State report shows top deer kills in 2020-2021 season

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By HEATHER RUPPE

The 2020-2021 Deer Record information has been released by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and it shows how many deer were killed locally and in the Palmetto State in that harvest season.

In all, 7,691 deer were killed in the 46 combined counties in South Carolina during the 20-21 deer season. In Colleton County, 275 deer were killed.

Comparing to neighboring counties, Colleton hunters favored well.

In Dorchester County, 136 deer were harvested in last year’s deer season and 134 deer were killed in Berkeley County last year.

In Bamberg County, 175 deer were killed.

Hampton County hunters had 172 deer killed in last year’s season.

The highest-ranking county for the number of deer killed in South Carolina was Aiken, with 541 deer recorded. Orangeburg County followed second, with 529 deer killed last year in that county.

According to information provided by the S.C. DNR, the COVID-19 pandemic last year kept S.C. DNR officials from conducting an annual antler measuring event, which is usually done in the Spring of 2020 and in the Spring of 2021. However, DNR officials said in a recently-released report that antlers were measured on a one-by-one basis by appointments in different DNR agency offices. All of these appointments were held in 2021, and resulted in “222 new records, including 211 typical and 11 non-typical racks,” the S.C. DNR report states.

The S.C. DNR report, which is about 30 pages long, also says that the state’s deer population is “In good condition,” and says that “after many years of rapid population growth, the herd stabilized in the mid-1990s, followed by a decreased trend between 2003 and 2015.”

Since 2015, the state’s deer herd has been increasing slightly, with an overall statewide count at about 720,000 deer. “Although the total deer harvest in South Carolina has been down the last few years, indications from the antler records program are that deer quality remains good,” the report states. “This would make sense because fewer deer in the population would benefit from increased nutrition.”

The only deer harvested in Colleton County to make the state’s top 10 list was killed by Mark A. Waters on Nov. 7, 2020. The deer had a score of 147 7/8 and ranked seventh in the to p10 for the state.