The First 10 days of the SC turkey season

[weekender7]

They lasted about 30 minutes for me. SC has been reducing the turkey hunting for non-residents at an alarming pace. We used to get 5 tags, now it is down to 2 and you can only kill 1 of those 2 in the first 10 days of the season. Up until last year, turkey tags came with a big game license but now we "get" to contibute $100 extra for our 2 tags.

Today was opening day and despite 20 mph winds I managed to get this bird to hear my box call and find his way to me by 7:30 AM. My wife and I were sitting together today, unusual but not unheard of. We were hunting a new club in a place we had never been. I can't hear squat, even though I was wearing Walkers game ear muffs. My wife poked me and said she heard clucking. It might have been putting instead cause he was leaving. I hadn't seen him, it was THICK by our standards, even though he was on my side of the tree. 45 yrd shot and a DRT. 18.4# with a 9" beard and 1" spurs, most likely a 2 yr old.

 

[kloppy]

Way to go man

 

[Sccritterkiller]

It's not just non residents...Us Rs only get 3 tags now and we still have 1 in the 1st 10 days rule as well. Used to get 5 as R...I will say the $100 for two tags is interesting. If I was NR I would wait till I could fill both tags at once. I get 3 tags with my $35 big game tag...what do all the western state guys on here say about NR tags and fees...nobody forcing you to hunt SC.

Nice Tom. Now take a 10 day break!
I will be at on the 1st in zone 2

 

[stumpknocker]

Congrats friend. Pretty bird.

Too bad about the price hike, sure is a lot all at once. They’re changing everything here, for residents too but only $5 for our tags. Hope the new reporting system went smoothly.

 

[Rangerpants]

Congrats! Seems like almost every state is sticking it to nonresidents more and more. Pushing for more revenue...

 

[woodmoose]

congrats - I haven't made it out yet

 

[KHNC]

Congrats friend. Pretty bird.

Too bad about the price hike, sure is a lot all at once. They’re changing everything here, for residents too but only $5 for our tags. Hope the new reporting system went smoothly.

Hopefully he is aware of the reporting system. lol

 

[weekender7]

Hopefully he is aware of the reporting system. lol

Don't know that I was the first to use the reporting system but I had to be one of the first few at least. The bird was tagged and reported through the new system before 8:00 AM on opening day.

 

[deerhunt1988]

With the current boom of traveling turkey hunting thanks to social media and YouTubes, expect other states to start implementing non-resident restrictions and increasing prices as well. Sucks for those of us who've been doing it way before it was the cool thing to do.

Congrats on a fine gobbler!

 

[weekender7]

With the current boom of traveling turkey hunting thanks to social media and YouTubes, expect other states to start implementing non-resident restrictions and increasing prices as well. Sucks for those of us who've been doing it way before it was the cool thing to do.

Congrats on a fine gobbler!

I started hunting turkey in SC in 1985 and haven't missed a year. I think the license was about $60 for non-res back then and that included game land and big game. NOT NO MORE!

 

[LongWayAround]

Nice. A lot of us still have to wait a few weeks to start the chase. $100 for two seems like a pretty good deal to me.

 

[huntineveryday]

Nebraska charges $128 each for non-resident tags, but for now you can still get three and shoot them all the same day if you want. It's $30 a piece for us residents, same limit of 3.

 

[weekender7]

Nice. A lot of us still have to wait a few weeks to start the chase. $100 for two seems like a pretty good deal to me. Nebraska charges $100 each.

Just to be clear, that $100 in SC is on top of the hunting license, big game license, and if you choose public, the game lands permit.

 

[FLS]

Nice bird!
SC/ NC used to a have a reciprocal agreement. I live right on the line and my non resident NC license used to be a LOT cheaper. I’m not sure which side broke the agreement, but nonresident licenses in both have skyrocketed.
SC whored it’s natural resources out for a long time. Our seasons were way too long and our limits too liberal. Seasons were set by the legislature, based on revenue and not biology. Residents still get to hunt from mid March to the end of May and shoot 3 gobblers.

 

[stumpknocker]

Nebraska charges $128 each for non-resident tags, but for now you can still get three and shoot them all the same day if you want. It's $30 a piece for us residents, same limit of 3.

.... woah. I’ve never spent more than $15 on turkey permit in all the states I’ve lived in (ME, NH, SC), and that usually included multiple tags.