Deer Hunting Season Wrap-Up!

Well, it's over! All the work over the summer with planting food plots, endless scouting in the woods braving snakes, ticks, sand gnats, and mosquitos, providing supplemental feeding, and installing stands has hopefully paid off in the form of a nice mount of that beautiful wall hanger, or at a minimum, hopefully a freezer full of delicious and healthy vension to enjoy over the coming year!

For me, it was a crazy year. Our first child, Anderson, our son named after my grandfather, was born Opening Day of the South Carolina Deer Season, 8/15/2008. We were overjoyed and overwhelmed at the same time! The birth of your child is truly one of the most incredible events you can ever imagine! Regarding hunting season, this wonderful and incredible event impacted my ability to hunt compared to previous seasons, but due to the fact that I have a wonderful and understanding wife, I was able to hunt more than perhaps any new dad I know! However, I just keep telling her that it won't be long until he will be tagging along with me to the woods, leaving her to enjoy some peace and quiet around the house!

Anderson and his Daddy

As for my season, it was fairly successful overall. I was able to successfully harvest 3 out of 4 deer I killed this year, two antlerless deer and a nice 7 pt. The nice 7 pt was taken at Richfield Plantation, which is where I personally hunted this year under a lease arrangement. I killed a doe at Richfield as well, but unfortunately was not able to recover the deer. It's a part of hunting, and I guess has happened to most at some point, but anytime you kill an animal, I believe you owe it the respect of harvesting. Unfortunately the coyotes found the deer and left little but the bones by the time I found it! I also missed two very nice bucks out of the same stand I killed the 7 pt during the first two weeks of the season! I think that was God's way of telling me to get back home to my wife and little one!

Nice 7 pt Hampton County, SC Buck taken December 14, 2008

The most enjoyable part about this year was everything that I learned. I believe I became a better hunter this year and had a fun experience, which should be the goal each and every year. This is the main fundamental that I will teach Anderson once he is old enough to join me in the woods, along with safety, of course!

I became much better at scouting, identifying rubs, scrapes, trails, bedding areas, etc. I was able to use my trail cams to my advantage, which is what led me to taking the nice 7 pt. I scouted that particular stand location using arial maps, and then evaluating oak trees, acorns, trails, old rubs, and finding a few sheds led me to set up in that area. I also learned more about deer movement and interaction, seeing almost 70 deer in the field over the course of the season. It's always enjoyable to see the does and small bucks interacting. Although Jennifer probably wouldn't agree, I believe I gained more patience this year as well!

I learned that no matter how confident you are, never, ever, shoot the "lone" doe in the field, especially late, and even more so when you are on an invited hunt! That only can result in the taking of a Button Buck, which is, again, part of hunting, but something no hunter wants to have on his or her record. After years of hunting, I finally made the mistake of shooting a Button Buck for a doe. I was distraught over this for a good while, but finally realized that it happens to everyone. The important thing is, I learned a valuable lesson.

Over the past few months I was also able to enjoy several new hunting locations and met numerous folks I now consider friends and hunting companions. I was able to hunt at Richfield Plantation with Melvin and Gregory Lane, Billy Herndon, and Jerrald Martin. I was also invited on a few hunts at Roebuck Plantation in Robertville, SC, owned by Wise Batten. It was here that I met Mike Casstevens and Brian Carmines, both skilled woodsmen and fine folks. And Wise is as pleasant and kind a gentleman as you will meet.

I was able to take several folks hunting with me at Richfield, including Brian Weatherby, Evan Jeffords, Jack McGill, Brian Miller, Jon Bush, and was able to take Charlie Sprietsma, my future brother-in-law, on his first two deer hunts ever. Next year, I will make sure Charlie gets a chance at a nice one!

While it was nice to meet new friends and hunt new places, I also was sad to leave a place I had essentially cut my teeth deer hunting, and also the location of my best kill to date, a 198 lb 10 pt, Givings Neck Hunt Club off Black River in Georgetown County, SC. I missed my friends and "adopted" hunting family from Andrews, SC, the Blakelys and the Taylors from Mt. Pleasant, SC. Hunting season wasn't the same without those Wednesday night and Weekend after-hunting Pirleaus or Mustard Fried Venison dinners. However, Kevin Blakely was kind enough to share with me his monster buck taken at Blakely Farms in Andrews, SC this year. What a deer-congrats Kevin!

Kevin Blakely, Blakely Farms, Williamsburg Co, SC

All in all, I saw 68 deer, 19 bucks and 49 does. I averaged seeing deer a little over 50% of the time I was afield, which is very good. Our deer population in the lowcountry is thriving, folks!

I hope that everyone had a great season and enjoyed time out in God's great outdoors. For me, it's now time for spending time with the baby, maybe a little relic hunting, and scouting for the upcoming Turkey Season, which opens up March 15 for us down here in the Lowcountry. Happy New Year to All!