2026 SC Deer Hunt Day 3 - Mockingbird

Up at my normal time, my head was still pounding.  I had a bit too much coffee, which finally did the trick.  I felt almost human as we went out for deer.  

Rick dropped me off at the same stand as the previous evening.  I methodically made my way to the stand and got settled.  I had about an hour before shooting light.  I thought back to my first year or two of hunting.  It's crazy how much has changed since those college days.  I recall making a ground blind on public land for opening day of gun season.  I ended up not using it since I got access to private land.  My neighbor ended up using it (or tried to), but some jack-wad had taken dump in my blind.  I'm not sure why I thought about that.  Sometimes I'm not in charge of my brain.  People suck.  I enjoy coming down to South Carolina.

Weather was between cool and cold.  I was treated to a pretty sunrise.

Even with a nice start, it was a slow morning.  Almost nothing was moving.

Right towards the end of the morning, a doe came out half-way between myself and the corn.  

A small buck, I think the same 4-point from the previous evening, came out for a short time.  And my morning hunt ended.

I had enough down time at the lodge to take a walk to the river.  I thought about asking Rick if Moose needed a walk.  Walking with a dog is (almost) always better.

Rick pushed me to tell him where I was going to sit.  I don't play that game well - don't guide the guide.  Although in this situation, it is a bit different.  We did talk about it and I went back to the same stand which I was 100% OK with.

There was a small buck on the corn when I got out there.  I made it into the stand without spooking him, which I was slightly proud of.

Weather was hot and breezy.  I had a hard time getting comfortable.  My butt was getting tired from sitting so much.  A headache behind my eye was starting to come back.  But it was still a really nice afternoon so I was making the best of it.

A few deer came in throughout the afternoon.  Oddly, all of them were bucks.  At one point I had crows, turkeys and deer all on the pile at the same time.  The turkeys were harassing the crows which was funny to watch.

Late in the afternoon a really large 6-point came out.  He as big enough that I wanted to send a bullet at him, but he would be under the Rick legal limit.  He kept looking towards the right and stayed behind the brush off to the right for some of the time until he and another deer made a raucous and raced off to the left with one of the few does I saw.

A short time later I saw more deer to the left as several bucks and at least a couple does milled around the clear-cut area.  Through the binos, one of the bucks looked really nice - probably the target buck Rick had showed me.  Setting the binos down, I found him in the scope ... wait ... that was a small buck.  Where'd he go????

This set off a very confusing 15 minutes when deer were milling around, but I could never get a clear view of what I knew was the big deer and not have his vitals obscured by brush.  It was both exciting and frustrating until the deer simply vanished.  One doe did walk across the 2-track.  I was hoping the other deer would as well which would make it a game-over, but that didn't happen.

At dark-dark, I got out and made my way to the gate.  Rick and I compared notes on the late part of the hunt.  What I saw was distinctly different than we he saw.  The time stamps on these pics is three minutes apart.

Me:

Rick's Cell Camera:

Perspective is everything.  In deer hunting and in life.

2026 SC Deer Hunt Day 2 - Lots of (the wrong) Deer

I woke up with a headache (of course).  A shower and some coffee helped but only so much.

The weather was spitting rain and would keep doing so through the morning.  It was muggy and kind of gross.  Evan was staying in and Aaron was driving himself, so Rick dropped me off at the Ray Road Front Stand.  At least I had a shooting house to keep me clear from the light rain.

I had about an hour until shooting light.  Sitting in the box blind, it was pretty nice.  Right at daylight, I could see a few does come in.  They milled around a bit before a small buck came in.

I had to get a new phone when I cooked my old one in my dry bag while kayaking.  The new phone is pretty good, but the pictures of the deer weren't as good as the pixel, whether through the binos or not.  I'll have a chance to try later in the week when there is more light.

The deer spent the morning milling around.  The does were really being harassed by the bucks, at least at first.  Eventually they seemed to give up and just feed.

All the deer left about an hour before the end of the morning hunt.  One small spike did come in far off down the 2-track, but he never came into the corn.

Eventually I texted Rick and he said to meet back by the gate.  Don had shot a boar hog, but he wasn't confident in the shot and they hadn't looked for it yet.

Back at the lodge we had breakfast.  Don and Rick went to look for Don's hog and found it about 60 yards into the woods.  The shot may have been a bit far back, but it did work.

We had some down time at the lodge before going out for the afternoon.  Rain was over, but it was still muggy and somewhat uncomfortable.

Afternoon came and Rick took most of us out while Aaron drove himself to his spot.  I'm not exactly sure where I was, but it was a big comfortable tripod stand overlooking a low spot.  I wasn't in the stand too long when a small 4-point came out.  It fed for a while before running away; I was hoping something else was coming out, but nothing else did.  A crow screamed nearby.

I spent the time letting my mind wander.  Temperatures were nice, but it was still muggy and there was a bit of mist from time to time.  As it got dark, deer started to come in and go out.  First it was a doe, followed by a small buck.  Then came several does and a few more bucks.  None of the bucks were huge, but they were headed in the right direction size-wise.

At one point the mosquitoes started to come in.  It reminded me of my bear hunt a few weeks previous where my Thermacell quit while I was watching my bear.  With such a short amount of time left in the evening, I didn't bother turning it on.  Exactly what is the evolutionary need for mosquitoes?

As it started to get dark there were several deer on the corn.  While I was in an open field, the hole the deer were in got dark quickly.  I didn't run out of shooting light so much as I ran out of enough light to judge antlers.

I was also nursing an increasingly throbbing headache.  My 50s have not been kind to me.

I got out of the stand and worked my way back to the gate.  Rick was there almost immediately.  Don had shot a pretty decent buck which was on the back.

Rick immediately started in about getting out of the stand too early and too noisily.  I just wanted a bit of food and sleep.  Don was all cleaned up back at the lodge playing cards with his wife.  Lisa was just finishing cooking.  I nursed my head.

Once food was ready I quickly ate and turned in.  I had seen a zillion deer on my first day of hunting.  There were no shooters, but I still had a few days.  Despite the still pounding headache, I was hopeful.

2026 SC Deer Hunt Day 1 - Drive Day

My big plan was to do minimal work Saturday so I could have some down time.  It was not to be; the lawn NEEDED to be mowed.  S/O was so wonderful to help, so it only took a few hours.

But while packing up, I could not find my light hunting jacket.  I searched and searched and searched some more.  I must conclude I left it up in Canada somehow.  Is it in Carter's truck?  Based on pictures I don't think so.  In a boat?  Highly unlikely.  Did I leave it in the treestand or nearby?  That would not be like me.  But losing something like a jacket is not like me.  This thought plagues me as I packed and drove south.  Neither the jacket (nor a flashlight which I also lost) is a high dollar item, but that isn't the point.  I know I can obsess about small things; this did not feel like a small thing.

Regardless if I'm losing it or not, Sunday came bright and early.  I took care of the dogs, got ready and hit the road around 3:30.  It was dark, cool and dry.  It was a beautiful morning to be on the road.

For the first time in my life I stopped at a Buc-ees.  I figured early morning was relatively safe.  I don't get the allure and the coffee was only adequate.  I would not want to stop on a busy afternoon.  At least I can say I've tried to experience this cultural milestone.

Traffic stayed light in the darkness.  I made my way south, getting off the interstate to avoid the mayhem that is Knoxville.

I was listening to What the Bears Know by Steve Searles.  It was either phenomenally good, or it was the right book at the right time.  Or it was both.  I might quibble with a bit of what he said.  If nothing else, he is wrong on what he says about bear meat (I had a bear burger the previous night).  He admits to anthropomorphizing bears a bit too much - at least that is how I interpret what he says about it.  But I thoroughly enjoyed the book.  Parts of it were extremely funny.  Parts were very hard to listen to.  Much of it was introspective in a way I could really appreciate.  Now I have to decide if I should recommend it to anyone?

Once back on Interstate 40, traffic was very heavy for a Sunday.  It stayed this way for much of the rest of the drive.  But leaving early, I was in no hurry, so I continued on at my own pace.

I continued to make my way, getting to Rick's in the early afternoon.  Aaron and Evan, who I hunted with the previous year were there.  We talked a bit, but I was somewhat foggy from the trip.

Rick came back and we all told lies for a bit.  Evan and I took a quick trip to the river, but instead of my usual walk, we took Rick's 3-wheelers.

Moose made me miss my dogs back home.

There was no dinner, but I was stuffed from eating the whole trip down.  I turned in as soon as I thought it would be acceptable.  I went to sleep, still wondering if I'm losing it.  I'll have plenty of time over the next few days to ponder this.

2026 Bear Hunt Day 9&10 - Home

 I woke a few minutes before my alarm was set for, allowing me a bit extra to get ready and triple check everything before heading to meet Dave (who graciously agreed to meet at 4:30) to get my bear.  We had a bit of a challenge finding my backstraps; once in the cooler, I hit the road.

There was a bit of fog on the road as I left.  It was never blinding for long, but I was concerned with the potential for animals on the road.  I took the gravel road route as the most direct route.  One of the turns always trips me up and it did again.  The Maverick’s traction control is not very intrusive, which is a good thing.  But this time it definitely helped.  A few minutes later I saw a large sow bear with a cub on the road.  These combined to serve as a reminder to be careful, especially in the dark, even if the cub did make me laugh a little as it bumbled down the road.

I was listening to The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything by Peter Brannen.  I had previously listened to his book The Ends of the World which was exceedingly good and made me feel blissfully small at the end.  CO2 was not quite as good, but it definitely did give me some new ways to think about energy and the timescales we should really think about when considering the situation we are in with rapidly increasing carbon dioxide amounts in the atmosphere.  I loved some of the geochemistry he laid out with practical implications.

I hit the border near daybreak.  The border guard seemed more concerned that I have the paperwork for a future bear hunting adventure than any concern with my current border cross, “That way you won’t even have to come in next time.”  After breezing through, I was back in the US.  I will miss Canada.

I continued making my way, listening to my book and occasionally letting my mind wander.  Google Maps routed me a slightly different way that got me off the interstate near my sister's house for a stretch.  I guess it wasn’t terrible, but was somehow nagged that it was adding time.  After traveling thousands of miles safely on the trip, I was oddly surrounded by a small set of Crazies who actively tried to kill me near the exit to my sister’s house.  Usually Madison is more chill than anything…

It was great getting a chance to catch up with my sister.  I wish it was for longer, but the time spent was well worth it. 

________
Early the next morning, I once again headed out for the final leg.
The drive was uneventful until I got near home and realized one of the major roads was still closed in several spots due to flooding and subsequent road destruction.  Google Maps routed me through some roads that would have been wonderful to bicycle on, but the slowdown was frustrating when I was in get-home-mode.  I knew the list of things to do was going to be long and I did have to work the next day.
In reality, the rather odd route close to home probably only added 5 minutes, certainly less than 10.

Once home, it was a scramble to unpack and get the bear meat in the freezer.  S/O was incredibly helpful even though she doesn’t like the bear meat.
And while I was exhausted by the time I was finally able to get ready for the next day at work, I was filled with infinite gratitude for the time I was able to spend in Manitoba.  I went to sleep, thinking about bears and pike, both past and future.
 

2026 Bear Hunt Day 8 - The Great Pike Hunt

I allowed myself some extra coffee in the morning as I got ready for the day.  With the pressure of bears off, I was able to be a bit more relaxed.

As daylight brightened, we all met at the lodge for a final breakfast.  The plan was to go upriver to fish, have a true shore lunch on the shore, then fish some more while Casey hunted.  It sounded like a very good plan to me.

I was the only one who wanted to fish for pike, so Dave took me and after a quick supply drop-off at Kendall, we went fishing.

On one of the first bays we went to, we hooked into several good pike, the largest being a 40" fish which was also very fat.  It was exciting to bring in such a big river monster (in all deference to the truth, it was a team effort).  I had never caught a pike larger than 39 inches with or without an asterisk .

Immediately after, I brought in a 35 inch pike which was equally fat.

We fished several more bays throughout the morning.  Some were more productive than others, but the morning was a ton of fun.  We met the other two boats at a lunch spot where we had a true shore lunch of potatoes 'n onions and fried fish right form the river.  Lunch ended with Allie's excellent chocolate chip cookies; I ate way too many.

While food was cooking I walked around and out to the point.  It was fun to do even if my feet got quite wet.  At least I was wearing my water shoes.

After lunch Dave and I fished several more bays, bringing in lots more fish and a few more big ones.  Dave also caught me several walleye to bring home.  It was a really good day on the water.

I had some time in camp which allowed me to clean up and pack up.

Casey came in early with a whopper of a beautiful black bear, meaning everyone in camp tagged out - and with minimal tracking (this makes the guides happy).

We had one final dinner before ending the week.  Unquestionably it has been an amazing week with a group of new friends and old.

2026 Bear Hunt Day 7 - Memory Bear

"These stories are ours, not nature’s. The natural world does not organise itself into parables." - William Cronon

I got up when the coffee maker started calling my name.  The future is getting short, but at least the weather was forecast to be splendid.

After another round of coffee in my cabin and breakfast in the lodge, Carter and I went upriver a ways to fish for big pike.  The original plan was to go to near Kendall Point, but it was raining up there, so we started just a bit downriver.  We were using Carter's huge reels and baits to push a bit harder on big pike.  This was fun, but it did start to hurt my wrist throughout the morning.  

We hooked into a decent number of fish.  I tried an assortment of Carter's lures.  Carter hooked into the biggest fish of the day and we had a team effort to bring it in - another very fat 34" pike.  So big, but not ginormous (I still need a picture of it).

There were also a few very ambitious small pike.  It never ceases to amaze me how aggressive these alligator fish can be.

Rick and Theresa had left and Pat had gone upriver to bait, but those remaining (and most of us bearless) had lunch before heading out for bears.  Carter took Kelly and I out to the Rice Lake area, dropping me off at the Gate Bait.  When we walked in, I noted the roll barrel had not been touched; this caused a bit of unease at the amounts of bears likely in this area, even if I know better.  Trust the guides...

The stand was comfortable, but everything felt backwards since I had to sit at the far left of the stand to see around a tree (on all previous sits, I was on the right).  I adjusted quickly enough.  

Temperatures were near perfect in the mid-70s with a light breeze.  It was time to sit.  The mosquitoes were quickly making their presence felt so my Thermacell was a requirement.

It felt like a long sit, even after all the time already spent on the bear stand, I do still enjoy it (maybe my butt does not quite as much).  As I often do, I spent a lot of time thinking about hunting and why I do it.  I'm not always sure why.  I don't particularly like killing - I sometimes dislike it.  But (most) people are complex.  We spring from a thicket of tangents.  I don't think being complex and contradictory is necessarily bad; it means I am able to spend at least some time thinking deliberately.

As the afternoon wore on, the wind calmed down and essentially stopped altogether.  This is preferrable to the crazy wind on two of the previous nights, but it means staying still is absolutely essential.  Every movement felt like a thunderstorm of noise in an otherwise hushed world.  It was so still, I didn't even dare eat my late-afternoon snack since opening the zipper bag would have been too loud.

I heard a shot in the far distance - was that Kelly who was also on a Rice Lake stand?

I saw movement on the right as a bear came out onto a small trail.  He took his time going the last few steps to the bait but came in on his own time.  He flopped down to eat popcorn.

Now what?  I knew he was not a monster, but he looked to be a decent bear.  Bears in this middling range are so incredibly difficult to judge.  And it is the fifth day of a six-day bear hunt.

I watched and waited and thought.  The bear just ate popcorn.  Time ticked by.  Fifteen minutes, a half an hour.  I put the crosshairs on the bear a few times, but they always shrink a bit in the scope.  At least 45 minutes were spent just watching.

My Thermacell pad stopped working at some point.  The mosquitoes came in quickly and with a vengeance.  I could not do anything about this and just had to let the little buggers eat me alive.  It was painful.

The bear stood up and took a few steps to the left.  Much like the previous year's bear, I decided I may regret letting him walk.  I shot.  The bear ran off to the left, but I was almost sure I heard him crash and make some final noise.  I waited a couple minutes and texted Carter.  After waiting a few more minutes (all I could stand), I got out of the treestand to look for him.  It took a few minutes, but I found him relatively quickly.  Shooting was the right thing to do - he was a good bear, a nice boar.

Then I looked up ... where was I?  Where is the stand?  Uh oh...  I was slightly disoriented and the brush was incredibly thick.  After a couple false starts, I found my way back to the stand with a bit of relief.  Shortly after, Carter, Chris and Carla came in.  It took a few minutes to find my bear again, but we did and got some pictures.  Carla had also got a bear as had Kelly (the shot I heard was him).

With my bear in Carter's truck, we went down the 2-track to Kelly.  Kelly had taken the head shot, which would not be my first choice, but no doubt effective.  All three of our bears were about the same size - very nice Manitoba bears.

Back in camp, the guides broke down Kelly's bear, then mine.  My shot was a near-perfect boiler room shot with almost no meat damage.  I couldn't argue with that.

I ate my pork chops quickly as they were still working on my bear.  It was in the freezer when I took my  dessert back to my cabin.

I cleaned up a bit before going to bed.  I ended the day with the same conflict that I often end hunts with:  gratitude, reverence for the animal, appreciation for the people in camp, appreciation for S/O.  And I was so glad for the ability to spend time in outdoors - allowing, however briefly, for my time to be restrained by something other than just a clock.

"Man's life cannot 'be lived' by repeating the pattern of his species; he must live. Man is the only animal that can be bored, that can be discontented, that can feel evicted from paradise. Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve and from which he cannot escape." - Erich Fromm

2026 Bear Hunt Day 6 - Batteries and Bogs

I woke up to an even more ferocious headache than the previous day.  Ugh.  Coffee and a bit of reflection did help quite a bit.

And in a world where troubling things like to compound by happening at the worst time, S/O's car started to have issues.  At least we've had good service from the dealership.  It might be more expensive, but being over 1000 miles away makes me between helpless and useless.  The dealership will almost certainly cost more, but in this situation, it is likely the option which makes the most sense.

The situation ended up (probably) not being the battery, so hopefully no more issues.  This isn't as gratifying as it would have been if I hadn't been so far away.

After breakfast, Chris took Pat and I out for fishing once again.  Numbers of fish were good.  There were a few periods where we seemed to drift into schools of small pike.  I also brought in one decent smalley as it took a few fantastic jumps out of the water on the way into the boat.

Near the end of our fishing morning, we came across a couple eagles.  We wanted to lure one of them in close for some pictures, but fishing slowed down a bit and we couldn't even seem to be able to catch small pike by that point.  

After lunch, Lockler took Carla and me out for bears.  I was dropped off at Wall-E Bay.  Forecast for the evening was rain, but as I got settled it was quite pleasant with a light warm breeze, mostly away from the bait.  As the afternoon progressed, wind picked up and clouds thickened.

I was wearing my rain gear, which felt like the right decision even if it was claustrophobic and sticky.  I'm not sure why, but I had a very difficult time getting comfortable on the stand.  Was that the slight angle it sat at?  Or is it just me after 18+ hours in tree stands?  Maybe I'm just getting older?

It was still a nice afternoon, but I started to get a bit apprehensive as I could hear thunder in the distance.  The wind increased to where, at one point, I heard a large tree nearby crack and fall to the ground.  I grabbed my phone and dropped off Airplane Mode to get a look at the short term forecast and radar.  Rain was definitely approaching the area.

I looked up to see a bear walk into the bait.  It looked at least reasonably sized so I dropped my phone and slowly brought my gun up.  The bear was very skittish; he stuck his nose into the air and sniffed, took two steps, looked right through me and left.  I kept my gun on my shooting sticks for the next 30 minutes hoping he would come back.

It felt worse that I was looking at my phone when the bear came in, although the rational me knows that the situation would not have been any different regardless of what I was doing.  Unless I had had my gun up right when he came in, any shot would have been impossible.  But I still mercilessly beat myself up over it; I'm very good at this.  The time the bear was there wasn't even enough time to adequately size up the bear.  In my memory, it was taller but rather thin.  I'm not sure I should trust that claude-glass perception though.

It started raining around 7:00.  I had made a plan for this eventuality and was dressed for it, so it wasn't terrible.  I'm not sure what happened to the big blob of rain I saw on the radar, but after 15 minutes, the rain tapered to just intermittent spits.  With the heavy clouds it got dark early; I was more than ready to be out of the stand.  The (open) boat ride back to camp was quite unfun as rain decided to pick up again at that point.

Back in camp, Pat had got a bear.  Dinner that night started with one of Rick's donated backstraps which Carter had cooked exceedingly well.  People were going to start leaving in the morning, with four of us yet without bears.