2011 Duck Hunting Trip

Two weekends ago, before ice and snow brought Atlanta to a grinding halt, I headed to South Carolina for what will likely be my only hunting trip of the 2010/2011 season. A classmate of ours from graduate school invited us down to his family's plantation for the weekend, which was obviously an offer that we couldn't refuse. Here are some pictures from that trip.

Before we headed down to the Lowcountry, my friend Ralph and I were able to go hunting on Friday morning on some land that another of our friend's has up near Greenville.

Ralph (of the soon-to-be blog, A Ralph Down South: an online tour of the places Ralph has thrown up in the southeast), on the lookout for ducks.

Ralph's Browning A5 Stalker and the wood duck that he got.

The lake we were hunting on, as the sun came up.

Unfortunately, I came up empty-handed that morning.

After we wrapped up, we headed down to our friend's plantation, which is down near Edisto, in the ACE Basin. They've got about 600 acres of impoundment and are right next to the Combahee River. For those in the know, this means a TON of ducks.

In order to get ready for the hunt the next morning, we decided to stay up around the fire until about 12:30 AM drinking some of America's finest macrobrews (Natty Light and Busch Light, of course), and two pints of Mr. Boston Rock & Rye (which is delicious, by the way).


The next morning, my friend William and I were set up in our blind and ready for the ducks.

A view from our blind at dawn.

William and his dog, Joe, after downing a drake shoveler.

After the hunt.

William and I had an outstanding morning. We both managed to limit out in just under and hour. We were covered up with ducks, though they were mostly spoon-bills. In fact, between the two of us, we shot 10 drake shovelers, one hen shoveler, and one teal. No complaints, though. We had an awesome hunt.

The plantation was beautiful and amazing. Here are a couple of photos, though they don't do the place justice.




That night, after an afternoon dove hunt, we celebrated in the only fashion appropriate for the ACE Basin. We headed over to bustling metropolis of Yemassee for a steak dinner at Harold's Country Club.

Harold's is a local institution and was definitely the place to be on a Saturday night, though we didn't stick around long enough to have enough to drink to actually participate in karaoke. Next time...



All in all it was an awesome trip. On Sunday, before the snow hit, we even got to go quail hunting at our friend Kyle's parents' farm. Not a bad way to spend a weekend.

A special thanks to Rusty, James, and Kyle for their generosity.