“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.
Representative Bauer on a deer hunt with SCDNR officers.
Representative Bauer not only wants to bring awareness to women that participate in outdoor traditions, but she also wants to help share information about where women can go to learn more and receive proper training. She brought together a group of entities that are committed to helping women gain more skills in the outdoors including the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the National Wild Turkey Federation, and more. The group compiled a list of clinics and workshops that are available to women across the state and will be updated as opportunities arise. The South Carolina Wildlife Federation is excited to be a part of this effort to help encourage women to participate in hunting and fishing and to inspire them to advocate for and conserve our natural resources.
Alex Killman is a guest writer for SCWF sharing his experiences of connecting with nature, enjoying the outdoors, and advocating for conservation – all through hunting.
November is seen as the best time of year to be in the deer woods, and for good reason. Absolutely anything can happen. A big-bodied 10-point that you’ve never seen before could leave his home range three miles away and stroll by your stand at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. This is the allure of hunting the rut. There’s more opportunity for daytime action as bucks cruise at all hours of the day searching for does ready to breed (estrous). Though the rut holds the biggest opportunities for success, there’s still a fair bit of knowledge required to hunt it effectively.
The Rut
The rut is brought on by photoperiod, which is the amount of daylight in a 24-hour period. Because of this, the rut occurs on roughly the same day each year, give or take a day or two. Cooler weather and/or higher pressure can cause the bulk of daytime rutting activity to kick off a little earlier or later. In SC, peak rut occurs right around November 1st. Bucks, fueled by a surge in testosterone, become less cautious as they seek out does in estrus. This is when aggressive tactics can pay off. Utilizing calls and rattling antlers mimicking buck fights can draw out dominant bucks. Positioning stands near doe bedding areas or along travel corridors where bucks are likely to search for hot does increases your odds of an encounter. Setting up on a funnel or pinch point that deer typically need to travel through as they cruise from one doe bedding area to another is the best tactic for tagging a buck during the rut. These locations are perfect for all-day sits. Bucks typically chase does early morning, then bed down for a while before resuming their cruising behavior around 10:00AM. If you find a good pinch or funnel between doe bedding areas that is tucked back in the cover, you’ve found a great spot for an all-day rut hunt.
The Post-Rut
As the frenzy of the rut fades, typically by mid- to late-November, bucks begin cruising less and revert back to their territorial behavior, which includes opening back up previously hot scrapes that were left unchecked during peak rut. They’ll also begin focusing back on food sources, as bucks can lose up to 20% of their body weight during the rut. Because of this, focusing on areas with abundant food sources, like agricultural fields or oak stands with leftover acorns is a good idea. I also like to focus on scrapes that I’ve seen to be opened back up. Calling should be more subdued during this period if used at all. The post-rut can be challenging, as bucks are wary and recuperating from all the fighting and lack of calories brought on by the rut.
The Second Rut
Image Credit: In the Zone by Lyric Little John.
The second rut, occurring about 28 days after the peak of the first, is often overlooked but holds nearly as much potential as the first rut. Our second peak rut in SC occurs around November 29th, so November 26th-December 7th is a great window to try and tag another buck. This phase kicks in when does that were not bred during the first rut go into a second cycle, while some doe fawns come into estrous for the first time. Tactics during the second rut involve targeting similar areas as the first rut, while also adding in late-season food sources or isolated pockets that experienced less hunting pressure. Calling should be softer, mimicking young bucks or doe bleats. The second rut is less intense, but bucks are still motivated, providing us with a second chance at success. Around late October, you’ll often see younger bucks chasing around does long before they’re ready for breeding. Because of this, I believe younger bucks bow out of the race earlier than older, mature bucks. So, though the second rut may not be quite as hot as the first, your odds of catching a mature cruising buck seem to be higher. So, if you’ve still got a tag, don’t sit out the second rut.
It’s Not a Sprint
Though the first week of November may be the most intense part of the rut, heavy rutting behavior itself really occurs for around 4-6 weeks starting with the last week of October into the first week or two of December. It just takes a little knowledge and persistence to hunt effectively in each stage. You don’t hunt the first week of November the same as the 3rd week when things have died down tremendously; or the second week of November the same as the first week of December. Recognizing the stage you’re in based on deer behavior is crucial to filling a tag in the month of November. But remember that no matter the date, it’s the Magic Month, so anything can happen at any time.
Image Credit: “Deer taking a plunge” by Charles Rucinski.
By Ari Hippensteal, SCWF Community Outreach Manager
SCWF staff and volunteers, along with the Friends of the Community Orchard, gathered together to install a new demonstration native plant pollinator garden in the Rosewood Community Orchard.
Having just recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, the Rosewood Community Orchard is home to a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Karen Murphy, one of the keepers of the orchard, helped to select a variety of native pollinator plants that were put into the garden during the volunteer day. Calico asters, swamp milkweed, snowy milkweed, narrow-leaved sunflowers, cardinal flowers, spotted beebalm, sweet goldenrod, and blazing stars are all new additions to the orchard, thanks to the generosity of Wells Fargo, who sponsored this project.
These pollinator plants will aid the fruit and vegetable plants that already grow there. Not only do they provide a source of food for pollinators, but their bright and colorful flowers will also attract many different pollinator species to help move pollen within and between plants of the orchard.
Rosewood Community Orchard is unique in that it allows all who pass through it to take any of the produce that is grown in the space and it is a great opportunity to learn more about gardening, plants, and the many pollinators that call the orchard home.
The pollinator garden was also carefully placed at the intersections of the orchard handicap-accessible boardwalk, meaning that the garden is accessible to all members of the Rosewood Community.
Thank you to Wells Fargo for sponsoring this project.
Ari Hippensteal, SCWF Community Outreach Manager, and previous volunteer for the Rosewood Community Orchard boardwalk noted that “This is a special place that you always feel drawn to come back to. You can tell how much effort and love has been put into the orchard and how cherished it is by the people who spend time here.”
Rudy Mancke was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by SCWF’s Executive Director Sara Green at our 90th Anniversary Celebration in 2021.
South Carolina lost a legendary naturalist this week. Rudy Mancke introduced so many people to the amazing natural world around us through his work on television and radio, at the SC State Museum and the University of South Carolina, as well as countless nature walks with groups all over the state.
Rudy had the special ability to open our eyes to the flora and fauna of our beautiful state and inspire conservation of natural resources for future generations. His gift of storytelling helped to make the information relatable to our own lives, and therefore easier to remember. When leading a nature walk, Rudy would often excitedly find so many things to show the group, that we were already entranced before even leaving the parking lot.
Rudy’s passion, curiosity and wonder of nature were qualities that endeared him to us all. His desire to educate others is now the legacy that he leaves in so many fellow naturalists following in his footsteps.
Here are just a few memorable quotes from Rudy:
“My definition of a naturalist is someone who studies the world of nature and marvels at it.”
“I recognize the healing properties of being in nature, especially when the man-made world begins to feel overwhelming.”
“If you know the names of things and the relationships between them, it helps you realize you’re a part of something bigger than yourself.”
“Death is a part of life, of course. We all know that. That’s not good, bad, right or wrong. But that’s what the system is like on the third planet from the star we call the sun, and we’re a part of that system aren’t we? Death is a part of life because of the recycling system we’ve got. It doesn’t work if death doesn’t come into play.”
In recognition of his life work in educating South Carolinians for many decades, SCWF recognized Naturalist Rudy Mancke with a Communication Conservationist of the Year Award in 1979 as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.
Rudy Mancke was presented with a SCWF Communication Conservationist of the Year Award by Governor Dick Riley in 1979.
Rudy Mancke grew up in Spartanburg, SC, and attended Wofford College for his bachelor’s degree and the University of South Carolina for graduate study. He began his career as a high school teacher of biology and geology. He then served as the natural history curator at the South Carolina State Museum for 10 years before becoming the naturalist and co-host of South Carolina ETV’s NatureScene, which began its long run in 1978 and introduced millions of viewers to a natural world of wonder that the average person might easily overlook. Rudy was happy to have founded the South Carolina Association of Naturalists in 1976, an organization dedicated to the gathering and sharing of natural history information about South Carolina. Since retiring from SCETV, Rudy had gone on to teach at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, and was their first “Naturalist-in-Residence”.
“Best class”, “learned new stuff”, “awesome instructors”…these are some of the comments from our new POWR Up retreat held at Santee State Park and the surrounding area October 13 – 14, 2023. We were excited to have over 70 participants attend this event!
POWR Up is part of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation’s Palmetto Outdoor Women’s Retreat series. We have recently partnered with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to enhance the POWR program and are thrilled with this new partnership. During the POWR Up event, participants are able to choose three classes that are three hours long for a thorough introduction to the topic. Our volunteer instructors are extremely knowledgeable and patient making POWR Up an incredible experience.
Boating and Trailering was a very popular class that fillled quickly! Participants practised backing the boat into the water, driving the boat on the water, and driving the truck pulling the trailer .
Allie Frierson is pictured holding one of the many bass she caught in Bass Fishing class! She commented, “I learned I had been using the fake worms (soft plastic worms) all wrong. Our instructor, Dearal, showed us some of the best ways to rig them for the greatest chance to catch fish. He said that I ‘made the instructors look good’ since I caught so many fish! Dearal, April, and Scott were wonderful instructors.”
L to R: Ashley Carothers teaching Scouting and Hunting SC. Kayak Fishing class participants enjoyed being out on the water and learning how to manage fishing equipment as well as paddling.
We would not be able to offer this amazing event without the support of our wonderful instructors and supportive sponsors. We want to thank Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s Outdoor Fund, Nature Adventure Outfitters, Clemson Sandhills Research Station, Santee Cooper Country, Angling Women, and all of our instructors. These sponsors enabled us to provide a wide variety of activities conducted by a diverse group of expert volunteer instructors. A special thank you is due to the numerous individual volunteers who so willingly donated their time to share their knowledge and expertise. We thank them for their contributions to our event and encourage participants and others to support their businesses.
Event Organizer: BeBe Dalton Harrison
Check out all the great classes that we were able to offer with the help of our volunteer instructors!
Backpacking, Outdoor Photography – Glenn Gardner
Bass Fishing – April and Dearal Rodgers, Scott Faile
Birding – Annette Gibert
Boating and Trailering – Dennetta Dawson, Elise Still, Jim Shelton, Rhett Bissell, Brittney Washington, Ray Lewis
Scouting and Hunting SC – Ashley Carothers
Kayak Paddling – Elizabeth Anderegg, April Childress
Kayak Fishing – Jennifer and Jason Schall
Wilderness Trek, Hiking with a Master Naturalist – Tami Kyre, Jessica Holm
Please check out the pictures below of the classes we were able to offer at this year’s retreat.
Support Staff: Sara Green, Beverley Roberts, Angi Fuller Wildt, Ari Hippensteal, Susan Dalton, Abigail Sharpe, Paula Mills, and Cody Bishop.
It was rewarding for the staff to have the opportunity to see so many participants connect with each other, connect with the outdoors, and gain valuable experience at POWR Up. Building confident, conservation-minded outdoor enthusiasts is what this event is all about and participants definitely fit the bill. One excited participant commented, “Thanks for a great weekend. I can’t wait to come again and try more classes!”
For more information on the POWR series of events, click here . We invite you to join the “Palmetto Outdoors Women” page on Facebook and scwf_powr on Instagram to stay connected to SCWF, each other, and the outdoors.
POWR Up participants and instructors gathered for a photo before the last class!
We are grateful to the 30 volunteers from Capgemini who joined SCWF staff for a litter sweep at Harbison in Irmo, SC on Thursday, October 12th. There are so many areas of our state that could benefit from a litter sweep, and you probably pass by many in your daily life without even realizing it. As Ari Hippensteal, our Community Outreach Manager, commented “This is an area I often go through but never really took the time to see how much litter had accumulated here, once you focus on an area you can really improve it, and once we started going we really made a huge difference to the space.
This was the second litter sweep that Capgemini has done with us! This project was also in partnership with the South Carolina Aquarium. The litter that was removed was recorded on SCWF’s page on the SC Aquarium’s “Litter Free Digital Journal” program. Check out the links below to see the impact of this litter sweep. Much of the litter we picked up would have made its way into our local streams and rivers and would eventually end up in the ocean. Thank you to everyone for making our state a safer and cleaner place for wildlife and people!
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act! Join us as we highlight species throughout the year that have benefited from this landmark legislation.
Did you know that we have a native tortoise species in South Carolina? The Gopher tortoise is the only species of tortoise found in the southeast and one of only four tortoise species found in the entire U.S.! They dig large underground burrows that hundreds of other animals use for shelter and protection from predators. Gopher tortoises play an important role in the ecosystem as a keystone species, and this makes the protection of this species critical to the entire food web.
Read more about the Gopher tortoise and efforts to protect this species here.
The overall points leader for fish, Colton Bateman, caught over 200 fish!
“My son and I had so much fun competing against each other on its (the SCWF Plishing Challenge) opening day”, messaged James Bateman, a 2023 Plishing Challenge participant.
SCWF hosted our second annual SCWF Plishing Challenge over the summer of 2023. We shared information about fishing, litter, conservation, best fishing practices, and more with our participants to help them make the most of the challenge and their time on the water. We increased our registrations in the program by about 75% over last year and are excited to see it grow. Nearly 100 bags of litter were removed from our waterways and over 1,200 fish were logged into the challenge, most of which were released.
This initiative was also an opportunity to partner with conservation-minded local organizations and businesses. For example, Wateree Dive Center invited us for their Lake Murray dive cleanup, and Keep the Midlands Beautiful, provided gear for us to do our own litter sweep!
We have been sharing photos and videos of participants and sponsors on our social media channels and have seen wonderful engagement, especially on one of the videos from Palmetto State Armory, one of our major sponsors. We also shared valuable information on litter prevention in South Carolina from another major sponsor, Palmetto Pride. With our product sponsors (including AFTCO and Local Boy) sharing the challenge on their social media, we actually had participants in 14 states this year!
We also want to thank our sponsors South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Angling Women, South Carolina Boating and Fishing Alliance, and Riverwinds Landing. SCWF director of education, BeBe Dalton Harrison shared, “This is truly helping engage anglers to understand safe fish handling, conservation, and habitat protection while keeping casual anglers engaged in fishing fun.
For more information on the SCWF Plishing Challenge and how to be a part of the fun next summer, please contact Harrison at bebe@scwf.org
Banner image credit: Fishing at Myrtle Beach Pier by Ryan McRae.
The first year of “Wildlife Connections from the Mountains to the Sea” program was a success! This unique science-based curriculum, developed by SCWF staff, teaches students how wildlife is intricately linked to their habitats and how South Carolina’s habitats are connected. Students were engaged through hands-on activities, class visits from SCWF education staff, and received take-home materials to encourage outdoor exploration.
We are grateful to the ten upper elementary teachers from Title One schools who participated in this pilot program for the 2022-2023 academic year and to Dominion Energy for their financial support. Teachers around the state applied to participate in this program and applicants were selected based on need and geographic location. Once selected, the teachers attended a virtual meeting with SCWF education staff to introduce them to the kits they would receive, help them understand the activities, and learn what to expect from the program.
The kits that the teachers received contain three hands-on activities for every student related to owls, oysters, and fish, that align with the upper elementary science standards. After the kits were completed by the class, a SCWF education staff member visited the class and made a presentation tying together the lessons learned from these activities.
Students at Whitmire Community School were enthralled by the owl pellet dissection activity. Each student received their own owl pellet to disect.
Students were also provided take-home items including a certificate of completion, multiple field guides, a magnifying glass, reusable zippered tote bags, and other items to encourage outdoor exploration and to inspire them to become future conservationists.
The Fashion a Fish activity, which ties in with the science standards, teaches students about fish adaptations and also allows for creativity.
Please contact BeBe Dalton Harrison, SCWF’s Director of Education, if you would like to apply to be a part of this program in the future. You can email her at mail@scwf.org or call the office at 803-256-0670.
SCWF is able to offer this program completely free of charge thanks to the support of Dominion Energy. Thank you again to the teachers and schools who participated in this year’s program! We look forward to incorporating their feedback as we grow the program.
“Oh Deer!”, shouted the instructor as several educators ran across a field recently to find what they needed to survive as a white-tailed deer. This classic activity from Project WILD gives a hands-on demonstration of what white-tailed deer, or any animal for that matter, need to survive in a habitat, which is food, water, shelter, and space. Not only do the educators learn how to carry out this activity, they get valuable background information in an easy to use format for their classes whether it is formal or informal education.
BeBe Dalton Harrison, SCWF Director of Education recently had the pleasure of training the environmental educators of Camp Leopold in Project Wild to help them prepare lesson plans for the many students who receive education through their onsite programs.
Camp Leopold hosts more than 2,500 students on site a year and this workshop provided certification and access to Project WILD and Project Learning Tree programs that are full of educational and fun workshops to be shared with their students! Project Learning Tree is hosted by the South Carolina Forestry Commission who shared this valuable training workshop with SCWF.
Difficult environmental subjects such as habitat fragmentation, food webs, and carrying capacity all have activities associated with them that make these topics easier for studentsy and fun to understand through hands-on lessons that can be done in or outside of the classroom at a variety of different age levels.
To best understand how to run some of these activities, Camp Leopold educators tried them out for themselves! Educators enjoyed their time playing games like “Oh Deer” and took turns teaching activities for the rest of the group. After doing these activities for themselves, educators were able to “debrief” about how to best run them and how they could change them depending on different settings, age ranges, or needs.
Creating these hands-on experiences and out-of-class experiences gives children the opportunity to engage with the environment in fun ways that they will remember and enjoy. A huge thank you to Camp Leopold for all the work they have done and for taking the time to learn a little more to give back to students!
