Anderson youth take 8-point buck with bow

River Cathey proudly displays a nice 8-point buck taken with his bow - Photo courtesy of Daniel Cathey

Rivers Cathey is 13-years-old, but this is his third deer with a bow. He is becoming an accomplished archer and hunter and carrying on a family tradition. Daniel Cathey, Rivers father is an avid archery hunter and when he talks about Rivers, his pride is obvious.

It is great to see youth today that love the outdoors and take part in traditional pursuits such as hunting and fishing. They are the future of outdoor sports. If we don't encourage them, a way of life will be lost.

Daniel and Bob Cathey run a quality duck hunting operation near Lavonia, GA. It is Skeeter Branch Shooting Preserve and their hunts are top notch. They provide a great outdoor hunting experience.

Upstate Outdoor Report

Photos of handgun kills by L. Ross

Dennis Hardwick, Greenville Gun Club official, killed his second buck with a handgun this season. Dennis enjoys hunting deer and hogs with his handguns which includes several Smith and Wesson revolvers and Thompson Center Contenders.

Hardwick handloads his own cartridges to his specifications and gets great satisfaction from taking deer with handguns and handloads. He is also uses a longbow and fashions his own arrows from Port Orford cedar.

The Midlands Striper Club held a tournament at Lake Murray on Oct. 15. Lester Jones took first place with his top three fish of his five fish limit (top three weight determines winner) weighing 16 pounds, 14 ounces. Julie Griffin was second with three fish totalling 15 pounds, 12 ounces.

Upstate whitetail bucks are on the move. Chuck Mulkey of Chuck's Taxidermy and Deer Processing in Anderson reports an increase in morning activity. The best buck checked in there was 230 pounds and scored in the 150+ range.

Northwest Meat Center in Hodges reports 1,100 deer checked in so far this season. The best was an 11-point, 226 pound buck. In general, the bucks with big racks have not had great body weight. It appears that the dry summer and spotty mast has affected body weight.

SCDNR, in cooperation with Hunter Safety Systems, will have drawing at each Hunter Education class in Nov. and Dec. and one person in each class will receive a free tree stand safety harness.

A video on hunter tree stand safety is available on DNR's website at www.dnr.sc.gov.gov. Additional tips are listed for hunters on the site.

South Carolina Ducks Unlimited reported in the latest newsletter (The Palmetto Call) that the license tag program has raised $275,000 in the last seven years. Funds have been allocated to the Mottled Duck Ecology Study in the ACE Basin, DNR's wood duck box program and the State Junior Duck Stamp program.

To purchase a South Carolina Ducks Unlimited license plate for your vehicle, contact your local DMV office.

Carolina Bay Duck Hunting

Andy Stevenson and his son, Mac, have experienced a successful beginning to the 2010/11 waterfowl season. The photos, courtesy of Andy, show a good mixed bag on a couple of hunts and one photo shows Mac with a nice black duck that he killed.

Black ducks are some of the wariest of puddle ducks and the populations are not huge, so it is an accomplishment to add one to the bag.

The Stevensons hunt on a unique property. The family farm is the location for a Carolina Bay. These are interesting natural occurences thought to have been created thousands of years ago by asteroids. They are usually eliptical in shape and the depressions usually contain water and some plant types that are not found anywhere else on the planet.

Andy says they they refer to it as the "Three Holes Bay" and it offers some excellent duck hunting. Judging by the photos, I'd say he is correct!

Reports around the state seem to indicate that the waterfowl numbers are good and hunters are experiencing a good success rate.