Countdown to opening day!!!!!!

[rhomas]

August 15th and the first day of deer season is quickly approaching, and I'm counting down the days here in SC. This may be the last year that we have NO limits on deer, due to changes the SCDNR has proposed. These changes are being pushed by a coalition of out of state hunters, DNR employees, and certain up state groups who don't have the same deer populations that we have down in the lower parts of the state.

Last year was slightly off for me, since I only managed to kill 8 deer, so hopefully this will be a much better season. I'm already out of ground venison and cubed steak, so the freezer needs to be restocked.

I've sharpened all of the knives, cleaned all of the shotguns and rifles, the foodplots are all lush and getting hit by the deer. I still have to patch one or two stands, and hang some cameras, but the blasted heat has kept work at a minimum.

With all of that, it's 24 days and counting, and I can't wait!!!!!!!!:hump:

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Only 8 ---I knew all along you were a lousy hunter!!! So Ron, it sounds like those knuckleheads are winning the battle to change the laws in your area that you mentioned on the other site some time ago, huh? It would seem from the way you describe your part of the state that it would never get shot out, even using dogs on some hunts like is popular where you are. Unless they are seeing a huge decline in the deer population where you live, and it doesn't sound like it if "all you killed was 8", I guess I wonder why they figure they should be changing much of anything.

 

[rhomas]

That was one of the questions we raised at a meeting with DNR. There are more deer-auto accidents than ever in the state, the plantations and QDMA have determined that we have a higher population of deer than ever, also. The kicker is that a survey was conducted on the Savannah River Site, otherwise known as the "bomb plant" since it is the single largest U234 enrichment facility as well as nuclear waste disposal site in the country. The survey showed a decline in deer numbers due to high coyote predation. This was a skewed survey, due to the fact that the only hunting allowed on the site is some highly regulated deer hunts, both with and without dogs. There is NO PREDATOR HUNTING allowed on the site, and the 'yotes, combined with the wild hogs have contributed to a slight decline in the deer herd. The out of staters, up-staters, and DNR have decided that this survey conducted on a fenced in and highly regulated installation is indicative of the entire state. Remember that up-state already has a shorter season, a limit, and no dog hunting or baiting, unlike down here.

What I fail to understand though, is why hunters from NC, Ga, and Fl, want to change our way of hunting, since part of the reason they come to SC in the first place, is to take advangtage of our season and liberal limits!!!!

Anyhow, we are fighting this, and hopefully those of us who actually live and spend time in the woods and swamps down here will ultimately prevail!!!

 

[Topgun 30-06]

I hope so because that would be a flawed study from the git go on a fenced area like you mentioned. It seems like it's always the friggin outsiders with money that come into states and raise cain on all kinds of stuff that they should never have any say in, but as the old saying goes: "Money talks!".

 

[mixedbag]

I'd love to get down there for a velvet buck.Hope you win your fight.I don't see how NR can make a difference in game regs.

 

[174in]

Dont they allow a hunter to shoot like 8 deer a day there right now?I lived up by Spartanville/Greenville for 2 years in the late 1990's never even saw a deer while I was hunting.I did here there was alot of them in the southern part of the state though.Never seen a hog either but I did see alot of turkeys.I always had to hunt public land.Wish I could do it over again I would have gone and tried the southern part. Good luck.

 

[rhomas]

The only limit in the lowcountry and coastal areas is on antlerless deer. Only two antlerless deer may be taken in a single day, no limits on antlered bucks. The most I've ever killed on one day was 4 bucks that were running together. I did kill 2 does and a buck that were together, once, and I've killed 2 does running together many times. I've also killed more than one deer in a day, but it was on seperate dog drives, as well as a tree stand hunt.

The only public land I've ever hunted was the Savannah River Federal WMA, and that was only once. No rifles, and no buckshot, had to be shotguns with slugs, or stick and string.

 

[genesis273]

I use to hunt in Orangeburg back in the mid 90`s and loved it. Haven`t had the chance to get back down in a while. But this is one NC (outsider) hunter that enjoyed the season and would like to see it stay the same. The only thing was, those August days were brutal!! Really could only hunt for about 2 hours in the morning and the same for the afternoon. Stayed in the hotel for the rest of the day waiting for the heat index to dip below 100!! I might have just been a wimp, but deer weren`t really moving outside of those times anyway.
Man, I miss those days and those nice velvet bucks!

 

[rhomas]

I used to live in Elloree, and hunted in an area near the State Park and the Poplar Creek area of Orangeburg county. We killed beaucoup deer back in those days ( late 70's to mid-80's). That was where I killed the 4 bucks running together on the last day of the season. I got 3 with the 12 ga. and the 4th (and biggest) with the .357. Last dog drive of the season, it was a great way to finish up. If I remember correctly, I killed 22 or 23 that year.