DNR News
** Archived Article - please check for current information. **
August 21, 2014
Youth draw deer hunts set at Bluefield/Moultrie Hunt Unit this fall
A series of youth draw deer hunts conducted jointly by Santee Cooper and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will be continued this fall.
Applications are available now, with the deadline for submitting applications being 4 p.m. Sept. 16. Call the Dennis Wildlife Center in Bonneau at (843) 761-8820 or (843) 825-3388 to request an application. Past participants are encouraged to tell their friends about their experience to spread the word about this opportunity. Participants must be 17 or younger and capable of safely handling a firearm. They must also be accompanied by an adult at least 21 years old. While the youth hunter and the adult sit together in the stand, only the youth may actually hunt or shoot. All hunts take place in the afternoon from 2-person stands located along the edges of wildlife openings that have been planted in oats, wheat, soybeans, or peas.
The areas hunted on youth draw hunts are located within Sandy Beach Wildlife Management Area and Cross Generating Station, both part of the Santee Cooper-owned Moultrie Hunt Unit.
Last year, 84 young hunters participated and observed over 200 deer. Twenty-nine of these hunters were fortunate enough to take home a deer, 14 of which represented the hunter’s first deer ever. This hunting program has steadily grown since its inception in 1998, when 23 youth hunters took to the field.
The DNR’s Wildlife Management staff based out of the Dennis Wildlife Center in Bonneau work in partnership with Santee Cooper staff to manage the Moultrie Hunt Unit for all wildlife species, and to provide recreational opportunity for the public, especially youngsters who might be new to the outdoors. DNR and Santee Cooper staff give a hunting safety talk to all participants upon their arrival. The hope is that young hunters will take a renewed energy away from a positive experience and continue to value the hunting tradition into adulthood.
Santee Cooper not only owns the land on which these hunts are held, but provides funding for the property’s management, personnel to assist with the logistics of the hunts, t-shirts for hunt participants, and conducts the drawing.
In addition to the draw youth hunts, youths are encouraged to hunt on the 800-acre Bluefield WMA, also part of the Moultrie Hunt Unit. Each youth must be 17 or younger, and accompanied by an adult who is at least 21. The youth must carry a firearm and hunt. Unlike the strictly youth-only draw hunts mentioned above, on Bluefield, the adult may also carry a firearm and hunt. See the current “Rules & Regulations” booklet for specific season dates and limits.
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