About Trophy Hunting in South Carolina
I once knew a successful hunter who had a garage shelf lined with eight-point antlers from deer he had killed. He took them all in the same place, at nearly the same time of day, year after year. All his peers admired him as a hunter as he inevitably returned from his hunt with a nice deer. He had developed a pattern that provided venison and modest trophies, which he eventually found hard to break. When he went after a larger trophy deer by switching locations and methods, his first efforts were unfruitful as they most often are. He could not bear his family and friends asking the inevitable question, "Did you get a deer?" Having received so much admiration for his previous successes he could not bear having to tell them "no." It was only after the local limit was increased to two deer per hunter that he renewed his interest in taking a true trophy. He took his first deer (another eight-pointer) "for success" and kept his remaining tag open for more impressive possibilities.
The true South Carolina trophy deer hunter, the hunter seeking an exceptional animal of possible record class, passes on a lot of lesser deer in his search for the superior animal. Answering the question, "Did you get a deer?" is an ongoing challenge for trophy hunters to deal with. Many people simply do not understand the goal of taking a significant trophy, or possibly even a record book deer. Frankly, they don't believe that you are much of a hunter if you return home empty-handed, and they canÕt begin to understand that you're turning down six and eight-point bucks.
The only thing that exceeds the excitement of the adventure and the chase is the thrill of bagging your first South Carolina trophy whitetail buck. As you progress in your skills and become successful at normal deer hunting, and you have plenty of venison in the deep freeze, chances are that you will not become bored with the sport, but will begin to strive for bigger and more impressive trophies. "As we grow older the drink must become stronger to produce the same effect."
When you are just a beginning deer hunter, it hurts your spirit (not to mention your pride and ego) if you donÕt get a deer. But, as the hunter gets older, more experienced and more seasoned, he no longer measure success by bringing a deer home. The mere fact of bringing home a deer becomes less important. You measure your success based on having an enjoyable time in the field and witnessing all of the marvels of Mother Nature. Of course, bringing home the Òtrophy of a lifetimeÓ always makes things even better.
The major breakthrough comes when the hunter turns down his first eight-point deer. Since there are some outstanding eight-pointers out there, that might be the trophy of a lifetime, I should perhaps say, when the hunter turns down his first large-racked animal. After all, for several years, I have been trying to outwit a big, trophy eight-pointer with antler bases that are larger than beer cans.
Trophy bucks are seldom careless. They got to be what they are by playing it smart. Hunting them requires more work. The South Carolina deer hunter has to learn to think as they do. You usually find the South Carolina trophy bucks where and when you least expect to find them.
The trophy hunter has conditioned himself to glance at does only briefly. If the hunter looks at them too long they seem to grow hornsÑtheir ears begin to look like antlers. The trophy hunter looks for the buck, spending as little time as possible assessing the does. The trophy hunter watches the does for signals as to where to look for the buck. The oldest doe in the group is the one to watch. She is the one chosen by the buck to check out the area. If you have not spotted the buck, then focus your attention on her. If a buck is around she will betray his presence. She will stare in the direction of the buck and work for you like a bird dog, pointing a covey of quail.
Smart old bucks often let the younger deer stay out in front of them for safety purposes. If you go ahead and take a quick shot at the beautiful ten-pointer that just walked into the clearing, you may have just blown your chance at taking a record-smashing deer that was only seconds away from stepping into view. Big bucks stick together more than most hunters think. The dominant buck will usually be in the rear and will usually be the last one you will see. Whether intentionally or not, the trophy bucks seem to use the lesser bucks and does as scouts and decoys for you, the hunter. If you are truly looking for big antlers, these are all things you must keep in mind. Give the does and anything less than a true trophy buck only a momentary glance, and look for that larger racked trophy to be following behind in the shadows.
In deer hunting, there are contradictions to general truths and exceptions to the rules. These "contradictions" are actually separate truths to be rightly divided in accordance with the particular circumstances.
For example, take these two statements:
"To find a trophy deer, it is a good idea to check records and hunt the area that indicated such deer are present."
"Most trophy deer are found where they are not expected to be."
In this case, an area that has historically produced outstanding trophy deer may be experiencing increased hunting pressure since it was publicized. Thus the area, although proven capable of producing superior animals, may no longer have many bucks living long enough to reach maturity and fulfill their trophy potential. The wise hunter would take this into consideration and blend the second statement with the first and look for an area in the same general location that seems to be overlooked and to have less hunting pressure.
By passing up a lot of lesser deer in search of a trophy, a hunter could easily become calloused and not get as excited when seeing deer. But, you must always be alert, or you may not react swiftly enough and miss your chance at a trophy of a lifetime. When passing up deer becomes routine, it can hinder your performance. Stay alert and train yourself to size up a rack swiftly and accurately.
When you have disciplined yourself to be patient and long-suffering, have kept with a workable plan, and have found the trophy deer you plan to take, there comes a moment when the whole enterprise can collapse. When you do, finally, get the opportunity to take that trophy youÕve been looking for, you may be mesmerized by the massive antlers and fall prey to "buck fever" and freeze stiff, just locking up, shaking violently, or shooting loosely as your eyes roll around in their sockets.
Some older bucks choose to be loners. Very old bucks that have lost their zeal for cohabitation would rather take their chances alone and keep the risk factor to themselves. During hunting season they will usually just select a good spot and sit the daylight hours out until hunters have left the woods. Perhaps such deer prefer to remain alone since they know that more deer mean more tracks, more scent, more noise, more movement, and subsequently, more danger. These deer are unsociable and will run off other deer. Some are real hermits year-round except, of course, during the rut.
Very old deer, and some of the best trophies, leave little sign of their presence such as territorial rubs and scrapes. They have advanced to the point of survival where they realize that leaving these telltale signs for hunters is not in their best interest. They still leave sign, but inevitably will be off of the beaten path where few hunters dare to go. Big, old South Carolina bucks are often found where there are fewer deer and less sign. Hunting these animals has given me reason to assert that the whitetail deer is definitely a reasoning animal. A world record deer is worth millions of dollars to the hunter who tags him.
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