Dollarhide Traditions

EDITOR'S NOTE: Larry Collins acts as camp manager of Dollarhide, a traditional hunting camp in central Alabama near the Mississippi line since 1888.

Question: Much of Alabama has changed from dog hunting for deer to stalk hunting. Why has Dollarhide remained the same?
Answer: Well, Dollarhide remains loyal to its traditions. We started dog hunting, and we liked to keep dogs. I know the state as a whole has a problem with hunting deer with dogs, but we have enough acreage where we feel like we can handle dogs because of our tradition. We once could not stalk or use our rifles at all. As I grew up, we could only dog hunt eight times a year, and we never used rifles. We could only deer hunt on those drives. Now we can hunt anytime we want and use our rifles to shoot does and bucks. Because we have a well-rounded program, we incorporate our dogs into it. Everybody keeps the tradition alive and does what the younger folks want to do too.

Question: What other Dollarhide traditions do you still keep?
Answer: We still have a Kangaroo Court. If you miss a deer, you get hit with a board. But it's all in good fun. Sometimes younger boys get to hit their daddies and auction off the privilege to whop someone else. This proves very profitable for Dollarhide.

Question: What happens when you kill your first deer?
Answer: It doesn't matter if you have killed a 100 deer. Once you kill your first deer at Dollarhide, you take your shirt and hat off and get bloody. That's the tradition.

Question: Tell me about camping at Dollarhide.
Answer: Food also has become a tradition at Dollarhide. Dollarhide hunts start on Friday night and can accommodate around 60 couples with meals featuring meat, two vegetables, and our traditional biscuits. We still have cane syrup, turnip greens, rice, and chicken. For breakfast we serve eggs, bacon, grits and sausage.

Question: How long has your family had a membership at Dollarhide?
Answer: We've been members since 1962.

Question: What kind of membership does Dollarhide have?
Answer: We have 40-charter members who act as shareholders, a privilege that they can pass down from generation to generation. Occasionally a share falls in the hands of a daughter if a family has no sons. We have two separate clubs. Dollarhide Camp leases from Dollarhide Realty, which holds the shares of stock. We have three or four members of the hunting club right now who own stock in Dollarhide. You don't have to own stock to belong, though.

Question: What do you have to do to belong to Dollarhide hunting camp?
Answer: The board of trustees has to vote you in.

Tomorrow: Dog Hunting at Dollarhide