Deer hunting gun season has begun, and the coronavirus may lead to increased activity
If bow season was any indication, an active gun season will be on tap for the 2020 whitetail deer season along South Carolina’s coastal plain.
While many activities have been slowed down or brought to a halt by COVID 19 during this infamous year of 2020, outdoor activities including hunting and fishing have been on the upswing.
Archery, or bow, season was Aug. 15-31 in South Carolina’s Game Zone 4, which includes Horry and Georgetown counties. Roper Wilkes of 707 Deer Processing in Socastee saw a significant increase in the number of deer that came through his facility during bow season.
“The season started off good,” said Wilkes. “and we were up 50 percent from last year during bow season.”
Wilkes reports some trophy bucks were harvested during bow season, including an 8-point, 170-pounder still in velvet taken by Socastee’s Phoebe Britt.
Gun season on private lands opened in Game Zone 4 on Tuesday with the arrival of September, and Wilkes is expecting plenty of activity.
“Everyone we’ve talked to, with this COVID, they’re excited to hunt, they want to get out and get outdoors,” said Wilkes. “If the weather will cooperate, I’m looking for a good season this year.”
In recent years, the weather certainly hasn’t cooperated thanks to various tropical and weather systems arriving right smack in the middle of deer season.
In 2015, an unprecedented rain event deluged the coastal plain and midlands. In 2016, Hurricane Matthew struck just as the peak rut time was ramping up that October.
Tropical Storm Irma was the culprit in 2017 and then in 2018, Hurricane Florence produced the worst flooding in recorded history along the Waccamaw River. Hurricane Dorian caused issues a year ago.
After Matthew and Florence, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources temporarily closed hunting within the Pee Dee and Waccamaw river drainage systems for all game species, stating the flooding created the potential for exploitation of game species deprived of normal escape routes and confined to small areas of high ground.
The harvest numbers were obviously affected during those two years.
The early rut – the period when bucks are more active and less cautious as they are in search of does for mating – will be here soon, especially along the coast, says Wilkes.
“We’ll have the early rut start up right along here on the coast about the 15th of this month,” said Wilkes. “Then the first and second week of each month until the end of the season will be the peak rutting activity.”
The 2020 deer season marks the fourth year of the major changes to the state’s deer laws instituted by S.C. DNR at the beginning of the 2017 season. A first-time tagging program for all deer and a state-wide limit on bucks were among the changes.
Wilkes hasn’t seen a significant change in harvest numbers from his point of view but has noticed one positive trend.
“As far as harvest, our numbers haven’t gone up or down, I haven’t seen much of a change,” said Wilkes. “I don’t see as many yearling deer (at his facility), those super young does as we used to. They’re a little more selective with does with (the tagging system in place), so that’s an improvement.”
▪ Dove Season: That great Labor Day weekend tradition opened Saturday in dove fields across the Palmetto State. The cooler weather of autumn surely can’t be too far away.
The first phase of dove season runs through Oct. 11, then the second two phases are set for Nov. 14-28 and Dec. 25-Jan. 31. Shooting hours are limited to noon to sunset Sept. 5-7. The daily bag limit is 15 per person.
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 2:53 PM.