So, after not having a lease of my own for two years I am finally going to visit a new lease I have joined near Erhardt South Carolina. I am gonna get a tour around the property and try to make an areal map in preparation for season. My buddy that manages the lease says there are some hogs around so maybe ill get lucky. I am bringing my SW 460, TC44mag and a few AR's to plink around with. I am pretty stoked. Wish me luck.

I always liked learning a new piece of hunting land, I wish yo luck!!

Yea, I know what you mean. We were on our last piece for 10 years and although it was very productive I had walked every inch of that property and it was always fun going to a place I didn't know.

Good luck. It is always fun to tread new territory.

Congrats on joining a new lease. Hope you find it to your liking.

The Ehrhardt and Bamberg areas are game rich areas - I like your chances...keep us posted!

Good luck this season! I too will be hunting a couple of new properties this season.

Well, I started driving up and my diesel started yelling alarms at me. Took it to dealer and I had two bad sensors. Truck did good catching problem before having a failure but I wasn't able to drive up this weekend. Changed my plans to next weekend. I'll keep you updated.

Exploring new land is always fun! I find the most enjoyable aspects of hunting surround scouting and preparing rather than the hunt itself. Enjoy!

Good luck.

Made it up to the new lease over the weekend. I am excited for this season is an under statement. I didn't do any hunting but I toured the farms several times and got a good idea of the spots. Spent most of our time checking stands and corning. Saw some beautiful bucks on the surrounding farms from the roadway and jumped a giant while driving through the lease.

I noticed all the stands were set about 125+ yards from the food plots or corn sites. I would be comfortable with those distances from a stable rest but the seat of a tree stand doesn't always provide that steady base. I am trying to find a versatile rest I could buy (or create) that I might be able to bring into the stand to help when these shots get out there. Otherwise I may have to break out one of my trustee long rifles. Any Ideas or products out there??????

I used a bog pod with the standard Y top with the legs tied together as a monopod. Tied a string around the top and while resting my wrists on the shooting rail,gathered or released the string with a couple fingers on my support hand until it was the right length to support the forend of the contender.

So I connected two shooting bags together and can hang them over a metal shooting rail such as the rails on our stands. The front bag supports the weapon on the outside of the rail and the rear bag works well as a support bag for my hand on the inside of the rail.

I don't know if I have utilized all of my descriptive powers to explain what I did but the bottom line is it seems to steady me up well. I sat in the yard and dry fired for a while and I feel comfortable with the rest. Going go to the range this weekend and hope I don't get kicked out when I try to practice my improvised shooting rest.

Apparently season starts August 15th in that part of South Caroline and they are still in velvet during the first couple weeks on gun season. I have never had the opportunity to hunt velvet deer.

That sounds like a cool opportunity. Our squirrel season isn't even open then.

I made it out to the new place again. This time for the opener of deer. Saw tons of deer, even with a full moon. The Heat and bugs were something to contend with but not something I wasn't used to, being from Florida. Hunted hard but didn't see something I wanted to shoot until the last afternoon. Ended up with a nice perfect velvet 8. The guy I was with shot two during the trip. One the same night and another a few mornings before. I couldn't be happier. First buck with a handgun, first buck in velvet and first deer on the new lease. Getting this season started on the right foot. I cant wait to get back up and take some of the dozens of does I saw throughout the week.

Congrat's on the successful hunt.

That's a cool trophy! Congrats!

Congratulations on the nice buck! You guys have it pretty good over in SC. My state's gun season doesn't open until the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

Out of curiosity, what load did you use, and how well did it perform?

Nice buck!

Nice job!!! Congrats on the first with the short gun

Nothing like battling the skeets and heat for a Lowcountry SC velvet buck.

Thanks everyone.
I was shooting Hornady's standard 460 200Gr. I found them extremely accurate at the rage just past 100. The shot on the buck was right at 100yards. The bullet was a clean pass through but it was just behind the front shoulder so it didn't hit much bone. The deer jumped and made it about 15 feet before piling up. I think the bullet performed well but I was not able to recover it to see what kind of expansion it had.

By the way, If anyone had been reading the previous post the field bag rest I made worked perfectly. I used it on several different styles of stands (Wood and Metal) and was able to get rock solid.

Well done! Congrats.

Grats ... Beautiful trophy.

I'm currently trimming shooting lanes and moving a few stands around. Can't wait til cooler temps and the first morning hunt!