Daddy, Tell Them We Don't Shoot Bambi: -A Hunter’S Story-

By Ollie T. Moye

Daddy, Tell Them We Dont Shoot Bambispins a true account of what one man did to introduce his sons to the basics of hunting and firearms safety, resulting in major quality time during their formative years. More important than tips on getting started, the author underscores strengthening father-son relationship. The authors closeness to nature is accented as he enthusiastically paints an accurate portrait of the average hunter. Included also are the agonies and disappointments of the hunt, often swept aside by the hunter, as well as some laugh out loud stuff hunters encounter. The author offers a 53-year writing background, with many published credits (including hunting) as well as tenure as editor of regional newspapers. He is past-president of the South Carolina Press Association.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 7, 2005
• ISBN: 9781463478216

Ollie T. Moye

I offer a 53-year writing background with many published credits (including hunting) as well as tenure as editor of regional newspapers. I was editor of The Newberry (SC) Observer for 40 years and served as President of the South Carolina Press Association in 1992.

Book preview

Daddy, Tell Them We

Don’t Shoot Bambi

-A Hunter’s Story-

By

Ollie T. Moye

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

© 2005 Ollie T. Moye. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 03/16/05

ISBN: 1-4208-2703-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-7821-6 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2005900588

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Dedicated to

My Two Sons

Mickey And Timothy

THANKS TO MANY

My grateful thanks to many friends who anchor the foundation for this project.

I am especially indebted to…

William Smith of Newberry, an expert marksman who worked long and untiringly instilling in me the art of firearms use and safety.

Ned Hipp, Newberry native now residing in Winston-Salem, N.C., who taught me to recognize and appreciate quality in workmanship and rifle accuracy.

Key hunting mentors, especially Billy O’Dell and Bunny West, both of Newberry, and others too numerous to mention with whom I’ve hunted who shared their special skills.

Several of my special friends at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR), especially Charles Ruth, wildlife biologist and SCDNR’s Deer Project Supervisor.

Bob Williams, former District Ranger of the Enoree Division of the Sumter National Forest, who introduced me to hunting with a bow.

I also acknowledge with appreciation the on-going hunter education and valuable information I’ve received through the years from the National Rifle Association (NRA). All American sportsmen owe a debt of gratitude to this organization for taking the forefront in protecting and preserving this great American heritage of hunting and gun ownership for future generations.

A special thank you to Walt Oliver of Columbia, my editorial assistant, and to a good friend, Jay Bender of Columbia, both of whom read the book prior to its publication.

Also I am grateful to three property owners whose private lands have been available through lease arrangements–Ned Carlisle of Newberry, Warren Cousins of Newberry and Mrs. Leola Fanning of Beaufort.

Indeed, I have many to thank for assisting me with this project.

Contents

THANKS TO MANY

INTRODUCTION AND FORWARD

CHAPTER ONE A Strong Case Of Whitetail Fever

CHAPTER TWO Finely-Tuned Custom Rifles Can Miss

CHAPTER THREE Those Memorable Firsts

CHAPTER FOUR From Butt-Cutters To Gentlemen Hunting

CHAPTER FIVE Doubles Occasionally

CHAPTER SIX Four Wheel Drives

CHAPTER SEVEN Custom Hunting Knives

CHAPTER EIGHT Tragedy Occurs

CHAPTER NINE Other Productive Areas Located

CHAPTER TEN A Collection Of

Unbelievable Tales

WHERE PEACE OF MIND TRIUMPHS

INTRODUCTION AND FORWARD

BY OLLIE T. MOYE

I wouldn’t get out of the electric chair to go deer hunting, my closest friend and fishing partner, the late Gus Singley, reacted when he read my account in The Newberry (S.C.) Observer in 1956 of the stocking of deer in the Newberry County section of the Enoree Division of the vast Sumter National Forest, a section of which is located in the upper region of South Carolina and extends into the northern extremes of this rural county where dove shoots, rabbit hunting and bream and bass fishing combine to produce one of the best hunting and fishing climates available in America.

I remember agreeing with him one hot August afternoon as we sat lazily on his homemade pontoon waiting for catfish to grab our worm-laden hooks. Routinely, we bass fished and that requires a lot of physical energy. This occasion on his pontoon, however, was one of the few times we had opted to relax and enjoy the peaceful pleasures Lake Murray offers, that of baiting a hook and not really caring whether anything bothered it or not.

His recollection of some accidents involving dangerous encounters with hunters using shotguns in the lower part of this state, where deer hunting with dogs was developed about mid-way of the 20th century were chilling, and influenced his thinking. Gus confessed to me that he had hunted on limited occasions on the popular dog-man drives in the low country, but he no longer would do that because in his opinion, he was risking his personal safety.

I agreed with him then because I had no knowledge of hunting or firearms or safety precautions. Since, I have learned that while deer hunting can be extremely dangerous, most hunters survive. Annually, thousands upon thousands of hunters seek deer across America, carrying their weapons of choice, and most return safely. It’s safer than driving an automobile, given today’s crowded road conditions. Unfortunately, there are some hunting deaths each year, most of which are the results of carelessness and not observing safety basics.

In South Carolina, the Wildlife Management Area Program (WMA) and its attendant restoration of historic deer and turkey populations date back to 1948 when the Waterhorn Unit of the Frances Marion National Forest in the lower sandhills and coastal areas of South Carolina was declared a deer and turkey refuge by Presidential Proclamation.

An early report made available by the National Forest Service reveals that a hog-proof fence was erected around the 17,000-acre unit and hog eradication was begun. That report further documents that during the 1950s, 317 wild turkey and 226 deer were trapped and relocated. At least 112 of these deer and 26 of these turkeys were released on approximately 35,000 acres of land in Edgefield and McCormick Counties in the Western Piedmont Hunt Unit of the Sumter National Forest.

It was in 1956 that the restoration effort was expanded to the Central Piedmont Unit of the Enoree Division of which a portion lies in Newberry County.

I was only 21 years old then, had never picked up a firearm of any kind and hunting was not then nor had it ever previously been a topic that held my interest. I was sports oriented, mind you. I had just arrived at The Newberry Observer, a twice-weekly newspaper published in Newberry (S. C.), the county seat of rural Newberry County, from Anderson (S. C.) where I had spent four years writing sports for The Anderson (S.C.) Independent, a daily newspaper. Just before I moved to Newberry, I had been promoted to sports editor of The Daily Mail, an afternoon newspaper owned by the same company, and wrote a daily sports column and traveled with The Clemson Tigers during the l955 football season.

I never dreamed I would ever hunt and kill anything, not because I was anti-hunting. My interest in hunting just had never found its way into my mind. Not long after I came to Newberry, I had the opportunity to do an article for The Newberry Observer on the stocking program for deer in an area of the U.S. Forest Service. Bart Kennedy was District Ranger of the Enoree District of the U. S. Sumter National Forest, and Brick Hunt Camp was located in the newspaper’s circulation area. I was responding to duties accompanying my job rather than any obsession I might have been holding for hunting deer. Although this might have been responsible for embedding the desire in my subconscious to learn more about deer and to eventually hunt them, I credit my eventual entry into the exciting world of deer hunting to causes cited elsewhere in the pages of this book.

Twelve years of my life slid by after writing that story about the stocking of deer in upper Newberry County before I made a decision to get involved. To do so, I had a lot of learning to accomplish because at that time I knew absolutely nothing about hunting or firearms or target shooting or, for that matter, that natural habitat claimed by wildlife.

I haven’t regretted the decision to educate myself in what became an exciting and fascinating experience in Mother Nature’s special world of outdoor living, during which time I have been privileged to share abundantly in experiences not otherwise available in the fast-paced life in America during the past 50 years. Nearly four decades of hunting deer have entrenched within me a better knowledge of the animal, a keener appreciation of the great outdoors and a broader understanding of man’s relationship to the animal kingdom.

I have come to truly believe that including time in the wild observing Mother Nature enriches one’s existence and actually strengthens a bond with our creator. I suggest that those who commune with nature through hunting and fishing actually develop a closeness with God few other outlets in life offer. This makes the time we allot to the great outdoors all the more worthwhile.

Indeed a bonus, I have come to realize, is that the refreshing calmness and special serenity one finds associated with the great outdoors cleanses our minds as well as our souls. I am convinced this adds years to one’s life. Many times I have found that breaking away from life’s treacherous moments for a more relaxing visit to the woods in search of deer or an outing on the lake or my favorite pond seeking Mr. Bass has helped preserve my sanity yet another day. It’s the kind of therapy money can’t buy.

As I reflect back on that peaceful afternoon on Lake Murray when my first true friend and fishing partner confided in me his fear of deer hunting, I am still truly saddened today that I never had the opportunity to share with my special fishing buddy the thrill of harvesting a fine buck. Needless to say, I have etched permanently in my memory banks numerous fishing trips we made together to Lake Murray and to Santee Cooper in the lower part of this great state. Many are the tales I could write about my experiences wetting a line; some just as humorous as those I share with the reader in this book on hunting.

While my memory often burns fervently with thoughts related to my first fishing comrade, I also am extremely grateful that my life also has been richly blessed by close associations with many other dedicated outdoorsmen. All have been eager to share their vast knowledge with the likes of an often clumsy and awkward adult who, because of uncontrollable economic conditions in early childhood, reached manhood without ever knowing the unlimited pleasures afforded in the fields and streams of this wonderful big, wide-open countryside called America.

My acceptance in 1970 into Gilder Creek Hunting Club, which comprised an estimated 1,800 acres of prime hunting land in the heart of the Enoree Division of the great Sumter National Forest, exposed me to some of the most talented outdoorsmen to be found anywhere. All of them have been true dedicated teachers and friends and in the pages that follow, it becomes my pleasure to weave a hunting fabric rich in their contributions. The hundreds of deer I have been fortunate to observe in wilderness conditions and the comparatively few that I have claimed for the excellent tasting meat they represent, are all products of the knowledge shared with me by this fine legion of experienced hunters. I have been rewarded also by an occasional nice set of antlers; none, however, of trophy standing.

My life also has been richly blessed because God has not only allowed me to have two fine sons, but to be further blessed by allowing me to rear them in the midst of one of the true sportsmen’s paradises remaining in America today. Ours was the kind of relaxed climate which many in today’s world only dream about. It may still exist in some far reaches across this country, but not as abundant as it was as the country headed into the second half of the 20th century.

From the deer-infested 78,000-acre Enoree Division of the Sumter National Forest that touches the northern end of this county, to the 649-mile shoreline of Lake Murray and its Saluda River feeder on the northwest end, residents of Newberry County are fortunate to reside in the middle of unlimited hunting during specified seasons. Fishing opportunities abound year ‘round.

But even the vastness of the near-by National Forest, accessible only a few miles north of Newberry’s city limits, nor the expanse of Lake Murray, account for all of the hunting and fishing possibilities that await the sportsmen of this area. Some of us are blessed to have invitations to fish on some of the more than 700 farm ponds scattered about the county or hunt on the thousands of acres of privately owned farm land in a county that rates near the top in agricultural production in this state.

In addition, many acres of privately owned hunting lands have been made available for public hunting through the Game Management Area coverage program. Its success is credited to cooperation of private landowners. Many sportsmen and other outdoor enthusiasts acknowledge that without these lands, public hunting as now provided in this state would be impossible, and landowners are due our thanks for their cooperation.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) publications appropriately recognize that Sportsmen seeing the yellow and black diamond-shaped signs designating wildlife management area boundaries should remember they are hunting as guests of landowners. Government, corporate and private individuals have contributed their holdings for the public’s enjoyment and have provided their lands through cooperative agreements with the department. Landowners may remove their land from the program if they feel sportsmen are being destructive, inconsiderate or disrespectful of this privilege.

What has been amazing is the rapid development of the deer population since the stocking program began in Newberry County in 1956. In the 40-plus years since the Central Piedmont District, of which Newberry is a part, was opened for the first deer hunt in 1960, the number of deer checked in has grown by staggering proportions.

Deer harvests have accelerated rapidly from the one deer killed in 1960. A review of the deer season history of the Central Piedmont District tracks this growth. Ten years later (1970-71), the total kill had increased to 1,337, including 924 bucks and 246 does. That year, there was only one either sex day. Three decades after the opening year, there were a total of 22,679 deer checked in of which 15,255 were bucks. That year, 7,424 does were checked in during 14 either sex days.

Charles Ruth, Statewide Deer Project Supervisor with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, keeps records on deer kill statistic in the state. Deer kills in the eight county Central Piedmont District totaled 71,304 in 2001, including 33,921 bucks and 37,383 does. The latest figures (for the 2003 season) shows a decline. 2003’s total was 66,273, including 31,272 bucks and 35,001 does.

A very interesting thing is reflected in Ruth’s 2003 statistical accounting of the state. Totals are down in every hunt unit. Ruth’s statistical commentary states: During the 2003 deer season, it is estimated that a total of 135,979 bucks and 137,707 does were harvested for a statewide total of 273,504 deer. This represents a 14.3 per cent decrease in harvest from 2002 (319,902) and is the most notable year-to-year reduction in harvest the state has ever experienced. After many years of rapid increase, the deer population in South Carolina has been stable since about 1997 and the reduction in harvest seen in 2003 can likely be attributed to several factors.

Among those identified by Ruth are a significant 3-4 year drought, which may have slightly reduced reproduction and recruitment of deer, and unseasonably warm fall temperatures in 2003 which contributed to reduced daytime movements of deer during the hunting season. He also notes that significant hemorrhagic disease activity was documented in the Southeast in 2002, adding, and South Carolina was no exception.

Noteworthy is that historically the lower coastal area led the state in deer harvest per unit area (one square mile represents a unit area) until about 1990. Currently, the Central Piedmont District is showing out, according to Ruth. In 2001, for example, only two of the top 10 deer harvest counties in the state are coastal counties with the remaining eight counties all being in the Piedmont. We’ve seen a total reversal with the upstate yielding more deer per unit since about 1990, Ruth told me.

There was only a three-day season the first year. Today, South Carolina boasts of one of the longest deer hunting seasons in the United States, opening August 15 in the lower part of the state. Traditionally, the Central Piedmont season opens in early October, allowing the first couple of weeks for primitive weapons hunting. These seasons are preceded by a two-week archery season. Except on private lands, the gun season shuts down approximately two weeks after Thanksgiving on public land to allow small game hunting, then reopens through New Year’s Day.

As can be documented by records of the U.S. Forest Service, the popularity of the sport had started gaining momentum and so had the deer herd the year I became introduced to this sport.

In 1968, former Enoree District Ranger Bob Williams made the following references to hunting in his official Enoree Multiple Use Plan:

"Huntable productions of deer and turkey exist on the Enoree Ranger District. Small game species-quail, rabbit, squirrel, fox, raccoon and opossum-are all found on the District and hunting is permitted under State regulation. Migratory birds of many species pass through the District but only doves and ducks are hunted.

Big game hunting of deer and turkey is relatively new to this area as the first deer hunts were held in 1960. Two major problems are the danger of relatively inexperienced hunters and poaching by night hunters.

It was my privilege and pleasure to become a special friend of Ranger Williams (now retired). It was Ranger Williams who introduced me to bow hunting for deer, an experience that will be explored in some detail in the first chapter.

In 1971, I edited and produced a give-away publication by the former Mayer’s Homestead, the outdoor sports center in our small rural setting during the years before Wal-Mart put the squeeze on small mom and pop operations. I developed the contents along the central theme that the woods are greener, the water cleaner in Newberry County. On the cover of that complimentary publication, I included the following quote from the Bible, which is as appropriate here as it was in that publication: God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’ Gen. 1-28 (NIV).

Articles I wrote for the several pages of that publication included one from Ranger Joe Baker, who had succeeded Ranger Williams at the Enoree office, in which the new Ranger talked about the heavy deer hunting pressure that had begun to develop in this area in the early 70s. Joe had calculated that on a per acre basis, sometime during the deer hunting season every acre of the National Forest Land in the Enoree District was hunted in 1970 (10 years after the first season) at least six hours by one person.

Any day you went out during the legal deer hunting season, Ranger Baker told me, you probably could find about one hunter for every 80 acres. Of course, this varied some. On opening day, for example, we were mobbed. Toward the end of the season, hunting tapered off and you might not find but one hunter per 1,000 acres.

He predicted the deer population for 1972 would be rather heavy and equally heavy hunting pressure was anticipated. He proved to be correct on both counts, and this has increased appreciably each succeeding year.

He gave the following evidence of the rapid spread of the deer herd: Without a doubt, we feel the deer herd is the heaviest in the vicinity of 66 area- the land between Stomp Springs, Tip Top and Eison’s Crossroads. The deer population is building quite rapidly on Headley’s Creek which is south of the Brick House Camp Grounds, and it also is building quite rapidly in the eastern part of Newberry County, down along the Broad River, Tiger and Enoree River bottoms.

And indeed the deer herd has grown and expanded to all four corners of Newberry County to such an extent that some of the larger bucks in more recent years have been harvested in the Lake Murray area of the county on the opposite end of where the original stocking took place.

In the late 80s, after establishing year-round residency on the shores of Lake Murray, I was to learn large bucks are plentiful on lands beyond the Sumter National Forest. I have been fortunate to locate and lease desirable private lands for hunting purposes between the lake and the small rural community of Prosperity, and 15 years of hunting in these locations have produced consistently larger bucks, both in weight and rack size.

One of the largest bucks I have ever seen stopped in front of my vehicle on opening morning of the season the first year I lived on the lake. Mickey, my oldest son, and I were en route to Gilder Creek Club, a distance of about 40 miles from my lake home. Approximately five miles from home, this tremendous buck with a huge set of antlers stepped out in the middle of the road. Fortunately, I saw him in time to stop the vehicle. My headlights mesmerized him and his massive rack mesmerized both Mickey and me.

I have documented a private stocking of deer by David Bedenbaugh in the Prosperity area almost simultaneously with the supervised stocking at Brick House Hunt Camp referenced earlier in this introduction.

David, a Prosperity business leader, farmer and land developer, approached the late Sen. Jesse Frank Hawkins of Newberry in the early 60s, and the Senator made arrangements for Bedenbaugh to pick up two fawns at the Charleston zoo.

A long-time friend dating back to the late 50s, I’ve known David is an avid deer hunter. Not only does he hunt whitetails on his several hundred acres in the lower county, but also since his retirement several years ago, he has annually taken trips out west to hunt elk. He has brought back some mighty fine trophies.

He told me about raising deer many years ago. He reminded me at a bridge game while I was writing this book that he had an important part in starting the deer hunting population in Newberry County.

Then he gave me the following account: Raymond Hawkins and I went to Charleston on a Sunday morning and brought them back in the car. I put them in my garage and fed them Coble milk.

He then recounts building an acre and a half pen with a 10 feet high fence around the area of a small pond and I began raising deer.

Bedenbaugh was engulfed in quail hunting in the 60s, hunting birds all day at times. There weren’t many deer tracks then, he said. Occasionally you might see one track but that was rare.

He kept the bucks thinned out. Grinning broadly, he confessed to me that word got out in those years that he had killed a big buck with a bow. I never did deny it, he said, admitting that he did kill this eight-point buck with his bow. I shot the buck through the fence, he confessed. I never did tell anybody that. But I had to shoot some of the bucks. I had too many.

Bam! Indeed, I remembered him telling me years ago about killing a big eight point buck with his bow. That was during the time that I began my hunting ventures with a bow, and I recall thinking boy, is he some kind of a good hunter.

In 1965, he released nine bred doe, turning everything loose he had except one doe. He gave it to Walt Schrader of DNR, who at that time was head of the deer herd.

Walt wanted to give it to a person he knew, said David. He brought a couple of game wardens to my place and they caught the deer by hand.

From those nine doe David had raised, the deer herd got a quick start in the Prosperity area. Eventually, deer from the upper county would move to the lower county. His personal interest brought this about sooner.

The deer herd has become so abundant in Newberry County and throughout South Carolina that deer present quite a challenging problem to the farmers in our agricultural-oriented county, and to motorists as well. Unfortunately, many operators of vehicles are not quite so fortunate to spot a deer on the side of the road and stop their vehicles in time to