2013 Winyah Bay Heritage Festival

2013 Event poster

Break Time for Palmetto Gun Dogs

Dock Dogs is always a fun event

Flintlocks by gunmaker Bob Hill

The 6th annual Winyah Bay Festival in Georgetown celebrates the outdoor heritage that has alwasy been associated with the area. From Winyah Bay to the Santee Delta, the lands in Georgetown County remain a sportsman's paradise, especially for fishing and duck hunting. The two-day event runs on Saturday and Sunday, with the finals of the dock dogs competition on Sunday afternoon. Cold weather always seems to be in the mix for the Winyah Bay festival, which makes the coffee and chicken bog served up for lunch all that much better. Outside vendors were selling camo dog beds, custom wooden handle fishing rods, and classic sporting firearms. Inside, the exhibitors included turkey call maker John Taner, duck call maker R'N'T, and many talented decoy carvers. Tideline Outfitters served up varied oystaflage accessories and Carol Leuder offered  fine finishings for the sporting cabin or home. Always a good time to catch up with friends about the past hunting season, and unfortunately about the lack of waterfowl found in the Palmetto state this past year - which has become a disturbing trend. New to the festival this year was a retrieving dog demonstration both days from Palmetto Gun Dogs, with H.B. Marshall of Camden and Alan Wooten Jr. of Rembert in town with their favorite labs. With a birds of prey photo op and a youth duck calling clinic put on by Hugh McLaurin of Big Lake duck calls, there was plenty of entertainment for a boatload of lads all dressed in camo.

To view past blog entries from the Winyah Bay Heritage Festival click here.