NEWBERRY COUNTY — Mobility impaired hunters will again be treated to a unique opportunity to attend two special deer hunts this year on about 60 well-managed and exclusive, private tracts of land in the Upstate.
The hunts are scheduled for Oct. 28 and Oct. 29 in Cherokee, Spartanburg and Union counties, and on Nov. 4 and Nov. 5 in Laurens and Newberry counties.
Applicants can apply for one or both hunts. There is no application fee or other cost associated with these hunts. Each hunt will consist of a noon lunch and hunting on Friday afternoon and Saturday mornings. After the noon lunch on Friday, all participants will then disperse to their assigned hunt sites.
Applications for these special hunts are available from the Union DNR Office, 124 Wildlife Drive, Union, SC 29379, telephone (864) 427-5140, fax (864) 427-8460; or the DNR Columbia Office, PO Box 167, Columbia, SC 29202, telephone (803) 734-3886.
Applications can also be downloaded from the DNR website at www.dnr.sc.gov/hunting/mobilityhunt. Completed applications must be received at the Union DNR Office by 5 p.m. Sept. 12.
Applicants for these hunts are carefully screened and are restricted to persons who are permanently and severely mobility impaired. These include only those who are permanently confined to a wheelchair, persons permanently requiring the use of a mechanical aid (walker, braces, cane, etc.) to walk, or persons with complete single or double leg amputations.
Each hunter may be accompanied by one other person who can participate in a non-hunting capacity.
These special hunts are co-sponsored by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, which will handle the application process, notification of successful hunters, and other correspondence. A number of generous landowners and managers will accommodate hunters on their properties this year during these special hunts. Additional hosts may be added prior to the hunt.
Newberry County — Nov. 4 and Nov. 5
Chris Cleveland – Good Old Boys Club
Terry Cotney – Lester Estate
Rusty Harter – Piedmont Conservation Club
Mr. and Mrs. Roy Jones – Mudlick Lodge
John McCauley – Belfast Hunt Club
Gary Stephens – Belfast WMA
Otis Taylor – The Scott Place (TCA)
Union County — Oct. 28 and Oct. 29
Ty Cheek – Pea Ridge Hunt Club
Gordy Darby – Hickory Hills Hunt Club
Wayne Garner – U. S. Sportsmen’s Club
Dan Hess (Donnie Loftis) – Padgett’s Creek Reserve
Hunter West (George D. Johnson Jr.) – Tyger Ranch
Bob Jeter – Chufa Ridge Farm, LLC
Steve Koskela – Laura Lyn Farm
Donnie Loftis – Rabbit Road Hunt Club
Tarri McKinney – Delta South WMA
Walter Oates – Triangle 113 Farm
John Odell – Allen Farm
Ron Roberts – Beulah Creek Hunt Club
Terry Shockley – Trophy Buck Hunt Club
Frank Sistare – Fairforest Timber Company
Jeff Strickland – Strickland Property
Laurens County — Nov. 4 and Nov. 5
Charles Blackmon – Blackmon Farm
Wallace Boyd – Quaker Creek Farm
Larry Brehmer – Brehmer Farm
Jackie Burns – Buckhorn Farms
Ricky Childers – Benjamin Property
Tom Davis – Davis Property-Hog Pen
John Farmer – Farmer Property
Steve Frantz – Southern Timber Associates
Barrett Holmes – Holmes Farm
Tim Howard – Sugar Flat Hunt Club
Mike Johnson – The Clinton House Plantation
Steve Johnson – Johnson Farm
Charles McKinney – McKinney Property
Wade Pitts – Pitts Place
Gus Ramage – Ramage Properties
Danny Roach – Pacolet Milliken Enterprises
Dave Schemm – Triple S Hunt Club
Stan Schoemer – Red Oak Hunt Club
Todd Scott – Cabin On the Water
Penny Spearman – Spearman Property
Bryson Thomason – Fuller Gray Farm
Hobart Trotter – Davis Property
Jim Watson – Indian Creek Hunt Club
Derrick Wessinger – Hurricane Hunt Club
Claude Woollen – Woollen Farm
A number of organizations are also co-sponsoring these events and provide financial support or assistance in various other ways.
“Aside from the opportunity to hunt deer on some of the most well-managed and exclusive properties in the Upstate, another important benefit of these events is the opportunity to develop friendships and fellowship among those who have similar disabilities,” said Gerald Moore, DNR wildlife biologist in Union. “We are pleased to cooperate with the various hosts and sponsors of these hunts in assisting those people who are able to take definite steps to pursue their outdoor interests in spite of their disabilities.”
Moore encourages all qualified mobility impaired persons interested in hunting to apply.
“It is certainly a great opportunity,” he said, “and all interested sportsmen and sportswomen who are mobility impaired should try to take advantage of it.”