In a country with little or no real money, deer hides became the medium of trade. Still today, a dollar is refered to as a "buck", a hold over from colonial days. During the 1800's,market hunting took it's toll on the whitetail as the demand for meat and hides increased to feed a fast growing population along the coast of South Carolina. Un-restricted deer hunting continued until the turn of the century. It wasn't until 1913 that the South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resourses was formed, and that the whitetail and other species of the state were offerd any protection against over-hunting and habitat destruction.

 
As industry began to move across South Carolina, and after the passing of the depression era, farmland that was once planted , reverted back to forrested areas as sons and daughters looked to other occupations near growing cities. By the 1900's, every state except South Carolina had a re-stocking program underway. The only whitetail that still existed lived in the remotest areas of the state such as, the swamps of the low-country, the mountains and the deep hardwood bottoms.

In 1950 however; nine deer had been trapped in the Francis Marion Nat.Forest, and released in Edgefield Co. By 1952, 28 deer had been released into what is now the Sumter National Forest as well. Today, we have an open season in every county of the state. South Carolina has the longest season , and the most liberal bag limits for deer accross the United States.

 

With an estimated deer herd well over 1 million; Hunter-Conservationist, along with the South Carolina Dept.Of Natural Resourses agree that the future of whitetail deer hunting has never looked better!

B.Stallings 5-4-01