Let's Talk Deer Hunting Seasons

South Carolina, like most states, has different regions for deer season.
The coastal area of SC is overrun with deer.
I was in a club, in 2003, about 60 miles west of Charleston.
Season opened on August 15 and ran through January 15.
The year before, the limit was 1 buck per day. So, you could legally shoot 150 bucks!
But they changed the rules for '03. That year, there was NO limit on bucks.
You could, theoretically, have shot 400 bucks and still not broken the law.
Not so fast on the does. There were 32 doe days, limit one per day.
For twenty bucks you could buy a special doe tag, which allowed you to shoot 4 more does on any doe day.
So, theoretical limit of 36 does.
Last I checked these limits were still in place in coastal South Carollina.

Now I live in the North Carolina mountains. We don't have very many deer.
The gun season is 4 weeks. Limit two bucks total.
There is just one doe day, limit two does. In practice, few people are going to shoot two does on that day, December 13.
I am happy with the NC rules, these restrictive rules are just about right for the conditions.
 
The most I'd ever killed in a season in SC was 17. And that was doe heavy. I just don't see the need to kill a cowhorn for meat. Not with all the slickheads runnin around. And don't forget about the Refuge hunts. Cuddo Refuge is one week bow and one week muzzleloader no limit. And I believe McBee is still the same with their rifle hunts. Maybe they put a limit on them now, but there didn't used to be. And all the Bowfishing and duck hunting to be done down at Marion and Moultrie. God I miss South Carolina.

As far as the deer herd, I remembers the numbers one year I looked them up. There was aprox 350,000 registered hunters. That year, there was something like 420,000 deer killed. And I had killed 15, one buddy smoked 19, and the other 14. Someone in the state didn't kill any. They need more doe days. It's almost like the biologists don't want larger antlered deer.
 
I hunt with just about any weapon and anything that walks, flies, or crawls. I really wish that the DEC would make the southern zone BP week the week BEFORE shotgun so those of us that hunt with smokepoles could fill our antlerless permits before the woods get cut down by flying slugs. It is in the northern zone. We have 5 tags left, and BP is only a week long. I've just about given up trying to fill unused permits after shotgun closes. I also wish that Onondaga, Cortland, Thompkins, and other counties that are still shotgun or pistol only would get on the ball and allow rifles. The several counties that have changed have seen the rate of accidental injury shrink to almost nil. I'd rather shoot a nice fat cornfed flathead myself, but they have to make the shot possible. I may hunt the southern zone with just the BP rifle this year; the Browning gets heavy after 2 or 3 days of lugging it around; the CVA weighs much less even with the scope. If I lived in Oregon I'd just have to move; I can't fathom only being able to choose one gun or bow per species. I have been known to bring along a rimfire when deer hunting so if I'm not seeing deer but only squirrels, I can trade out and give the treerats hell.
 
I have been known to bring along a rimfire when deer hunting so if I'm not seeing deer but only squirrels, I can trade out and give the treerats hell.
Click to expand...

I'm concidering getting one of those new whisper pellet guns with the silencer on it for just that reason. Shouldn't effect the deer much. Especially if they aren't within eyesight.
 
Peetza - we normally bow hunt elk and rifle hunt deer. We put in for extra doe tags (I got one this year). We put in for antalope every year, but have yet to get drawn. My buddy has put in for them for about 25 years in a row and has yet to get drawn.

Turkeys within easy hunting distance are all on private land. I would like to get into that, but not sure I would trade a hunt later in the year to do it.
 
Oh yeah I forgot to mention that we have open turkey season for most of our gen. gun season and the farm I will be hunting on has some resident birds so I may get some of them as well to mix up the diet a bit.
So with any luck I will fill up many freezers with venison, pork and turkeys.
Brent
 
I too live in SW Michigan, only shotguns down here for deer season. I do like the long bow season, I wouldn't mind seeing gun season last another week. I have no problem shooting a young deer, the one I shot last year was maybe 2 yrs. 5 point (2 left, 3 right). It tasted great! Unlike the old, old doe I shot about 5 yrs ago, had to be at least 8 yrs, biggest deer I ever shot and it was disgusting!!! :barf::barf::barf: Although it would be better if we could bait this year, but no go. :(
 
Besides.....it will take 10 SC deer to equal the body weight of 6 NY Deer....

That is about right. The Deer of the Southeast are small.
I have been hunting Georgia and NC deer for 30 years.
A few years back, I made a trip up to northern Minnesota in January.
I was driving north out of Duluth, on that beautiful highway that goes along Lake Superior.
The snow was 3 feet deep.
I was astonished to see 4 or 5 elk grazing in the yard of a house.
I kept seeing more and more elk grazing in the yards.
I stopped and took a good look at these animals.
They were not elk, but giant whitetail deer!
These deer were twice the size of the deer I had been shooting in Georgia.
 
Montana deer and elk general season opens this coming Sunday. We are right in the middle of the antelope season. Archery season is over. Elk numbers are pretty high and there are alot of surplus mule deer tags available up north where my daughter is living. You can have up to 7 Mule deer doe tags. (I've got two) And the bucks in middle Montana just keep getting bigger.:D

Ken
 
West Virginia

I live in the north western part of the state. You can shoot 7 or so depending on if you hunt bow,muzzleloader and rifle. My only complaint is the muzzleloader season comes in after the high power rifle season:eek:. :mad:
 
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