Blog Entries from the WeHuntSC.com blogging crew
Let me first say that I'm excited to be able to share my outdoor adventures with WeHuntSC.com. I was born and raised in Lowrys, SC (Chester County) and I have had a passion for the outdoors since I was a little kid. Hopefully, I can paint a picture of some of my hunting memories that illustrates my passion for South Carolina and Hunting. I will start out by telling you about a deer hunt from earlier this year.
Every hunter dreams of harvesting a Trophy animal or as I like to say, a Wall Hanger. I've always had the mindset that the glass is half full. With that thought, I've never judged the success of a hunt on whether I killed a "Mature" animal. A "Trophy". A "Wall Hanger".
Now for the whole truth. Over the past few years, I've started to wonder if taking a "Wall Hanger" would ever happen. Let me remind you that a trophy is in the eye of the beholder. To me a trophy is a mature animal. Period. I'm not worried about Boone and Crockett status. To me a "Trophy" whitetail is defined by more than just how many inches of antler are on its head. Anyways. My chances to harvest a trophy animal have mounted over the past several years. The most recent "chance" happened during the opening day of the 2009 season. A perfect quartering shot put the deer down, only to have him disappear without a trace. That haunted me for an entire year.
Fast forward to October 16, 2010. The morning was cool and crisp and the air was still. I started to my stand about an hour and a half before first light. I wanted to get in early because I had to cross a soybean field which usually held deer during the night. By going in early, I thought if I were to spook deer going into my stand the woods would have time to quiet down before light. Well, on the way in to my stand it was quiet. No spooked deer was a good start. As I got settled into the stand, I put on my face mask and gloves and prepared for an hour of sitting in the dark. You would think that this would be a boring hour, but it was actually quite exciting. A pack of coyotes made themselves known with a sequence of howls that sent chills up my spine. Then a few hoots from several owls made me feel like I was not the wisest one in the woods that morning. After all that fuss, the crunch of the leaves signaled that a deer was approaching. The deer cruised through without pause and the crunch of leaves faded into the dark. It was too dark to see but my suspicions led me to believe that this was a buck heading to the soybean field to check his scrapes.
As the horizon started to brighten, the silhouette of several deer moved through the soybean field. I was on full alert. Several deer moved through the hardwoods to my left and eased into a cut over that I was facing. It seemed that the deer were all around. The next deer I saw was a doe on the far edge of the soybean field. She was by herself which to me signaled that a buck could be following . She stopped for a split second and then moved on. Then I saw him. WOW! I immediately got into position because I knew that my window of opportunity was small. He stopped and worked a scrap for a second. It was as if time stood still. Here was my "chance" to redeem myself and silence those haunting memories. He then turned and started to walk off. I put the crosshairs on his shoulder and squeezed. BOOM! The buck jolted and ran out of sight. My heart and mind were racing at this point. Do I get down or do I wait. That wasn't a hard decision. I jumped down, literally. I made a quick pace to the edge of the field and there he was. I put a quick stalk on him to make sure he was down and then I woke up the woods. BBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOYAAAAAAAAWWWWW! (Can you tell I was pumped?)
My glass was now full! That mindset that the glass was always half full started to be an excuse. Of course I love to be in the woods and yes it's not all about the kill, but every hunter dreams of harvesting a "Mature" animal. A "Trophy". A "Wall Hanger". Well, now I have mine!