Rut Started in Barnwell County, SCRut Started in Barnwell County, SC Bob Sanders History of White-tailed Deer in South Carolina In pre-Columbian times much of South Carolina’s landscape was composed of mature hardwood and longleaf pine forest habitats. Deer were statewide in distribution but their overall densities could best be described as moderate. These moderate densities resulted from the lack of optimum habitat diversity, for deer, that was associated with historic, mature forests. Also, predators like the cougar, red wolf and American Indian helped to keep deer numbers regulated. Higher deer densities occurred in areas where disturbance created early stages of ecological succession. These disturbed areas provided an abundance of new, 4 succulent growth close to the forest floor and within reach of browsing deer. Deer became locally abundant in areas where disturbance opened the forest canopy and allowed sunlight to penetrate and stimulate new growth. Natural disturbances that opened the forest canopy included lightning fires, tornadoes, and hurricanes. The impact of a storm like hurricane Hugo on pre-Columbian forests would have created an immense area suitable for an abundance of deer. Similarly, the native American Indians understood this relationship and used fire frequently to create habitat suitable for larger numbers of deer. The coming of the colonists had little immediate negative impacts on white-tailed deer. Although firearms facilitated the harvest of greater numbers of deer, clearing of land for small communities and farms created habitats that allowed for increased numbers of deer. Overall, during the early colonial period there was a general equilibrium between the colonists (and Indians) use of deer and the benefits that deer populations received. However, by the 1800’s the value associated with deer, improvements in firearms, extensive agriculture, and unrestricted market hunting began to severely limit deer and herds declined drastically in South Carolina. Domestic use of deer hides was great and in addition, annual exports of deer hides from Charleston approached 150,000 during the mid to late 1700’s. The terms “bucks,” “doe,” and “skins” persist to this day as monetary references reflecting the historic value of deer in our heritage. The early 1900’s marked the low point for deer in South Carolina as it did across the country. However, because of public concern for conservation things began to change in a positive direction for deer. The Lacy Act was passed by Congress in 1900 placing regulations on the interstate trafficking of wildlife and in 1923 South Carolina passed the buck law which prohibited the harvest of female deer. In 1937 Congress passed a sweeping piece of legislation called the Wildlife Restoration Act or Pittman-Robertson act. This act, named for the Senator and Congressman who sponsored it, authorized the setting apart of a tax on sporting arms and ammunition to be used in cooperation with states in wildlife restoration projects. Also important to the recovery of deer in South Carolina were widespread changes in habitat that benefited deer. Although clearing for agriculture was greatly responsible for low deer numbers by 1900, the habitat began to change for the better in the 1920’s. Years of signifi5 cant drought and the impact of the cotton bowl weevil were devastating to farming. With this reduction in farming came a trend of people leaving farms prior to and especially after World War II. Mills began to operate in many parts of the state and a large amount of agricultural land began to revert back to forest land. So at this time we had laws that offered protection for deer, funds to implement wildlife management and research, and improvements in habitat for white-tailed deer in South Carolina. Although delayed by World War II, restocking efforts began in earnest in the early 1950’s. Deer were virtually non-existent in the piedmont and mountains of South Carolina and there was little if any deer hunting in those areas. Fortunately, good residual populations remained in the river swamps of the coastal plain and these strongholds of deer became the source for restocking. The fact that all restocking that took place in South Carolina used native deer as stock places our state in a unique position with respect to genetic integrity. The characteristics of native South Carolina deer evolved due to environmental, behavioral and genetic pressures exerted for millions of years and we are lucky to have only native deer in South Carolina. Most, if not all, other states that had restocking programs received deer from other states. In both the central and western piedmont, where deer were rare, wildlife biologists restocked approximately 100 deer during the early to mid 1950’s. Deer numbers rapidly increased and by about 1960 the first deer hunts were held in these areas. In each case, the first hunt was a 3 day buck only hunt and in each case 1 buck was harvested. In contrast, the combined deer harvest from the Central and Western Piedmont Hunt Units in recent years has been approximately 120,000 deer annually. In much of the coastal plain, deer numbers were sufficient to allow hunting even when there was no hunting in the mountains and piedmont. Today the statewide deer population is approximately 750,000. Huntable populations exist in all 46 counties in South Carolina and the annual statewide deer harvest is approximately 225,000. |
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