Blog Entries from the WeHuntSC.com blogging crew
This past weekend we had a great time at our youth duck hunt give-away! If you?ve seen the home page at all then you know that we hosted a youth duck hunt give-away this season. Youth had to submit essays about why they liked duck hunting & why conservation was important for the sport of water-fowl hunting. By the end of the weekend our 2 winners, Austin Bagwell & Luke Humanik, said that the pain of writing the essays was well worth it.
I should probably back up and say that this hunt wouldn?t have been possible without some extremely generous guys from the watershed hunting club who not only donated their hunting hole, but who also donated their cabin & even cooked 2 meals for the kids and everyone involved. A big kudos and thanks to them as well as WinnTuck who donated some really neat prizes to our winners. We should also thank Darryl & Blake Hodge for coming by and giving some calling demos & pointers to our winners.
Friday afternoon we all arrived to the cabin & hung out overlooking the lake. It was a very relaxed environment. Early in the afternoon Mr. Dale Knight did some work with his dog ?Shine? and it was really neat to watch the dog work. Shine is very trained and disciplined. It?s almost a work of art to see him listen & respond to all the calls and signals. Dale has definitely spent some long hours in training that dog.
After Shine put on his show we started building a fire in front of the cabin. It had been warm, but the temperature was starting to drop. The fire burned from the afternoon and kept it warm as the sun set. During the daylight we could see some ducks swimming around on the pond, but when the sun started to go down the ducks & geese really started coming in. We could hear the mallards just cackling on the water throughout the evening.
As it got dark Dale fired the grill up and started cooking. Some of the other members of the hunting club pitched in and helped cook as well. We had a big time eating and talking smack about duck hunting while we ate. One of our youth winners even brought a pecan pie that made for a great dessert. After we ate we went back outside to hang by the fire & Darryl & Blake Hodge stopped by. They did some calling demos and worked with Austin & Luke on their calling giving them some tips on making certain sounds with mallard, wood duck, & goose calls. I can tell you that Blake has some strong lungs with some of the notes he was holding on his competition calling demo set. Before it was over the guys were taking calls apart & looking at reeds & getting flashlights out to see more clearly than the light of the fire provided. After Blake & Darryl left the boys were practicing calling for a while.
It didn?t take long after that for everyone to wind down and get ready for bed. We would have an early morning & the quicker we went to sleep the quicker we would be in a swamp the next morning. Though, sleeping for some of us wasn?t as easy as we?d planned ;-) Let?s just say that we had multiple lumberjacks in the cabin sawing logs at different rates throughout the night! Eventually 5:30 came and it was time to roll out and get ready.
We all got up and got our gear on and headed to the swamp. It was cold, but not as cold as I thought it would be. We made our way into the swamp and Shine, the duck dog, was really anticipating the hunt. He was fired up and energetic to get out in the swamp (and we were too). I got situated to the right of where the hunters were in hopes of getting some footage & pictures of the hunt as it happened. Dale guided our youth hunters and their fathers deeper into the head of the swamp and got everyone set up in position. It was just a matter of time.
Mallards were already on the water when we arrived. We could hear them cackling as we walked in. For this reason we were as quiet as possible while entering. It was a little overcast and there were clouds in the sky which made it a little darker than normal. Though, as soon as I could barely see we had ducks flying all around us. There were 2 initial groups of ducks that got up and left the pond and then more groups started coming into the pond. I had hoped to get some footage of all this, but it was way too dark to get any of this on camera. The kids started firing shots and no one made a connection.
As it got lighter out the ducks continued to come in. Wood ducks were the majority of the early morning action then mallards & geese got into the mix. At one point one of the hunters hit a bird because we saw feathers come out, but it wasn?t good enough to bring it out of the sky! Shine was just itching to go retrieve something & would get worked up every time Dale started calling. We had a lot of mallards circling us and then they would land just on the other side of the area we were in. I bet there were 50 mallards over there just over a wood line. I watched piles of them come in there from all directions. That?s not to say that our boys didn?t pull the trigger on a few as they circled, but we only had a few come right down the pipe. One wood duck even slipped right down the middle of all of us while we were watching some other ducks circling behind us. It was ?Murphy?s Law? I guess.
Eventually we called it a day and started out of the swamp. As soon as the kids unloaded their guns, you guessed it, another group came circling in. The kids loaded up their guns, but it was too late. Everyone then re-unloaded and headed out. I got the guys to stop on the edge of the swamp for a picture & then we headed out. As we walked along the edge of the swamp we saw those coots out there again and were almost about to let them have it, but decided not to go after them as they were headed the other direction.
We then returned to the cabin for another great breakfast and more hunting stories. Nothing like having a hot breakfast waiting on you as soon as you get off the water. We all sat around for a bit and talked about the morning?s hunt. As we finished eating the youth hunters were back outside practicing their calling. We cleaned up the cabin as much as possible and then we all said our goodbyes.
Even though the youth hunters weren?t able to get any ducks it was still a great overall experience. We met some new friends and shared some great times out by the pond, by the fire, eating some good meals, and in the cabin. Dale & the guys from the watershed hunting club were kind enough to donate their resource to help put this hunt on in hopes of helping to pass on the love of the outdoors & the importance of wildlife conservation to younger generations. Hopefully these youth hunters that won the hunting trip and joined us will continue to value these principles as they grow and become adults. I also encourage you to do the same and find ways to help pass the love of the outdoors on to younger generations.
Thanks again to everyone who helped put this hunt on and to our 2 youth winners Austin & Luke!
Regards,
Clint
There is more in the air than just a little chill. There is an excitement that only the opening of duck season can bring.
This year, we have an added element to amp up the fast approaching season. On November 5, 2011, Sandhills Ducks Unlimited would like to invite you to the 1st Annual Conservation Banquet held at Windy Hill Manor in Pageland. The night will begin at 6:00 pm with a buffet dinner served at 7:00 pm. A live auction will start between 8:00 and 8:30 pm. There will be a silent auction, many door prizes and raffle prizes. There will also be an all you can eat BBQ buffet and an open bar. The auction will consist of DU premium artwork, many guns, hand carved decoys, several hunts, sculptures, knives, jewelry, hunting accessories, and greenwing merchandise. Wrecking Crew Guide Service and Quack ?Em Back Duck Calls & Merchandise will also be set up as vendors at the banquet. Blake Hodge, duck and goose calling champion, will be giving a calling demonstration. It will be an entertaining evening with family, friends, fellowship and lots of fun!
All proceeds benefit the conservation of wetlands across America. Since 1989, DU has conserved nearly 160,000 acres across the Palmetto State, investing more than $40,000,000.00 in South Carolina projects through DU and its partners. During the past year we conserved 2,034 acres through conservation easements and habitat restoration projects on Santee National Wildlife Refuge, ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge, and Botany Wildlife Management Area.
Banquet Details:
Saturday, November 5, 2011 6:00 pm
Windy Hill Manor
158 High Point Church Road
Pageland, SC 29728
$35.00 single ticket / $65.00 couple ticket / $20.00 greenwing ticket
*Includes annual membership
Tickets may also be purchased online here.
For more information, please contact me at (843)622-4938.
We look forward to seeing you all there!
This September weather has been brutaly hot and really tested our endurance and love for the sport. Though, with plenty of crackers, gatorade, and bug spray, we've managed to do pretty good this season. We were able to get some more youth interested in the sport of waterfowl hunting while having their parents spending more time in sporting good stores, purchasing their needs, and some of their wants! We worked with them in the field, discussing firearm safety, decoy placement, conservation, and of course "calling". As we always say, youth are our future!
We?re excited to announce that we?ve partnered with some SC waterfowl enthusiasts & WinnTuck to host a SC Youth Duck Hunt Give-Away! I?m telling you this prize package is one of the best that you could win. I went hunting at this location last year and can tell you that you?ll see more mallards there at one time than you will at almost any place in South Carolina that?s not a preserve. I?m really looking forward to the entries for this contest as well as the hunt itself.
We were contacted by some local waterfowl enthusiasts about them wanting to donate a duck hunt on the Federal Youth Day that happens right after the season ends. Of course we jumped to this opportunity and have been planning ever since. The short of it is that 2 lucky SC youth waterfowl hunters will win a free overnight hunt, stay at a lodge, some gear, free meals, and an awesome hunt!
We do have some rules for entering so be sure to pay attention. Contestants must be from South Carolina and must be 15 years and younger to enter. To enter, the youth hunter must write a paper detailing why they like duck hunting and why being a conservationist is important to the sport of waterfowl hunting. Entries must be submitted by January 15th and then we?ll select the 2 winners and contact them. Shortly thereafter we?ll be getting ready to hunt!
The contest winners can be accompanied by one adult male who will also be able to sit in the blind with the youth on the hunt. We?ll be watching a highly trained duck dog named ?Shine? go and retrieve the ducks that the youth harvest and the whole trip will be videotaped and blogged about right here by me! All meals will be provided on this hunt and, from experience, I can tell you that the meals are good!
The accommodations are really nice as the lodge is literally right beside the duck pond and there will be bunks, a bathroom, air conditioning, a heater, a shower, kitchen, etc. Everything you could possibly need for a great duck hunt will already be there from the lodge all the way to the blinds. This will be a hunt a youth hunter will most likely remember forever. Also, if a winner opts not to stay the night at the lodge we can easily meet up early that Saturday morning of the hunt and make it work.
To top all of this off WinnTuck has joined in and sponsored the event and is giving away some free gear to the winners of this lucky hunt. WinnTuck has some really nice and stylish merchandise and even if we leave without some ducks we?ll have some full bellies, good memories, and really cool stuff to wear.
Below is a video of the setup and Shine the duck dog in action
I?m really looking forward to this so if you know any youth hunters interested in waterfowl hunting, be sure to forward this to them. We?re ready for an action packed weekend & I?m trying to pull strings and even get Mr. Blake Hodge to come out and do some calling lessons on the night before if he?s not booked somewhere else.
Check out the WinnTuck Youth Duck Hunt Give-Away page for more information, pictures, and to submit your entry.
With 58% of the total votes John Shell has won the 2011 WinnTuck Waterfowl Competition! We had some really good entries in this year?s competition and it didn?t take long for the crew from the Charleston area to start logging a ton of votes. We had a major traffic surge in the site out of the Charleston area voting for John so I imagine that?s the area where John?s located!
John had a really nice pic of his dog on a dog-stand right over the water with the wood ducks (what I assume is a limit) hanging from the tree. Most importantly John did get the date in the picture as well! The combination of a good pic + a ton of votes = John?s about to get a bunch of free goodies!
See the voting statistics
Congratulations to John for winning and another big thanks to WinnTuck, Hobo Calls, & Lodge Creek Calls for donating products to make this competition possible! ? Oh yeah ? John, when you read this send me an email so we can figure out when we can get you the prizes.
It?s going to be like a second Christmas for the winner of the 2011 WinnTuck Waterfowl Competition! WinnTuck, Hobo Calls, & Lodge Creek Calls all donated the products that comprise a great prize package for this year?s winner so thanks to our sponsors for making the competition possible.
Thanks to all the hunters who participated and posted pics. We really had some good entries which made it tough to select the best. We had a tough time narrowing down the finalists and we decided to narrow it down to a top 5 instead of a top 3. Now the fate of the winners lies in the hands of the voters!
Voting will be live from 2/9/11 throughout 2/12/11. The winner will be announced on 2/13/11 and the prizes delivered shortly thereafter.
The top 5 pictures (in no particular order) were:
Be sure to go and cast your vote for the WinnTuck 2011 Waterfowl Competition winner!
The top 5 are below
Dale Knight
Gavin Jackson and Justin Gainey
The Wrecking Crew
Dale Knight & Travis Johnson
John Shell