Just wondering how many people are hunting within a few miles of an ocean or a bay. My main spot is about 5-6 miles from the ocean. Also the soil is extremely sandy. some spots I have pines and dirt. Others it just sand and some pines. I've noticed a difference in the size of the deer since moving to South Carolina and hunting the coast. Yes i know this is a coyote. Just posting the picture to show the terrain in one of my spots.
I have no experience with coastal deer, but I do know the SC deer are smaller and abundant. Most of my buddies hunt in SC and most of them will swear by transition areas. So many pines tho. Ole dirty Myrtle, huh? Man I have many good memories of that place from back in the day (mid to late 90s). Before the Russians and all. Good luck this year and keep us posted on progress. Would love to hear what you learn and how your season goes. Sent from my SM-G781V using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Yep I guess you could say I live in the dirty myrtle. I end up spending most of my time in little river due to work. But my hunting spot is minutes away from my place. It's been difficult last year I saw only 3 deer. And only came out with 1 of them. Also trying to get a bear this year as well got a few that are showing up. But this heat keeps them coming out at night. I've gotten trail cams out in june and have been running them weekly to find out what's showing up. So far this season is looking up, I'm pretty stoked for this season.
Best of luck. And dirty Myrtle is a term of endearment. Didn't mean any disrespect. Sent from my SM-G781V using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
It's all good! Didn't think any disrespect from it. I hear that all the time. Best of luck to you as well!
I've lived in the greater MBSC for nearly thirty years now and hunted nearly every WMA in Horry and surrounding counties. I still live nearby but just over the NC border. I've also been in several clubs in the region. I just left one I was in for five years. It was awesome but I wanted to hunt public again as well as do some traveling. Our deer are smaller due to evolutionary influences. Their stressful period is the summer and they've grown smaller bones to survive the heat and humidity. Northern deer have bigger bodies because their stress period is the winter cold. The poor soils of the lower coastal plain don't help, though. You can go to counties farther inland but still on the coastal plain and see a difference in the size of the deer. There will always be fewer P&Y class deer here, let alone Booners, but comparing a southern deer to a midwestern deer is akin to comparing apples and brocoli, due to no fault of either region's whitetails. Buck limits and tags have helped considerably, though. Big time. There used to be no enforceable limit on bucks in half the state. Those who still hate tags will grudgingly admit their seeing "better" bucks on camera and from the stand. I think I know the WMA you've described in your OP. It's a tough place to deer hunt but it has all of what an old buck requires as habitat. Don't be fooled by the predominance of pines. There are hundreds of forms of natural growing vegetation deer can survive upon besides acorns. There's enough food in those thick Carolina Bays to keep them healthy as can be. A lot of deer tracks you see on those more open sand ridges occur after sundown. The rut changes that, of course, but our season's super long. Feel free to PM me anytime about coastal hunting in our fine adopted state, Nick. It's a steep learning curve and quite different from Maryland if you're going to hunt without bait on private land, as required by law. As RidgeRunner said, edges and transitions increase your odds. I like to hunt super tight areas that deer and hunters must travel between several different habitats. A good shooting lane is no more than 30 or 40 yards of visibility. Palm stands on dry hummocks between old pines and new pines or a cut over are definitely traveled by wildlife. Get out of your head nearly everything you see on hunting TV of field edges and food plots. Our deer like tight areas most hunters avoid. Bow hunting coastal deer in SC without bait on public land is challenging, one I'll be trying for the first time this fall. I've killed numerous deer and pigs with a rifle in bow range, though. I'm excited to try it with stick and string this fall. I've only been a bow hunter for six years now, but I've been hunting the places I've described with a gun for much longer.
That definitely makes a lot of sense! I'm hunting in Lewis ocean bay heritage preserve. I know it holds deer and finding the pinch points they're using has been tough. But I feel that I'm in a better position this year since I've been running trail cameras all summer. I've gotten plenty of pictures of deer and a few bears since June. So my season is looking up. I've been hunting nothing but public land since 2016. That was the last season I had a piece of private property back in Maryland. But I've had a pretty good "success" rate since switching over to public. Also as you said its definitely a steep learning curve. I thought last season i was going to be quite "successful" but little did I know, I wasn't prepared for hunting in South Carolina. I've definitely learned a lot from last season. Wish you the best of luck on this season. I'll definitely let you know if I've got any questions.
I wish I did, we have alot of exotic deer down there on the coast but you either have to own land or get drawn , if ur lucky to get drawn.
