Written by: Clint Patterson
1/16/2012 10:17 PM 

The 2nd Annual WeHuntSC.com Predator Challenge was this past weekend and it was another great event. This year’s Predator Challenge showed a lot of growth in both the number of competition entrants as well as sponsors. We had over 100 hunters participating in SC, NC, & GA and minus a little bit of wind on Friday night, the conditions were great!

Hunting started at 3pm on Friday and hunters had to bring any predators they bagged over the weekend to the check-in on Sunday by 4pm. Every few minutes shoppers from the Sportsman’s Warehouse came by the check-in to see what was going on and slowly but surely hunters brought their predators to check-in. It was really neat to meet a lot of the guys (and gals) who participated in the weekend challenge and get to know the people behind the avatars/posts we see online. I learned a lot simply from talking with these hunters and feeling them out for helpful tips/info on predator hunting. There was definitely a synergy at the check-in and one could feel the passion for predator hunting among those present at the Sportsman’s Warehouse.

One thing I can tell you is that the sport of predator hunting is growing fast in our area. Everyone we spoke with, whether they currently hunted predators or not, spoke of how they wanted to start predator hunting or how they’d heard about it and were really interested in it. A lot of people we spoke with are really focusing on predator hunting and are putting more energy into it. Collectively we feel the need to hunt predators as coyotes are killing livestock that farmers depend on along with drastically reducing deer & turkey populations in our state. Just read DNR’s latest report to see some statistics.

Below is a video with some pics from the check-in

One neat thing I’d like to mention is that one of our teams even had sponsors for their hunt. David Pruett & Todd Davis’ “Team Upstate” was sponsored by Golf Cart Service of Roebuck, SC. David & Todd brought a Stealth Electric Vehicles Apache 4x4 EV to the check-in and I’m telling you what... that thing was slick. It’s electric & extremely quiet. Todd & David said they even tried to get it stuck and couldn’t… and didn’t even have to put it in 4 wheel drive. If you think being electric means no power and no speed… then think again because this unit was stout.

Challenge Results

• 1st Place – Team Defending Champs (Terry William, Mike Williams, & Chip Humphries)
  • 1 coyote, 1 bobcat, 3 foxes
• 2nd Place – Team Black Coyote - Jesse Dean & Chas Morton (Lincolnton NC / Rock Hill SC)
  • 1 coyote
• 3rd Place – Team Huntshack - Tommy Darby, Spiro Poulos, Darrin Boyd (Chester, SC)
  • 1 fox
• Big Dog Winner – Team Black Coyote - Jesse Dean & Chas Morton (Lincolnton NC / Rock Hill SC)
  • 40lb coyote

Congratulations to Terry, Mike, & Chip for going back to back and really representing by bringing in a truck load of predators. I also thought it was a very kind act when Terry, Mike, & Chip turned around and gave the majority of their prizes away to the other hunters and attendees at the check-in. Because many of the prizes were duplicates from last year they decided to share their winnings with those in attendance. So we put names in a hat and drew them out & gave most of their prizes 1 by 1 to everyone present at the check-in. So kudos to Team Defending Champs for not only winning, but for being gracious with their prizes as well. (I think everyone at the check-in would agree).

The big winner of the day was Team Black Coyote who won both 2nd place and the Big Dawg award. Winning both categories doubled their prizes winnings. Mr. Jesse Dean and his son drove away with some really big smiles on their faces and with a truck full of prizes headed back to Lincolnton, NC. Jesse was pumped up and rightfully so!

Thanks again to all the sponsors who donated prizes so that we could host the challenge again. We’ll be back next year at the same time to do it again so from now until then… keep shooting coyotes!

Regards,

Clint

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Tags: predator challenge

Categories: Hunting, Predator, News

Location: Blogs Clint Patterson

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