South Carolina Hunting

"Always hunt into the wind" - Sage words of wisdom, this is perhaps the single most important tip any neophyte hunter learns at the outset of their hunting career. Deer rely heavily on their sense of smell. So it stands to reason that if we're to avoid detection, we should use the wind in our favor. Combine this with the appropriate use of scents or scent-blockers, and you're off to the races!

Respectable hunters live by both a written and an unwritten code. Most of us acknowledge our responsibility to follow the formal and informal rules of etiquette. Webster's dictionary defines etiquette as, "rules governing socially acceptable behavior." Unfortunately there are those among us who choose to ignore etiquette, conducting their hunting activities with only self-serving interests in mind. At a time when our heritage activities are under constant scrutiny it behooves us to heed the importance of etiquette and ethics. As I contemplate this issue I can't help but conclude that it's really all about respect - respecting the law, landowners, the land, as well as non-hunters and hunters alike.

I have been hunting in West Virginia over the last several years and during that time I have had the great pleasure of getting to know and become friends with an elderly mountain man who has killed more than his share of trophy bucks. During one of my trips to visit him on his secluded farm I arrived while he was working in his barn. As I arrived the barn doors were standing open and I was astonished to see the number of large whitetail deer racks he had tacked to the inside of them. Never in my life had I seen that many trophy racks in one place. I had to find out whatever hunting secret it was that he knew to be able to kill that many quality bucks.

The man was in deep pain and knew his right leg was broken. While the bone had not pierced the skin, the foot was bent at an unnatural angle. He removed his sheath knife and cut his pants up past his knee, because he knew the leg would start to swell soon. He leaned back on the dark green moss and thought of how dumb he had been that day.