Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

Outdoors column: Warm weather came at lousy time for hunters

The recent bout of warm weather - before a cold front moved through on Tuesday - was enjoyable to many residents as a late rendezvous with summer. But you can bet deer hunters in the Palmetto State weren't too pleased with it.

The warm spell came right smack in the middle of the fall rut for the state's population of white-tail deer.

"When it's 80 degrees on Halloween, you know the hunting has the potential to be off big-time," said Charles Ruth, Deer and Turkey Project Supervisor for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

The warm weather certainly came at a bad time for hunters hoping to bag a big buck preoccupied with chasing does and not as wary of his surroundings.

"The timing of the weather has not been good. We've been in peak (of the rut) for 2-1/2 to 3 weeks in most parts of the state," Ruth said early this week. "We had a few cool spells particularly in early October but the last 10 days to 2 weeks have not been good for hunting.

"(Warm weather) doesn't change when they breed - it just makes it that much more difficult to see them in daytime. Their movements are much more limited to night time due to warm daytime temperatures."

Since Tuesday, the temperatures have been much closer to the normal high and low temperatures of 68 and 46 degrees in North Myrtle Beach for Nov. 6 (according to NOAA data).

"It (was) a lot more seasonable this week, and I would expect that to help deer movement," Ruth said. "The first week in November is the week when the highest percentage of does are bred. But when you have temperatures in the upper 70s and (lower) 80s, you just don't see the deer."

Clayton "Sonny" Long of Conway, a veteran deer hunter in Horry County, knows a thing or two about taking a large buck during the rut.

Almost 16 years ago to the day, Long bagged a buck that tied for the top typical score - 148-7/8 - on record in Horry County according to the Boone and Crockett rack scoring system.

Long spotted the buck from a tree stand on Nov. 5, 1993, about a mile east of the Conway Post Office near Kingston Lake, a location that is now in the Conway city limits. Long shot the buck and watched it run off, but he heard it fall about 100 yards away. Minutes later, Long and his son, Dale, approached the fallen buck.

" 'Daddy, daddy, you've got a trophy,' " Long recalled his son saying upon observing the 10-point buck.

Long's trophy tied a buck taken two seasons earlier - on Oct. 14, 1991 - by Russell Baxley of Aynor. Baxley's buck also registered a typical score of 148-7/8 on the B&C system.

Overall, Long has observed solid deer hunting during the 2009 season but agrees with Ruth on the effects of the warm weather.

"It's been good hunting but the trouble is it's been so warm, deer have been slow walking," said Long. "They come out at night more since it's been so warm."

Notes

Banquets: Two chapters of Ducks Unlimited will be staging their annual fund-raising banquets this weekend. The details follow:

The Grand Strand chapter will hold its banquet tonight at SBB-4 Corners in Murrells Inlet, starting with an Early Bird preview hour for the chapter's sponsors from 5 to 6 p.m.

Doors open for general admission at 6 p.m. with dinner catered by Outback Steakhouse at 7 p.m. The Grand Auction and Raffle follow at 8 p.m. Tickets are $50 for singles and $75 for couples. For more information, call Rick Baumann at 457-8126.

The North Strand chapter's banquet is set for Sunday at the North Myrtle Beach Bingo Plaza on Hwy. 9 beside Marine Service Center.

Doors open at 6 p.m. for a cocktail hour before dinner is served by The Todd House. The auction begins at 8 p.m. along with raffles, games and prizes for Greenwing members.

Tickets are $85 per couple. For more information, call John Breeden III at (843) 457-8602.