Author: Carolina Fish and Hunt

Mia Cook downs 10-point buck

Seven-year-old Mia Cook killed a 180-pound, 10-point buck in Jasper County, SC on Aug. 9, 2025. And she did it by being patient.

Cook was hunting with her dad on South Carolina’s first Youth Day of the 2025 season.

“She let several bucks go while she patiently waited for the perfect one,” said the young hunter’s mom.

The 10-point buck has a beautiful very symmetrical rack, and it’s in full velvet. The deer is a true trophy. Hunting is important to Cook because it’s one way to spend time outdoors with her dad.

“This is her second year hunting with her dad. She loves the sport of hunting, but most importantly she loves spending time with him,” said her mom. “She’s been successful with deer, ducks and turkeys.”

Congratulations to Mia on her trophy buck!

8-year-old kills first buck

On Saturday, Aug. 9, Arden Black killed his first deer, a fine buck in full velvet in Hampton County, SC.

The young hunter was participating in the first Youth Day of South Carolina’s 2025 season when he shot the buck.

South Carolina’s rifle season begins on Aug. 15 in Game Zone 3, the same day Game Zone 4 begins the archery-only season. Game Zone 4 goes to rifle season on Sept. 1.

Game Zone 2 starts archery-only season on Sept. 15, primitive weapon season on Oct. 1, then all weapons on Oct. 11. Game Zone 1 starts its primitive weapon season on Oct. 1, then opens for all weapons on Oct. 11.

For more information on South Carolina’s deer hunting season, visit dnr.sc.gov.

Youth hunter bags 11-point buck

On South Carolina’s first Youth Day of 2025, which was held Aug. 9 in Game Zones 3 and 4, Brennan Barfield killed a massive 11-point buck in full velvet.

The young hunter bagged the buck in Marlboro County, part of the Palmetto State’s Pee Dee Region.

Late last season, Barfield also killed a big 11-point buck, which had long shed its velvet before that hunt.

We’re hoping he’ll send us a photo of both of those bucks mounted on his wall!

7-year-old bags Youth Day buck

Youth Day buck weighed 185 pounds

James Cocke, 7-years-old, was hunting on South Carolina’s first Youth Day of 2025 when he killed an 8-point buck in full velvet in Orangeburg County, SC.

The buck weighed 185 pounds.

Killing bucks in full velvet is something many hunters never get a shot at. But in South Carolina, the deer hunting season opens on Aug. 15 in more than half the state, and the state’s first Youth Day of the season takes place the Saturday before the 15th.

This early in the season, many bucks are still in full velvet, some are in the process of shedding, and some have completely shed.

Carter Allen’s first gobbler

Carter Allen went on his first official turkey hunt during the 2025 North Carolina Youth Day, and it was one that he will never forget.

With a 20-yard shot, the young hunter killed a 19-pound gobbler that sported a 10 3/4-inch beard and 1-inch spurs.

“Carter will end up being a better hunter than me,” said his dad, Cody Allen.

Hunting dog killer ordered to pay $132,000

William Gray of Sumter, SC has been ordered to pay a total of $132,000 for killing Annabelle, the hunting dog of Ernest Causey. The South Carolina Third Judicial Circuit found Gray intentionally killed Annabelle, a 7-year-old female Hunter Horn Fox Hound, on Sept. 23, 2023.

The court also found that Gray intentionally inflicted emotional distress upon Causey and his family after killing Annabelle.

Evidence in the civil trial included Gray’s posts on Facebook shortly after he shot Annabelle, twice, from his hunting stand. One of those posts, which took place days after the incident, was Gray admitting to killing the dog, shooting at (but missing) another dog, then apparently threatening to do it again if given the chance.

The following screenshots are those 2023 posts from Gray:

After making those posts, Gray also made another one directed toward Ashley Causey Williamson, the daughter of Ernest Causey and the wife of Garrett Williamson, who was also present on the day of the incident. In that post, Gray said:

“And your father owes me $10 for the ammo wasted disposing of his or your dog. You can send the check to Lewis Warr and he will get it to me. Thanks in advance.”

Initially, Gray was given a $125 fine by the local game warden. Annabelle’s family tried through several means to get stronger punishment for Gray through Sumter County and through SCDNR, but they said nothing more was ever done. They decided to file a civil suit while also awaiting a trail date for a criminal case against Gray. That civil suit went to trial on Feb. 3, 2025 where the Honorable Charles J. McCutchen presided.

Gray showed up for the original hearing time of 9:30 a.m., and requested a continuance until 3 p.m., which the judge granted. However, Gray failed to show up, so the trial went on without him.

McCutchen took all the evidence into consideration, including Annabelle’s initial cost of $800, the plaintiff’s valuation of $10,000 for Annabelle, the dog’s capability of producing at least four more litters of puppies with an average of seven puppies per litter, with a valuation of $400 per puppy.

With these numbers in mind, the judge awarded actual damages of $22,000, along with punitive damages in the sum of $110,000 for Gray’s reckless and willful conduct and for the harassment toward Causey’s family. This brought the total fine to $132,000.

“The Defendant’s actions show a clear indifference to the rights and well-being of others. The Defendant clearly knew his conduct was wrong, yet he committed it anyhow,” McCutchen stated in the decision.

Aside from the monetary punishment, McCutchen said “Furthermore, Defendant’s actions could lead to a felony for the cruel killing of an animal. Causey and Williamson have vowed to bring Gray to trial again, in criminal court, where they aim to see him convicted of that felony.

McCutchen’s entire decision of the civil trial, which is a matter of public record, is listed in the screenshots below:

Update on SC’s new electronic harvest reporting requirements

Here’s the real deal on SC’s new electronic deer harvest reporting requirements.

As of the 2024 deer hunting season, hunters in South Carolina are now required to electronically report their deer harvests, as well as place a physical tag on them.

This new requirement has caused some controversy throughout the hunting world, but most hunters understand that it’s simply South Carolina catching up with the rest of the United States in how the wild game population is managed. North Carolina hunters, for instance, have reported their harvests electronically for years.

Among the complaints: Electronic reporting will allow SCDNR to track hunters’ locations. There’s no cell service where I hunt. It’s another gun grab. It’s just one step in forcing us to eat fake meat. They will tax us on the meat we report killing ourselves. It’s another way for the government to control every part of our lives. And on and on. It’s all rubbish.

More rubbish

“Well how come they said we gotta tell them what we are planting in our gardens in the same law?” is another one we’ve heard. More rubbish. Nothing in this law mentions gardens at all.

The true reason for the new electronic reporting requirement is simply to help SCDNR get a more accurate measurement of how many deer are harvested in the state each year, which is one step in helping to manage the population of the state’s deer herd.

Years ago, South Carolina had numerous Big Game Check Stations throughout the state. When you killed a deer, you went to one of those check stations. That was done away with years ago, and for a long time, deer hunters in South Carolina had no tagging or reporting requirements at all. Then in recent years, South Carolina came up with the tagging system, whereby hunters place a physical, paper tag on each deer they kill.

At the beginning of each deer season, hunters are issued a set of tags with their name on them. These are the tags they must use to tag their deer. When you run out of tags, you are not legally allowed to kill any more deer, unless you purchased additional tags.

No data from tags

The problem with physically tagging deer, at least from a game management perspective, is that SCDNR never knew how many tags were actually being used. A survey would go out to a percentage of hunters at the end of the season, and some of those hunters would fill them out. But many never received surveys at all, and many that did never returned them. That left SCDNR guessing at how many deer were actually killed that season.

This is solved by electronic reporting. With each kill reported, the SCDNR gets updated numbers every day of the season. This gives them a highly accurate count of how many deer are killed in a season, and that’s what helps them understand trends in the population. If the harvest numbers noticeably decrease one year (or in a string of years), either throughout the state or in certain counties, SCDNR will know it. And this will be the first step in determining why that happened, and what can be done to fix it.

Likewise, if harvest numbers noticeably increase one year, or in a string of years, SCDNR will know it, and can take steps to understand why, and increase seasonal limits, vary hunting dates, issue more tags for hunters, etc.

It’s quick and easy

Aside from giving SCDNR accurate harvest numbers, electronic reporting is easier for hunters. No need to worry about forgetting or losing your tags, or them getting lost in the mail before you hunt. Now for 2024, hunters will still need to phyiscally tag their deer, so that’s not going to help in the first season. But from what we understand, this is simply to ease hunters into the new way of reporting, and beginning in 2025, South Carolina hunters will do electronic reporting only.

The way electronic reporting works is easy, and if you don’t have cell service at your hunting land, it’s not a problem. You can report your harvest four different ways:

Go online to dnr.sc.gov/scgamecheck.

Text the word “harvest” to 1-833-4SC-GAME (1-833-472-4263)

Call it in at 1-833-4SC-GAME (1-833-472-4263)

Use the GoOutdoorsSC app

And you aren’t required to report the kill immediately. You have until midnight of the day of your harvest, or before you leave it with a processor. When you electronically report your harvest, the system will issue you a verification number. The processor will need that verification number in order to accept your deer.

Time for South Carolina to catch up

We’ve also heard complaints that this system isn’t fair to old people, because they aren’t used to having a phone in their hand 24 hours a day. The few hunters out there who don’t own a cell phone have plenty of time to get to a phone, and chances are, anyone at their processing facility will be happy to lend them their phone to make the toll-free call.

Electronic reporting has been the norm in dozens of states for decades, and South Carolina hunters often complain about how much better the hunting is in those states than it is in South Carolina. Plus, it’s much easier than driving to a designated check station, and it is a big step in helping the state have a healthier herd of deer.

Whiteduck Regatta Bell Tent

When I decided to set up a base camp for my hunting and fishing adventures, I opted for the 16-foot  White Duck Regatta Bell Tent. 

Without a doubt, this tent is much bigger than I need. I will almost exclusively be camping alone, but I wanted something that was roomy enough that I wouldn’t feel cramped, especially when needing to sit out a storm that keeps me inside for an extended time. I also wanted to have plenty of room for all my gear, no matter what adventure I was getting into. 

Sometimes, I will hunt squirrels in the morning, deer in the evening, and do a little fishing in between. Or hunt geese during the early Canada goose season, then fish, then deer hunt. When seasons overlap, I like to keep my options open. 

I’m also guilty of hauling my laptop along on my adventures to keep up with work. So I wanted enough room to set up a makeshift work space too. 

The 16-foot Regatta Bell Tent serves all these purposes well. And if anyone ever does join me, I’ve still got plenty of room.

I’ll admit, I dreaded setting up a tent this large, and thought it would take half a day. Boy was I wrong! After unpacking it from it’s bag and rolling it out, I realized how simple this task would be. The pins and stakes, along with a nice hammer, are all rolled up in a handy bag. I began hammering in the pins, which was quick and easy, going in a star pattern to get the tent floor spread out evenly and correctly. 

Next was the center pole, a three-piece, shock-corded pole that quickly snaps into place. At this point, the tent was shaping up nicely. I added the door pole, which was also quick and easy. Then I hammered in the bigger stakes. Once they were in, I made use of the adjustable guy lines to tighten it all up. And with that, my home-away-from-home was complete. It took about 20 minutes the very first time I set it up, and I’m sure I will shave some of that time off when doing it the next time.

The tent has a diameter of 16.5 feet, so it’s plenty roomy. The single center pole design gives the tent a wide open feel, and that is multiplied by the tent’s interior height, which is almost 10 feet in the center.

It’s much more like being in a good-sized room in a house than it is like being in a tent.

Large mesh pockets mounted on the interior walls provide plenty of storage options for anything you can think of. Multiple mesh windows allow for a good breeze, which gets even better when you have the door open to the full-size mesh panels, which allow the breezes in, bit keep even the smallest of bugs out. 

A stove jack is pre-installed, and a very nice feature to have for cold nights. The center pole also has an attachment point for hanging lights, lanterns, rifles, or whatever else you’d like to hang.

Another nice feature is the power port, a small opening that is easy to close up tightly enough to keep creepy-crawlies out, even when passing a power cord through to an outside generator or other power receptacle.

The tent is crafted from army duck material, which keeps the inside cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. It is highly waterproof and sturdy, and naturally resists mold and mildew.

Because I hunt right outside my camp, I opted for the Realtree Camo pattern, one of five colors available for the 16-foot Regatta, which is also available in four other sizes, as well as in a 360 model, which features no-see-um mesh panels all the way around. 

The other available colors for this model include Sandstone Beige, Forest Green, Desert Red, and Boulder Gray. The other sizes include 8, 10, 13, and 20 footers.

This tent is easy to set up, highly durable, and roomy enough for my cot, chair, and every bit of gear I need for extended adventures, while still leaving me comfortable and not at all cramped, even when I’ve got all the fishing and hunting equipment I’ll need for multiple species. I look for it to serve me well for many years. For more information on the Whiteduck Regatta Bell Tent, click here.