Hello fellow hunters!!!!!
I bring this news to you in a very humble way. My name is Chad Cooper, I am a 39 year old second generation owner of Cooper's Taxidermy Inc. in Pace, Florida. My father Wayne Cooper started taxidermy in the early 1970s. I started helping him at ten years old. My dad began competing in taxidermy competitions in late 70's and soon became a well known name in the world of taxidermy. By 1987 he would capture 1st place in State, National and even the World competition. He then proceeded to become a judge for the shows. For the next five years he worked on inventing a product that was at the time merely a dream. In 1991, while judging the world show, his product was introduced to the public and became an overnight success. His new business " Flex Eyes " was born !!!!!! This product is a mass produced synthetic eye used in the taxidermy industry, with distributors in Germany, Australia, Canada and all over the United States. Most seasoned taxidermists would recognize his product. In 1991, I took over the taxidermy business and this has been my life ever since.
Now that you guy's know a little about me I would like to get on to the real subject of this post.
On July 18th, 1996 God blessed my wife and I with a wonderful baby boy named Zac Cooper. As an avid hunter, I never let having a child slow me down. At four months old, little Zac would go hunting with me, although I did have to change the methods of my hunting to enable me to bring a baby along. My wife hunted as well and we wanted to raise our child in the outdoors so a babysitter at home was just not an option. Over the years, as Zac has gotten older, all he knew was hunting-we made that a big part of his life. He took his 1st two deer at 5 years old and by the end of last season at age 11 little Zac had taken 58 whitetails. Here's a few ! I'll post his better ones on the bowhunting reports with the story at a later date.
Last spring, Zac's personal world of hunting would make a dream come true which will hopefully also help the lives of other children. And, bring a surge of positive attention to the sport we all Love.
Ever since Zac was old enough to play he has been in baseball. This past Spring it came time for the sign up. I approached him about it being time to try out for ball again and he made a statement that would forever change his world. With tears in his eyes he looked up at me and said " Dad you know the last thing I would ever want to do is let you down but I have to be honest with you. I no longer want to play ball. My hearts not in it. " I was in shock, this was a routine thing that I now enjoyed. How was I going to cope with the fact that I would never watch my son play another baseball game? He then looked back at me and said the coolest thing. " You know dad, !!!! My heart is in hunting and fishing and I'm going to concentrate on that. "I will make a living doing it one day." I replied while giving him a hug and said, if your going to dream you might as well dream big.
Little did I know that God had a plan for Zac !!!!
Less than two weeks later he and I were invited to go bass fishing in a clients private pond, we fished that morning and on the way home we stopped by Mike's Gun Shop in Jay, FL. Little Zac had never been to Mike's and I knew he would enjoy looking at the guns and all the other hunting paraphernalia.
This is where Zac's world started to change !!!!
He walked in and shook hands with the owner Mr. Mike Scott. After some conversation, we began looking at guns with Mr. Mike and I could tell that he and Zac were having a good time with each other. About 30 minutes later Mike looked down at little Zac and said, " Zac, Do you know what an Ol'Man Treestand is? " He replied " Yes Sir ". Mike then informed him that he owned that company and that he had seen Zac's posts on the Pensacola Fishing Forum. Mike then asked Zac what kind of grades he made in school and Zac was proud to say, " I'm an honor student, Sir." At that time Mike looked down at Zac and said " Zac, how would you like to be on our prostaff and help represent my product? I guess you can imagine his response!!!!!!!!
From that day on Zac started being noticed by some influential people and the word started to spread. It wasn't long till the next big step was made.
Mr. Wayne Burns from Birmingham AL. contacted me in reference to Zac. Wayne is the producer & host of a nationwide hunting show called " Outdoor Allstars". We set up a time for Zac to meet with Wayne. Wayne set up a hunt to test Zac on what he had to offer and to learn a little more about him. One week later he was picked to join the prostaff team for Wayne as well.
Within the next week all of Wayne's sponsors would be supporting Zac and the rest has been awesome!!! A dream come true !!!!!!!!!!!
A list of Zac's credits to date:
Honor student at Central High School
President of the 7th grade Student Body at Central High School
Awarded from the State of Florida for a level 5 perfect score on the FCAT test
Last years guest speaker for the University of Florida
Live radio interview with WXBM country
Live on BLAB TV
Been on air with Direct TV since last summer. Was on the MAN Channel before they merged, now on Untamed Sports.
Actively working and learning at " Cooper's Taxidermy Inc. "
A burning desire to hunt and be a positive influence on as many children possible to help preserve the sport of hunting for all to enjoy.
Worked the Birmingham Deer & Turkey Expo. Over 60,000 people attended.
Working with Mr.Eddie Salter
Promoting Ol'Man Treestands
Zac is now airing on 4 networks
Direct TV
Dish Network
Cable
CBS Channel 42 Birmingham
You will also be able to see Zac on Mathews TV on the Outdoor Channel starting in the third quarter. ( July )
His shows from this hunting season are being built at this time and will begin to come together this year..
Watch this summer as it all unfolds in your own living room !!!!!!!!!
With all this being said, there is a fine line between bragging and sharing an accomplishment.
I personally feel that my son is no better than any other child. I'm just a very proud dad who is fortunate enough to be able to see the morals and values we have taught our son begin to unfold and develop him into a great person.
A special Thank You to everyone for all the incredible support you have given us this year. Also thanks to my best friend and forum member Richard Johnson ( rjtkdplus ) from Austin TX. for introducing me to this great forum.
Good Hunting,
Chad Cooper
This was a heart warming letter Zac's producer, Wayne Burns just received a couple weeks ago.
Wayne,
It was a pleasure to talk to you today regarding the 'Outdoor Allstars' show
that featured Zac Cooper's hog hunt in Alabama. We are outdoor sports
enthusiasts and watch this type show frequently. However, my wife and I
really enjoyed the program that featured young Zac, it was one of the best
we've seen! This young man would excite and encourage anyone interested in
the great outdoors.
We were amazed at his ability to articulate his love of sports, his ability
to promote your sponsors (Ol' Man Treestands and Mathews Bows) in such a
mature and smooth manner and bring the viewer into the thrill of the hunt!
We feel sure Zac is a 'rising star'!
As I mentioned to you, my 13 year old grandson, Cole Swearingen, has gotten
into hunting this past year and loves it! It would be great for him to view
the video of Zac and his hunt. We feel Zac has a lot to offer young people
with his enthusiasm and hunting skills but we also were greatly impressed
with his good manners, and the love and appreciation he has for his father.
Getting young people excited with hunting and fishing is good physically and
mentally and hopefully will help keep them on a good moral path. Thank you
for putting this outstanding segment on air, we would welcome more and would
be delighted to be an advocate for the quality programming on 'Outdoor
Allstars'!
Again, I would gladly cover the expenses for the DVD of Zac. We look
forward to getting the segment showing his hunt and his commentaries. I
enjoyed talking to you, we appreciate your good work and hope our paths can
cross again.
Thank you.
Jim (Buddy) Swearingen
108 Lincreek Drive
Columbia, SC 29212
I bring this news to you in a very humble way. My name is Chad Cooper, I am a 39 year old second generation owner of Cooper's Taxidermy Inc. in Pace, Florida. My father Wayne Cooper started taxidermy in the early 1970s. I started helping him at ten years old. My dad began competing in taxidermy competitions in late 70's and soon became a well known name in the world of taxidermy. By 1987 he would capture 1st place in State, National and even the World competition. He then proceeded to become a judge for the shows. For the next five years he worked on inventing a product that was at the time merely a dream. In 1991, while judging the world show, his product was introduced to the public and became an overnight success. His new business " Flex Eyes " was born !!!!!! This product is a mass produced synthetic eye used in the taxidermy industry, with distributors in Germany, Australia, Canada and all over the United States. Most seasoned taxidermists would recognize his product. In 1991, I took over the taxidermy business and this has been my life ever since.
Now that you guy's know a little about me I would like to get on to the real subject of this post.
On July 18th, 1996 God blessed my wife and I with a wonderful baby boy named Zac Cooper. As an avid hunter, I never let having a child slow me down. At four months old, little Zac would go hunting with me, although I did have to change the methods of my hunting to enable me to bring a baby along. My wife hunted as well and we wanted to raise our child in the outdoors so a babysitter at home was just not an option. Over the years, as Zac has gotten older, all he knew was hunting-we made that a big part of his life. He took his 1st two deer at 5 years old and by the end of last season at age 11 little Zac had taken 58 whitetails. Here's a few ! I'll post his better ones on the bowhunting reports with the story at a later date.
Last spring, Zac's personal world of hunting would make a dream come true which will hopefully also help the lives of other children. And, bring a surge of positive attention to the sport we all Love.
Ever since Zac was old enough to play he has been in baseball. This past Spring it came time for the sign up. I approached him about it being time to try out for ball again and he made a statement that would forever change his world. With tears in his eyes he looked up at me and said " Dad you know the last thing I would ever want to do is let you down but I have to be honest with you. I no longer want to play ball. My hearts not in it. " I was in shock, this was a routine thing that I now enjoyed. How was I going to cope with the fact that I would never watch my son play another baseball game? He then looked back at me and said the coolest thing. " You know dad, !!!! My heart is in hunting and fishing and I'm going to concentrate on that. "I will make a living doing it one day." I replied while giving him a hug and said, if your going to dream you might as well dream big.
Little did I know that God had a plan for Zac !!!!
Less than two weeks later he and I were invited to go bass fishing in a clients private pond, we fished that morning and on the way home we stopped by Mike's Gun Shop in Jay, FL. Little Zac had never been to Mike's and I knew he would enjoy looking at the guns and all the other hunting paraphernalia.
This is where Zac's world started to change !!!!
He walked in and shook hands with the owner Mr. Mike Scott. After some conversation, we began looking at guns with Mr. Mike and I could tell that he and Zac were having a good time with each other. About 30 minutes later Mike looked down at little Zac and said, " Zac, Do you know what an Ol'Man Treestand is? " He replied " Yes Sir ". Mike then informed him that he owned that company and that he had seen Zac's posts on the Pensacola Fishing Forum. Mike then asked Zac what kind of grades he made in school and Zac was proud to say, " I'm an honor student, Sir." At that time Mike looked down at Zac and said " Zac, how would you like to be on our prostaff and help represent my product? I guess you can imagine his response!!!!!!!!
From that day on Zac started being noticed by some influential people and the word started to spread. It wasn't long till the next big step was made.
Mr. Wayne Burns from Birmingham AL. contacted me in reference to Zac. Wayne is the producer & host of a nationwide hunting show called " Outdoor Allstars". We set up a time for Zac to meet with Wayne. Wayne set up a hunt to test Zac on what he had to offer and to learn a little more about him. One week later he was picked to join the prostaff team for Wayne as well.
Within the next week all of Wayne's sponsors would be supporting Zac and the rest has been awesome!!! A dream come true !!!!!!!!!!!
A list of Zac's credits to date:
Honor student at Central High School
President of the 7th grade Student Body at Central High School
Awarded from the State of Florida for a level 5 perfect score on the FCAT test
Last years guest speaker for the University of Florida
Live radio interview with WXBM country
Live on BLAB TV
Been on air with Direct TV since last summer. Was on the MAN Channel before they merged, now on Untamed Sports.
Actively working and learning at " Cooper's Taxidermy Inc. "
A burning desire to hunt and be a positive influence on as many children possible to help preserve the sport of hunting for all to enjoy.
Worked the Birmingham Deer & Turkey Expo. Over 60,000 people attended.
Working with Mr.Eddie Salter
Promoting Ol'Man Treestands
Zac is now airing on 4 networks
Direct TV
Dish Network
Cable
CBS Channel 42 Birmingham
You will also be able to see Zac on Mathews TV on the Outdoor Channel starting in the third quarter. ( July )
His shows from this hunting season are being built at this time and will begin to come together this year..
Watch this summer as it all unfolds in your own living room !!!!!!!!!
With all this being said, there is a fine line between bragging and sharing an accomplishment.
I personally feel that my son is no better than any other child. I'm just a very proud dad who is fortunate enough to be able to see the morals and values we have taught our son begin to unfold and develop him into a great person.
A special Thank You to everyone for all the incredible support you have given us this year. Also thanks to my best friend and forum member Richard Johnson ( rjtkdplus ) from Austin TX. for introducing me to this great forum.
Good Hunting,
Chad Cooper
This was a heart warming letter Zac's producer, Wayne Burns just received a couple weeks ago.
Wayne,
It was a pleasure to talk to you today regarding the 'Outdoor Allstars' show
that featured Zac Cooper's hog hunt in Alabama. We are outdoor sports
enthusiasts and watch this type show frequently. However, my wife and I
really enjoyed the program that featured young Zac, it was one of the best
we've seen! This young man would excite and encourage anyone interested in
the great outdoors.
We were amazed at his ability to articulate his love of sports, his ability
to promote your sponsors (Ol' Man Treestands and Mathews Bows) in such a
mature and smooth manner and bring the viewer into the thrill of the hunt!
We feel sure Zac is a 'rising star'!
As I mentioned to you, my 13 year old grandson, Cole Swearingen, has gotten
into hunting this past year and loves it! It would be great for him to view
the video of Zac and his hunt. We feel Zac has a lot to offer young people
with his enthusiasm and hunting skills but we also were greatly impressed
with his good manners, and the love and appreciation he has for his father.
Getting young people excited with hunting and fishing is good physically and
mentally and hopefully will help keep them on a good moral path. Thank you
for putting this outstanding segment on air, we would welcome more and would
be delighted to be an advocate for the quality programming on 'Outdoor
Allstars'!
Again, I would gladly cover the expenses for the DVD of Zac. We look
forward to getting the segment showing his hunt and his commentaries. I
enjoyed talking to you, we appreciate your good work and hope our paths can
cross again.
Thank you.
Jim (Buddy) Swearingen
108 Lincreek Drive
Columbia, SC 29212
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