Here in SC our deer dont hold a candle to the midwest or Texas deer. We have lots of them but they just dont get as big. Bobcats and foxes on the other hand are pretty common here. I see a bobcat or two in the stand every year and I have one stand where I see foxes almost every hunt. I watched a big bobcat stand down a grown doe. She had a baby with her and was trying to run him off by slowly getting closer to him while stomping her foot. He just sat there looking at her until she got within 20 yards. He then moved into a crouched position – ready to jump. She reversed her direction –walking backwards- but kept stomping. After she got 50 yards away, she turn and ran with her baby. She knew better than to tangle with a 30+ pound cat!
I had a great year this year and we ended on a high note. This was my 12 year old daughter's first year hunting and my 10 year old son's 3rd. My daughter went with us last year a few times but was never behind the gun. Towards the end of the year she expressed an interest in shooting but it never worked out. I had 2 deer on camera this year that I wanted to hunt. I took one of them early season. The other I bow hunted all year and he never showed. The last 2 weeks of the season I popped up a ground blind to let the kids hunt this spot. Wouldn't you know the last afternoon the big boy showed up with my daughter behind the gun! She made a great shot and I shook like a leaf for 20 minutes. It was much better than it would have been if I took him - even with the bow! To top that off, I had the chance to take my son to a friend's land on youth day and he also scored his biggest deer ever. And just to make it a little more impressive, both days they took these deer it was extremely cold for SC. Single digits in the morning with the highs well below freezing all day. Both of them wanted to go – I tried to talk them out of it. All in all, a great year.
