NEWBERRY COUNTY — Mobility impaired hunters will again be treated to a unique opportunity to attend two special deer hunts this year on about 60 well-managed and exclusive, private tracts of land in the Upstate.

The hunts are scheduled for Oct. 28 and Oct. 29 in Cherokee, Spartanburg and Union counties, and on Nov. 4 and Nov. 5 in Laurens and Newberry counties.

Applicants can apply for one or both hunts. There is no application fee or other cost associated with these hunts. Each hunt will consist of a noon lunch and hunting on Friday afternoon and Saturday mornings. After the noon lunch on Friday, all participants will then disperse to their assigned hunt sites.

Applications for these special hunts are available from the Union DNR Office, 124 Wildlife Drive, Union, SC 29379, telephone (864) 427-5140, fax (864) 427-8460; or the DNR Columbia Office, PO Box 167, Columbia, SC 29202, telephone (803) 734-3886.

Applications can also be downloaded from the DNR website at www.dnr.sc.gov/hunting/mobilityhunt. Completed applications must be received at the Union DNR Office by 5 p.m. Sept. 12.

Applicants for these hunts are carefully screened and are restricted to persons who are permanently and severely mobility impaired. These include only those who are permanently confined to a wheelchair, persons permanently requiring the use of a mechanical aid (walker, braces, cane, etc.) to walk, or persons with complete single or double leg amputations.

Each hunter may be accompanied by one other person who can participate in a non-hunting capacity.

These special hunts are co-sponsored by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, which will handle the application process, notification of successful hunters, and other correspondence. A number of generous landowners and managers will accommodate hunters on their properties this year during these special hunts. Additional hosts may be added prior to the hunt.

Newberry County — Nov. 4 and Nov. 5

Chris Cleveland – Good Old Boys Club

Terry Cotney – Lester Estate

Rusty Harter – Piedmont Conservation Club

Mr. and Mrs. Roy Jones – Mudlick Lodge

John McCauley – Belfast Hunt Club

Gary Stephens – Belfast WMA

Otis Taylor – The Scott Place (TCA)

Union County — Oct. 28 and Oct. 29

Ty Cheek – Pea Ridge Hunt Club

Gordy Darby – Hickory Hills Hunt Club

Wayne Garner – U. S. Sportsmen’s Club

Dan Hess (Donnie Loftis) – Padgett’s Creek Reserve

Hunter West (George D. Johnson Jr.) – Tyger Ranch

Bob Jeter – Chufa Ridge Farm, LLC

Steve Koskela – Laura Lyn Farm

Donnie Loftis – Rabbit Road Hunt Club

Tarri McKinney – Delta South WMA

Walter Oates – Triangle 113 Farm

John Odell – Allen Farm

Ron Roberts – Beulah Creek Hunt Club

Terry Shockley – Trophy Buck Hunt Club

Frank Sistare – Fairforest Timber Company

Jeff Strickland – Strickland Property

Laurens County — Nov. 4 and Nov. 5

Charles Blackmon – Blackmon Farm

Wallace Boyd – Quaker Creek Farm

Larry Brehmer – Brehmer Farm

Jackie Burns – Buckhorn Farms

Ricky Childers – Benjamin Property

Tom Davis – Davis Property-Hog Pen

John Farmer – Farmer Property

Steve Frantz – Southern Timber Associates

Barrett Holmes – Holmes Farm

Tim Howard – Sugar Flat Hunt Club

Mike Johnson – The Clinton House Plantation

Steve Johnson – Johnson Farm

Charles McKinney – McKinney Property

Wade Pitts – Pitts Place

Gus Ramage – Ramage Properties

Danny Roach – Pacolet Milliken Enterprises

Dave Schemm – Triple S Hunt Club

Stan Schoemer – Red Oak Hunt Club

Todd Scott – Cabin On the Water

Penny Spearman – Spearman Property

Bryson Thomason – Fuller Gray Farm

Hobart Trotter – Davis Property

Jim Watson – Indian Creek Hunt Club

Derrick Wessinger – Hurricane Hunt Club

Claude Woollen – Woollen Farm

A number of organizations are also co-sponsoring these events and provide financial support or assistance in various other ways.

“Aside from the opportunity to hunt deer on some of the most well-managed and exclusive properties in the Upstate, another important benefit of these events is the opportunity to develop friendships and fellowship among those who have similar disabilities,” said Gerald Moore, DNR wildlife biologist in Union. “We are pleased to cooperate with the various hosts and sponsors of these hunts in assisting those people who are able to take definite steps to pursue their outdoor interests in spite of their disabilities.”

Moore encourages all qualified mobility impaired persons interested in hunting to apply.

“It is certainly a great opportunity,” he said, “and all interested sportsmen and sportswomen who are mobility impaired should try to take advantage of it.”

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This article provided by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.