2012 Youth Waterfowl Day hunt at Bear Island WMA

Will Carter with banded mottled duck and father Garrett Carter

Sarah Adams and father Jason from Columbia

Fifteen-year old duck hunter Will Carter of Walterboro has already had a memorable waterfowl season. He and his father won the lottery drawing to hunt at Bear Island on December 1, and then he harvested a drake mottled duck with a federal leg band. Another youth on the draw hunt picked up their ‘first duck’ and Sarah Adams of Columbia shot her limit of six ducks. SCDNR officials offer this youth waterfowl hunt each year, attracting the attention of young waterfowl enthusiasts to Bear Island WMA in Colleton County. No stranger to this SCDNR hunt, this was the third time that the Carter father and son duo had been drawn. The December 1 date is a special youth only waterfowl day that is approved by the state of South Carolina. The SCDNR rules for Wildlife Management Areas stipulate that only 25 shotgun shells can be brought into the hunt. By the end of the youth hunt Carter had burned up his 25 shot shells and collected his six duck limit. “I shoot a Remington 1187 12-gauge shotgun, and since there was little wind, the ducks were not decoying too well,” said Carter. Apparently his pass shooting is not rusty because he knocked down two blue-winged teal and a shoveler not long after the 6:39 a.m. shooting time. “It was the fourth duck of the day that kind of made the hunt for me, when my Dad picked up the mottled duck and shouted that it had a band on it!” Any migratory waterfowl with a federal leg band on it, is a trophy unto itself because of how rare it is to encounter one. It turns out that mottled ducks are being banded right here in the Lowcountry for studies, and SCDNR’s Dean Harrigal was quick to point out that the band likely came from the Santee Delta near Georgetown or from Nemours Plantation on the Combahee River. Of course Bear Island lies between the Ashepoo and the Edisto rivers of the ACE Basin.

Traveling from Columbia to take part in the special youth / adult hunt was 13-year old Sarah Adams and her father Jason. With three teal, a shoveler and two gadwall this young lady proved to be an excellent wingshooter. “I have been hunting ducks with Dad since I was 10, and we started hunting for deer when I was 6,” said Adams. “I saw a lot more than ducks flying around during the hunt, and this was the best overall experience I have had on a duck hunt ever.” Ross Catterton with SCDNR helps the draw hunters to and from their blinds during all the waterfowl draw hunts. “The youth hunt is probably our most gratifying hunt of the year,” said Catterton. Dean Harrigal is the chief waterfowl biologist with SCDNR. “These youths are genuinely excited about visiting Bear Island and we want to make sure that they have a good experience,” said Harrigal.

Rob and 'Mutt' Miller with his FIRST duck ! 

Typical Bear Island mixed bag of ducks

Often this hunt yields a ‘first duck’ for one lucky waterfowler, and the December 1 hunt was no exception. Congrats go to 11-year old Harrison ‘Mutt’ Miller of Orangeburg for collecting his first duck while hunting with father Rob. Mutt actually finished with two ducks, a blue-winged teal and a gadwall, and he told me that he is more than ready to go duck hunting again. Mutt’s sentiment is the goal of these special youth hunts, to get them hunting with mentors in preparation to go hunting for a lifetime.

To read this feature article in the newspaper, click Colletonian.

To view a past blog entry about federal leg bands on migratory birds click here.

To view past blog entries about Bear Island WMA click on duck hunting.