By Lindsay Street
Staff Writer

Hunting guide Tony Thornley hiked across the property he leases in rural Berkeley County, checking the corn he recently left out for deer. Most of it was nibbled down to the cob.

He refreshed the corn at several piles located in clear view of tree-borne hunting stands.

Before Thornley brings clients to the stands, he said, deer have to become accustomed to the area.

With the opening of deer season in early August, Thornley’s business is in full swing. The season will end Jan. 1.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4% of U.S. residents hunt, and deer hunting alone yields $10 billion in annual retail sales, $6.8 billion in annual salary and wages, 239 million jobs, $117 million in annual state income taxes, $1.2 billion per year in federal income taxes, and $410 million in sales and fuel taxes annually.

The average hunter nationwide spends $1,800 per hunting trip, and a third of those expenses are related to travel, according to the federal wildlife agency. In 2001, the average out-of-state hunter spent 18 days a year in South Carolina, the agency said.

Nonresident hunters in South Carolina collectively spent $30.5 million on trip-related and equipment expenses in 2001, the agency said.

The Lowcountry region, where tourism is a significant industry, may be losing out on the hunting crowd, said Wayne Smith, assistant professor with the College of Charleston’s Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

“There’s definitely more potential than what is being realized,” Smith said.

Hunting in South Carolina in some rural areas joins agriculture and timber production as a main source of revenue for residents, said Charles Ruth, deer project supervisor for the Department of Natural Resources.

“That’s what drives (some rural towns’) year, is the hunting season,” he said.

Currently, South Carolina capitalizes on nonresidents’ hankering to hunt in the Palmetto State by leasing hunting land from residents. Some parcels cost $10 to $20 per acre per season for hunting rights, Ruth said.

About 80% of hunting land in the Lowcountry is privately held, meaning that leasing land to hunt deer is one of just a few options for pursuing the sport, Thornley said. He leases a 500-acre tract and a 130-acre tract in Berkeley County during deer season.

“(Land leasing has) ramped up over time as the nonresidents have figured out (the hunting opportunities here),” Ruth said. “It’s become more competitive. It’s fueled itself over time.”

However, the competition may begin to push local hunters out of the market, who can’t afford the cost of leasing land. Nonresident hunters are typically 50 or older and have more expendable income than younger South Carolina hunters, Ruth said.

Deer season opened Aug. 15 for a 12-county region including Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester. Labeled Zone 6 by the state Department of Natural Resources, the counties represent one of six hunting zones in South Carolina regulated by the agency.

The zone has one of the earliest opening seasons in the state, liberal limits on the number of deer that hunters can harvest and one of the longest deer seasons in the nation, making it an attractive  region in which to hunt the animals.

According to DNR’s 2006 South Carolina hunting report, some 47% of nonresidents hunted in Allendale, Chester, Fairfield, Hampton and Jasper counties. Dorchester County was listed as one of five South Carolina counties to have a high success rate for nonresident deer hunters.

Yet, the lure of this region may be soon fading. With fewer amenities and hunting guides than other zones offer, the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester area also may be losing the hunter tourist to counties along the Interstate 95 corridor.

A good number of nonresident hunters in South Carolina come from either Florida or North Carolina, which makes counties along interstates more attractive, Ruth said.

“I think it’s all about location,” he said.

Rural and urban reputation also can affect a hunter’s decision to hunt a particular county.

Areas known for urban sprawl, like the tri-county region, are often not desirable hunting locations because of decreased hunting land, Ruth said.

“(Allendale, Barnwell, Bamberg, Hampton, Jasper and Orangeburg counties) are notorious nationwide for deer population and hunting,” he said.

SUBSCRIBE | REPRINTS | CONTACT US

Phone: 843-849-3100    Fax: 843-849-3122