Outdoors personality Robert Arrington needed only six words to sum up his recent hunting trip to the Alabama Black Belt.
“The hunting opportunities are amazing here,” he said.
Through his “Deer Meat for Dinner” channel on YouTube, Arrington showcases hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities with his family to more than 3.3 million subscribers. The “deermeatfordinner” Instagram account has 172,000 followers.
His latest video, titled “Bacon from a Giant Wild Razorback” was shot in the heart of Alabama’s Black Belt on private land outside of Shorter. The Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association (ALBBAA) invited Arrington and coordinated the hunt for his family in early January.
The trip and accompanying video showcased the region’s bountiful hunting opportunities, including deer, duck and feral hog hunting.
“When you come in, you could be hunting a trophy whitetail and a trophy hog walks out, and you shoot the hog,” Arrington said near the end of the 24-minute video. “So, you have a lot of things to hunt and have a good time.”
In the “Bacon from a Giant Wild Razorback” episode, Arrington and his wife harvest feral hogs, an invasive species that causes widespread crop damage throughout the Deep South. In Alabama, feral hogs are considered a game animal with no closed season and no bag limits.
Arrington referred to his harvested hog as “humongous.”
“I’m just sitting here and all of a sudden here comes this big ol’ giant hog through the hardwoods,” he said in the video, which garnered more than 200,000 views in its first four days online. “I’m like, ‘What the heck?’”
His wife, Sarah, later harvested a hog that was visible with a pack of other feral hogs. “He was getting aggressive with one of the piglets and he stood still long enough for me to pull the trigger,” she said.
The video also shows Arrington thanking land owner Pete Hall and his family, as well as preparing food from the harvested wild hogs.
“It was wonderful to have Robert and his family visit Alabama’s Black Belt and experience the amazing hunting opportunities firsthand,” ALBBAA Marketing Director Rhett Hollon said, “and we thank the Hall family for their generous hospitality. Robert broadcasts that message to the millions of people who subscribe to his YouTube channel. We’re honored that he came to visit, and we hope his work will inspire others to visit the Black Belt and enjoy our wide variety of outdoor recreation activities.”
The Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association is committed to promoting and enhancing outdoor recreation and tourism opportunities in the Black Belt in a manner that provides economic and ecological benefits to the region and its citizens. For information, go to www.alabamablackbeltadventures.org.