Rabbit and Quail Hunting Seasons Return

A pack of beagles ready to hunt rabbits in the woods

A large selection of game hunting seasons are set to open around Thanksgiving in time for traditional and annual holiday hunts. Big game hunting for white-tailed deer runs until New Year’s Day, while many small game seasons will continue all winter. An abbreviated dove and duck season will be open for Thanksgiving week before closing again on Saturday, November 30. Quail season kicks off on November 25 and rabbit season begins on November 28. Open season on common snipe and woodcock round out the small game options for hunters willing to spend time walking in the woods in search of these more elusive game birds. 

            

Thanksgiving is a time to gather friends and family together and give thanks with fellowship. Cooking and eating turkey is likely the number one pastime, followed by watching football and perhaps even doing a little Christmas shopping. So not everyone looks to ‘turkey day’ as a time to get outdoors and hunt, but for a certain segment of Lowcountry folks it is just another part of the tradition. A hunt can be a solitary affair, perhaps walking down a brushy fire line with a dog in hopes of flushing game, or looking upward in the pines for a squirrel to shoot.

Outdoor enthusiasts enjoy watching canines work, but not everyone owns a hunting dog. Thanksgiving is a time to pool resources and join together for specialty hunts such as a rabbit hunt. It takes a cold-nosed tracking beagle to find the scent of a cottontail and then to give chase, all the while howling back at the hunters to be ready to shoot. Beagle owners have to run their dogs before the season is in, to train them and to get them in shape. If you have a friend that is willing to bring some beagles in order to hunt rabbits, I highly recommend it. A rabbit hunt includes lots of time spent in the woods, and other educational wildlife encounters are almost a certainty.

To view the entire feature article in the newspaper click on Colletonian.

To view past blog entries on Small Game seasons click 2018 - 2016 - 2014 - 2012 

To view past blog entries about Thanksgiving click on 2017 Dove Hunts - 2014 Harvest - Camp Chef - Quail Season Opening Day - Mixed Bag - Lady Hunter tags 10-point buck - 2009 Driven Deer Hunt - 2012 Driven Deer Hunt 

2019 Old Bonnie Doone Plantation Youth Deer Hunt

Take One Make One Hunt Results on Nov. 16

A low pressure system pushing through the Lowcountry last weekend did nothing to hinder the success of a youth deer hunt in Colleton County last Saturday. The Take One Make One (TOMO) program is a product of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and Officer Mark Ferrell serves as the hunt coordinator. Since the hunts are scheduled months in advance, and applicants arrange their own transportation, these hunts go on no matter the weather. Six hunters went into deer stands in driving afternoon rain, and three were able to harvest a fine 8-point buck.

            

The mission statement for the TOMO program is taking youth on their first hunt, while teaching values that last a lifetime. “The TOMO program is open to youth ages 10 – 17 who would like to go hunting,” said Ferrell. “In most cases, their parents do not hunt, and they don’t have anyone to take them hunting or to educate them about hunting. The TOMO program can take that youth and get them on a hunt, plus we show them the bigger picture of land conservation, planting food plots, and hopefully even skinning out a white-tailed deer.”

            

“This is the third year the TOMO program has hunted at Old Bonnie Doone Plantation,” said Ferrell. “One of our youth hunters named Trey Bowers was on his first ever deer hunt and was able to harvest his first ever 8-point buck. Seeing that kind of success for a first time hunter is what makes TOMO hunts special. The other youth that harvested a buck, Joey Luther and Tyler Bowers, got their first bucks last year during a TOMO hunt. Our other three hunters were Jake Stilwell, Sebastian Robinson and Tyler Hancock. We only have a limited number of hunts each year, and while the youth are eligible with TOMO until they graduate from high school, many of them branch out and find a regular place to hunt on their own after a TOMO hunt experience.”

To read the entire feature article in the newspaper click on Colletonian.

To view past blog entires from Take One Make One click on 2017 White Hall Plantation -  2011 Bamberg - 2009 Newberry

To view past blog entries on youth hunting click on 2012 Waterfowl Hunt at Bear Island WMA  - 2019 State Youth Coon Hunt at Webb Center WMA

Trophy Button Buck Set Free

My Trophy Button Buck, before being set Free

The first really cold weather of the Fall means that most deer hunters will return to the woods, free to wear layers of camo clothing to ward of the chill in the air. Deer movement is enhanced this same time of year due to factors like the rut, and the need to forage more in direct relation to the temperature drop. As the chance increases for hunters and deer to cross paths, so does the traffic at venison processors, and the chance of big bucks arriving at the taxidermist. The 2019 deer season brought a different kind of trophy into my lifetime of deer hunting experiences when I found a young button buck seemingly unharmed but trapped inside two sections of hog wire fence, and in need of my assistance.

            

Royce Herndon cutting hog wire fence with
young button buck watching and waiting

Part of the history of rural Colleton County is that farmers and small landowners would keep their cows fenced into their woodlands, allowing them to graze on natural vegetation. In today’s modern practices, cows are fenced into pasture land where they are sure to receive proper food, water and medicine. Although the old woodland fence is no longer in use to restrain cattle, remnants of the fence network remain intact. Like so many things from the days of home place farming, the old fence was built to last, and the fat-lightered fence posts remain strong today. During a late October afternoon walk along one old fence line, I found my trophy button buck inside two adjacent sections of hog-wire fence, that hemmed him in like a pen.

My grandmother used to joke about me having to wrestle with a buck one day during my hunting exploits. Could the trapped button buck be that scenario? Drawing on all my experience as a woodsman, I recognized this as once in a lifetime territory, and that returning in the morning to free the young buck would be the best course of action. The possibility that his buck could be newly orphaned, made me more sure that I would do whatever it takes to set him back on natural path to becoming a mature buck one day. I decided that I would need to call a friend to come help me, thinking that one man could deal with the buck while the other cuts with the fence. My call went out to veteran cattleman Royce Herndon, and to his credit he agreed to come and meet me at 8 a.m. the following morning.

To view the entire feature story in the newspaper click on Colletonian.

To view past Field Notes and Photo click July 2018 - February 2018 -  December 2017 - September 2017 - January 2017- December 2016 - June 2016 - February 2016- December 2015 - October 2015 - September 2015 - August 2015 - July 2015 - June 2015 - February 2105 - October 2014 -  September 2014 - August 2014 - June 2014 - March 2012 - February 2012 - October 2011 - September 2011     

2019 FestiVELO Cycling Event Rolls Through Colleton County

2019 FestiVELO guide cover

The 22nd Annual FestiVELO, or bicycling festival, is going to be rolling through most parts of Colleton County this week. Cycling enthusiasts arrive in Walterboro on Wednesday November 5 to check-in to their lodging accomodations for the four day FestiVELO event taking place on November 6 – 10. The 2019 FestiVELO marks the fourth consecutive year that  Colleton County is hosting the daily bike rides, with all FestiVELO meals and meetings based in downtown Walterboro. 

Walterboro native Stacey Price is an active cyclist with years of experience supporting the Criterium bike race that calls Walterboro home. Price now volunteers as a FestiVELO committee member, joining a cadre of other volunteers that will represent the local initiative to support FestiVELO from the start to finish. “Our local community welcomes the hundreds of FestiVELO riders to town, to ride along our scenic rural roads, and to utilize our meeting facilities at the commercial kitchen and Farmer’s Market,” said Price.

“This is a USA Cycling sanctioned event, and the Palmetto Cycling Coalition is one of our annual sponsors,” said Price. “Each day features three cycling courses to accommodate riders of all skill levels. The longest ride each day is 100-miles long and those that choose to ride 100-miles each day will be competing for the aptly named Iron Butt award. The shorter rides are likely to be 30 and 60-miles in length. Each day the cyclists will be touring a different part of Colleton County, and the route maps are available online at www.FestiVELO.org or using the FestiVELO app. We will also have paper maps for riders, since cell phone coverage can lapse in our more rural areas.”

To view the entire feature article in the newspaper click on Colletonian.

2019 ACE Basin Fall Calendar

Monarch butterfly on milkweed plant Oct. 25, 2019

The Friends of the Edisto Beach State Park organization is looking for volunteers to establish a monarch butterfly garden at the beachfront area of the state park. Volunteers can choose from Nov. 6, Nov. 13 or Nov. 20 and the work will take place between 10 a.m. and noon. Bring drinking water, bug spray, work gloves and anything else required for work in the field. For more information visit www.frespace.org on the Internet.

The Fall 2019 calendar for the Coastal Exploration Series with the SCDNR includes trips to barrier islands and even a visit to a Lowcountry plantation. The beachfront clean up of Otter Island in the ACE Basin National Estuarine Research Reserve will take place on Wednesday, November 13. Otter Island is a 2000-acre barrier island in the ACE Basin and a boat ride is required to get there. Volunteers should meet at the McKenzie Field Station at the end of Bennett’s Point Road prior to the 1 .p.m. departure time. The focus will be on 2.5-miles of beachfront and close-toed shoes are required for all, but trash bags and gloves are provided.

Nemours Plantation will host a free workshop on how historical rice fields are still being managed today for wildlife habitat. On Wednesday, December 4 from 9 a.m. until noon, participants will learn first hand about what waterfowl, shorebirds, birds of prey and other wildlife that is present during an open wagon tour of the impoundments. Located in Yemassee, Nemours Plantation is situated along the Combahee River in the ACE Basin, and attendees should dress for the weather and remember to bring binoculars. Look for lots of natural beauty along the way including a mature live oak alley that leads to a handsome plantation house.

To read the entire feature article in the newspaper click on Colletonian.

To view past blog entries from Edisto Beach State Park click on 2018 Coastal Geology - 2016 Coastal Discovery Boat Tour - 2015 Turtle Fest - 2015 ACE Basin NERR

To view past blog entries from Friends of Nemours click on 2017 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2009

To view past blog entries from Nemours Wildlife Foundation click on 2018 Waterfowl Workshop - 2011 Mottled Duck Study - 2012 Army Corps of Engineers - 2014 Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers - 2014 USDA Under Secretary

To view past blog entries on shorebirds click on 2017 Shorebird Symposium / Kiawah Conservancy