News
SCWF’s was excited to offer their very first POWR + Quail Hunt on December 18, 2023! The hunt was led by SCWF Board Member, Hunter Morton, an educator at the school and owner of ALL IN Kennels. His dog Huk, an accomplished German Shorthaired pointer, accompanied the group to assist with the hunt. German Shorthaired pointers are popular bird dogs, and it was easy to see how much Huk enjoyed finding the coveys of quail.
“Next time”, said Representative Heather Bauer after climbing out of the deer stand recently. Although she did not harvest a deer on that hunt, Representative Bauer spent the day learning about deer hunting including safety, types of gear, what to wear, how to prepare, and more. Representative Bauer, a state representative from Richland County is co-chair of the Sportsmen’s Caucus and serves on the Wildlife subcommittee of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and sponsored the bill to designate the third Saturday in November as “Women in Hunting and Fishing Awareness Day” each year.
On Saturday, September 30, an estimated 2,000 youth and adults attended the annual National Hunting & Fishing Day event at Oconee County’s South Cove County Park near Seneca. This free event offers many hands-on opportunities to learn the basics of outdoor skills like fishing, archery, and shooting with an air-rifle.
Thank YOU to the South Carolina Wildlife Partnership (SCWP) for facilitating last weekend’s dove hunt with our Academics Afield students from Clemson University. We truly appreciate SCWP working with the landowner who allowed these students to participate in a dove shoot on their property. This group is made up of student “guides” and student “participants” learning to hunt. It was especially nice for those participants who harvested their first dove.
Even for adults, hunting can be kind of boring at times. In the age we live in, you’d be hard-pressed to find a hunter, even a diehard, who doesn’t pull their phone out within the first couple hours of a hunt. There’s so much peace and beauty to be found in the silence and stillness of the woods, away from all the technology and noise, but we’ve become so connected to it all that it’s hard to step away from it for even just a few hours.
High school students from across the state gathered recently at King's Mountain State Park to take part in Camp Wildwood, a conservation camp founded in 1954. Campers attending the camp are selected after being nominated by a teacher or other advisor and take part in daily classes including Wildlife, Fisheries, Forestry, Hunter Education, Boating, and more. In addition to the classes, campers participate in hikes, crazy sports, team building, leadership development, and dances. This camp is an excellent opportunity for high school students to learn more about careers in natural resources and the outdoors.
Busy. That’s the word that describes most Americans living in 2023; especially when you throw a family in the mix. Get up, get the kids fed and ready for school, head off to work minutes later, get home in time for dinner, put the kids to bed, watch a little Netflix, then rinse and repeat the next day. The exhaustion that comes from all that we do on a weekly basis can make it extremely difficult to find the time or energy to head off to the woods looking for deer on the weekends. But I’m here to tell you that summer scouting is one of the single most effective ways to have success in the fall.
With the weather warming up, and pollen covering absolutely every single thing not contained within a sterile bubble, there’s only one thing going through the minds of every South Carolina turkey hunter – Spring gobbles. There’s nothing like looking out across a foggy field edge on a crisp morning as gobbles begin to ring out in the distance, signifying the start of the best seven weeks of the year.
A Different Perspective
There are some things in this life that just can’t be understood without experiencing them firsthand. Being married, having a child, witnessing the Northern Lights - all things that hold so much weight that they often change one’s view of the world indefinitely. On the surface, hunting doesn’t seem to be on such a level.
Growing up in an outdoor household on a farm in Ravenel, SC, I made my playground the venturous Lowcountry marshes and maritime forests. I thought that going out to explore the woods, shoot bottles with a BB gun, and hunt and fish was what every early 2000’s kid did, or at least had the opportunity to do. It wasn’t until I got older, that while I had the time of my life learning about the outdoors, little did I know that I was one of the lucky ones that didn’t grow up concealed from nature by concrete walls and urban sprawl.
The General Assembly, 124th Session, adjourned sine die at 5:00 pm on May 12 thus concluding their work in the second year of a two-year session. All in all, the 2022 Legislative Session proved to be beneficial to our state’s wildlife, particularly shore birds, and good to conservation and land protection initiatives some of which are highlighted below.
Our first group of Academics Afield students from Clemson University participated in a hunt at the Jocassee Gorges property, hosted by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) this week. This group consisted of students not only participating in the program, but students also serving as hunting mentors.
Upstate South Carolina is hosting a National Hunting & Fishing Day celebration at Oconee County’s South Cove Park near Seneca on Saturday, Sept. 25. The 13th Upstate celebration of National Hunting and Fishing Day will include activities such as archery, air rifles, camouflage games, fly tying and casting, kayaking, fishing on Lake Keowee and much more. All activities are free, and all gear is provided.
SCWF has completed a nesting box restoration project with funds from a generous grant with Duke Energy’s Habitat Enhancement Program, along with partnerships with SCDNR, the Lake Wateree Association, as well as SCWF employees and volunteers. The grant allowed installation of eighty wood duck boxes along the shores of Lake Wateree, Fishing Creek Reservoir, Rocky Creek, Cedar Creek Reservoirs, the Wateree River, and adjacent floodplain habitats from early 2018 to the summer of 2020.
The overwhelming bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate for America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act is a tremendous win for America’s wildlife and sporting traditions. Championed by Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the bill invests in wetlands, fisheries, Chronic Wasting Disease research, and habitat restoration projects in the Chesapeake Bay and throughout the country. The U.S. House of Representatives should quickly follow suit and pass this important legislation so it can be signed into law.
The Retreat was sponsored by Cabela’s and Hickory Knob State Resort Park. We were pleased to have the support of several outfitters and organizations and a diverse group of expert volunteer instructors. Please thank them for their contributions to our event. Check out the full list of volunteers here, as well as photos from the event!
