of her and she was one of our breeders. Sugar was one of the best producing does we ever had. As she was raised and cared for by us, she is one of the Goodman Foundation does.
There is a reason I just explained the origin of Sugar. One year we bred her to the buck we felt was the best choice. As a result, she had twin buck fawns in the spring much to our surprise. We kept these two bucks until they got their first racks. That fall, Andy Foor came to buy some deer from us, and became interested in the two bucks. My dad offered to sell him one of the twin yearlings that was a 9 point. We had decided to keep the other one who was a ten point and had split G2s. Andy Foor took my dad up on his offer and took the buck he would name Ratchet home that day.
Ratchet has produced a lot of big deer for Andy Foor, and for Mark Price who used Ratchet as a breeder. From Ratchet was spawned Liberty, Freedom, and many other well known bucks. We kept the other twin for another year and he produced another respectable rack. Once it was time to sell more deer in the fall, we received interest from Roy Yoder. Roy and his acquaintances came to get the deer they were interested in. During this visit, Roy became interested in the twin we kept, and purchased him.
Once Roy got the deer home, he allowed his brother-in-law Ben Coblentz to use the twin as a breeder buck. This is how the deer got the name Redoy Ben (Yoder spelled backwards and Ben). Anyone who has done their research will find that Redoy Ben produced Stickers of Texas. Stickers produced a buck known today as Texas Tea. There are countless other big bucks that have been produced from Redoy Ben and his offspring. Redoy Ben and Ratchet are some of the best producers in the business today, and will continue to be in the future.
This is by far one of the best bloodlines in the business and most reliable producers of big bucks. Who would have thought this bloodline came from a doe from the wild of Greene County Pennsylvania and adopted into the Foundation Herd of Goodman’s Whitetail Haven founded by Mick Goodman? Sugar produced two of the greatest producing bucks in the industry.
Why do I need to tell you this anyway, you should know. You did your research, right?
Michael John Goodman
References: Mick Goodman, Andy Foor, Dave Creegan
The point I am trying to make is if this business is going to be successful, we all need to start working together and being more competent and reliable. We need to be careful and do some background research on information we receive and its resource and not assume everything we hear is in fact the truth. We all know what happens when we assume…
Without taking the approach to work together, this business is going to fall apart quickly. It has already made a turn for the worse, and anyone who does not notice this is living under a rock.
Now would be a good time to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Michael Goodman, and I was born into this business. As many of you know, my dad is Mick Goodman, and he has been raising deer for over twenty-seven years. He was actually one of the first people to start raising deer when he started Goodman’s Whitetail Haven. My younger brother Andy has been involved with the deer all of his life as well.
Being around deer all my life, I have seen what has gone on and changed throughout the years. The one issue that has bothered me the most is seeing pedigrees of animals that are not truthful, complete, based on fact, or it could be a total lie. The reason for the faulty information stems back to assuming the truth instead of taking the time to get the correct information. Credit needs to be given where credit is due. There is a reason these deer exist, and it is because of their ancestors which were propagated by the founders of this business. If not for them, who is to say raising deer could be something we would have the choice to do today, or that such leaps and bounds of progress could have been achieved in this industry?
This is why it is so important for people to be responsible when they share information and ensure it is true. More respect should be given to those who started this industry and have made it a reality.
My feelings are based on an actual example I have experienced during my time in the deer industry. Years ago when we started raising deer, it was harder, and it took a lot longer to build up a herd. You could not just go out and buy deer anywhere to get started right away. There were only a handful of people in Pennsylvania at the time that raised deer. Sure, we bought deer, but most were acquired through the Pennsylvania Game Commission. They would bring an orphaned fawn or a fawn that was ignorantly taken in by someone who thought it had been abandoned by its mother. These fawns were brought to us to save them and give them a chance. This is unheard of today. The Game Commission takes these fawns into their own hands now and decides their fate.
These fawns are where we got most of our deer, and we bred these deer to produce a larger herd. We were able to produce a lot of respectable deer in this manner. We realized over the years we had a particular doe that produced nice bucks no matter what she was bred with. This doe was named Sugar, and she was one of the fawns we received through the Game Commission. She was found by a high school student who was keeping her in his car in Greene County. She was in fact from the wild of Pennsylvania. We took great care of her and she was one of our breeders. Sugar was one of the best producing does we ever had. As she was raised and cared for by us, she is one of the Goodman Foundation does.
There is a reason I just explained the origin of Sugar. One year we bred her to the buck we felt was the best choice. As a result, she had twin buck fawns in the spring much to our surprise. We kept these two bucks until they got their first racks. That fall, Andy Foor came to buy some deer from us, and became interested in the two bucks. My dad offered to sell him one of the twin yearlings that was a 9 point. We had decided to keep the other one who was a ten point and had split G2s. Andy Foor took my dad up on his offer and took the buck he would name Ratchet home that day.
Ratchet has produced a lot of big deer for Andy Foor, and for Mark Price who used Ratchet as a breeder. From Ratchet was spawned Liberty, Freedom, and many other well known bucks. We kept the other twin for another year and he produced another respectable rack. Once it was time to sell more deer in the fall, we received interest from Roy Yoder. Roy and his acquaintances came to get the deer they were interested in. During this visit, Roy became interested in the twin we kept, and purchased him.
Once Roy got the deer home, he allowed his brother-in-law Ben Coblentz to use the twin as a breeder buck. This is how the deer got the name Redoy Ben (Yoder spelled backwards and Ben). Anyone who has done their research will find that Redoy Ben produced Stickers of Texas. Stickers produced a buck known today as Texas Tea. There are countless other big bucks that have been produced from Redoy Ben and his offspring. Redoy Ben and Ratchet are some of the best producers in the business today, and will continue to be in the future.
This is by far one of the best bloodlines in the business and most reliable producers of big bucks. Who would have thought this bloodline came from a doe from the wild of Greene County Pennsylvania and adopted into the Foundation Herd of Goodman’s Whitetail Haven founded by Mick Goodman? Sugar produced two of the greatest producing bucks in the industry.
Why do I need to tell you this anyway, you should know. You did your research, right?
Michael John Goodman
References: Mick Goodman, Andy Foor, Dave Creegan
