So I dropped the cash on a non-resident South Carolina hunting license this year so I could hunt with my dad and grandfather. Weekends in August and September were spend scouting in preparation for the first weekend in October. I had already been hunting a few Saturdays in September once North Carolina's archery season opened as well as the Eastern muzzleloader opener Paul posted a few weeks ago. But nothing beats October and the changing fall colors in brings to the deer woods and that first weekend of muzzleloader season in the Upstate of SC was what I had been waiting for. Friday the 4th found us hunting a strip of oaks running between pines and a clearcut on Sumter National Forest land in Laurens County, both in the morning and evening.
The action was slow in the a.m. for myself and dad but my grandfather was able to see a few deer and got a shot off at a spike. The shot was low and forward however and we spent the middle part of the day searching the pine ridge after the decent blood we were following the first 100 yards went to sparse and then absent (consensus thought is a non-lethal front leg hit). That afternoon was again slow for dad and me but my grandfather watched a doe scoop up acorns just yards from him, giving her a pass til another day. Saturday morning was spend on some National Forest land in western Fairfield County and was largely a bust til 11:35 a.m. My grandfather had just climbed down and was about to step out of his climber when he looked over and saw a spike staring at him. Unfortunately for the spike he decided to stick around too long and a well placed shot from my grandfather's CVA Optima to the front shoulder dropped him in his tracks. Back to the camper we headed, getting him skinned, quartered and on ice before it was time to head back out into the woods for the last sit of the weekend. That evening we hunted National Forest land again, this time in Newberry county at a place were 4 good public land bucks have hit the ground in the years prior. After a hot and sweaty walk across a clearcut, we settled in for the afternoon. At 5:45 a single shot rang out below me and the end result was an 8-pointer for dad! He just happened to glance over at the edge of the clearcut and there stood the buck eating acorns, the rest as they say, is history. I've attached some pics from that weekend for you to enjoy and expect more recaps throughout the season!
-C.B.
-C.B.
RSS Feed
