Love of the Woods, Deer Hunting Relaunched with Success

George Splawn of South Carolina with his fine buck, only his second ever after rekindling his love of the outdoors following a long break in adulthood. (PHOTO: George Splawn)
George Splawn of South Carolina with his fine buck, only his second ever after rekindling his love of the outdoors following a long break in adulthood. (PHOTO: George Splawn)

Sometimes things happen that may put our hunting on a hiatus and then we get back to it later in life. While some of you may be reading this and thinking, “Heh, there’s no way in Hades that EVER would happen to me and MY hunting or fishing,” well, think again. It happens often and can happen to anyone.

Reasons? Myriad, of course: job, marriage and kids, financial, health issues, family matters. The break could be a year or 10 or 20 or longer. I’ve heard of hunters who grew up going with fathers and grandparents and mentors and then, for whatever reasons, they stopped until their grandkids were interested maybe 25 or 30 years later.

We got an email from George Splawn of South Carolina and it detailed pretty much this scenario. But Splawn got back on the hunting wagon and is in the woods again. Check out his email and great photo. Congrats!

Hello. I just bought my first issue of Deer & Deer Hunting and I love it! Thank you for a great magazine. I saw the “deer of the month” in the March 2017 issue and just thought I would share a pic from my 2016 harvest.

I was raised as a middle child with a single mother in Spartanburg, SC. With that said, my hunting was limited to tagging along with family when the opportunity came along. I was never really taught anything about hunting during those times. My experiences were mostly like, “Stay here and be quiet until I say that we’re leaving.”

Easy to say, I was never successful or even very close to it. I stopped hunting at about age 10 and didn’t try again until I was 30. After a friend talked me into getting my license and tagging along with him a time or two, I remembered my intimate love for the woods and all that’s in it. I began researching and trying to teach myself about hunting and hunting safety.

After I had a short but educational 2015 season, I began immediately planning for 2016. My patience and research paid off for me. I harvested my very first deer (5pt-buck, 1-1/2 yr old) on 11-12-16, and the buck pictured here on 11-13-16 out of the same stand location.

I am proud of myself for taking the time to really learn about these wonderful animals in order to harvest to the best of my abilities. Hats off to all the ethical and responsible hunters in the woods. Good luck to us all.
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