Author: Brian Cope

The South Carolina Outdoor Press Association gathered in Lake Murray Country for their annual conference and banquet Oct. 4 – 7. During the banquet, the organization named their Excellence in Craft award winners, which are listed here:

Best outdoor Blog

1: Brian Carroll “Santee Cooper Life” https://santeecooperlife.com/

2: Mike Watts “Rivers and Feathers” https://riversandfeathers.com/

Best Outdoor Audio

1: Pete Rogers “Christian Outdoors Podcast: Episode 176, Turn Your Life Around” https://www.christianoutdoors.org/?s=Turn+your+life+around

2: Brian Cope “New State Record fish and CWD impact on Carolina hunters”

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-state-record-fish-cwd-impact-on-carolina-hunters/id1499066317?i=1000566202182

3: Brian Cope “ Is North Carolina’s elk population native to the state?”  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/is-north-carolinas-elk-population-native-to-the-state/id1499066317?i=1000593029918

Best Outdoor Book

1: Whit Gibbons, “Salleyland: Wildlife Adventures in Swamps, Sandhills, and Forests” https://www.uapress.ua.edu/9780817360641/salleyland/

2: Jim Casada “Lords of the Veldt & Vlei” https://www.sportingclassicsstore.com/collections/africa/products/lords-of-the-veldt-vlei-deluxe-edition

3: Jim Mize “The Jon Boat Years” https://uscpress.com/The-Jon-Boat-Years

Bob Glendy Award (Best Fishing Story)

Jim Casada “A Murderer as a Mentor: The Strange Saga of Old Al” https://blindpigandtheacorn.com/a-murderer-as-a-mentor-the-strange-saga-of-old-al/

Terry Madewell Award (Best Hunting Story)

Jim Casada “Fred Selous: Heart of Steel” https://sportingclassicsdaily.com/fred-selous-heart-of-steel/

Best Magazine Story (1000 words or less)

1: Jim Casada “Memories of Butchering Hogs” https://www.smliv.com/api/amp/food/memories-of-butchering-hogs-an-excerpt/

2: Pete Rogers “Smaller is Better in the Muzzleloading world” Minnesota Deer Hunter Association Magazine (Winter 2022)

3: Terry Madewell “Beat the Mid Summer Blues” https://www.carolinasportsman.com/fishing/freshwater-fishing/catfish/beat-the-midsummer-blues-by-catfishing-at-night/

Best Magazine Story (Over 1000 words)

1: Terry Madewell “Santee’s Springtime Slabs” https://www.carolinasportsman.com/fishing/freshwater-fishing/crappie-bream/santees-springtime-slabs/

2: Cindy Thompson “Land of the Pines” South Carolina Wildlife Magazine July/August 2022

3: Cindy Thompson “A River Reborn” South Carolina Wildlife Magazine March/April 2023

Best Outdoor Newspaper Article

1: Whit Gibbons “Corn Snakes make colorful windshield wipers” http://archive-srel.uga.edu/outreach/ecoviews/ecoview230521.htm

2: Whit Gibbons “Okeefenokee Joe” https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/opinion/columns/2023/01/21/okefenokee-joe-was-a-great-naturalist-ecoviews/69810413007/

3: Josh Lanier “Wanderlust” https://greercitizen.com/sports/wanderlust

Best Electronic Publishing Story

1: Larry Chesney “No fishing in your pajamas” https://riversandfeathers.com/no-fishing-in-your-pajamas/

2: Jim Casada “Did you ever?” https://www.smliv.com/api/amp/stories/a-look-back-at-the-mountain-past/

3: Corey Hunt “Simple 7’s: Fishing Glacier National Park” (no link available)

Best Conference Site Story

1: Terry Madewell “Take a Swipe at Stripers” https://www.carolinasportsman.com/fishing/freshwater-fishing/striper-freshwater-fishing/deep-thinking-for-santee-stripers/ 

2: Larry Chesney “Slow Drifting for Spring Cats” https://www.carolinasportsman.com/fishing/freshwater-fishing/catfish/slow-drifting-for-spring-cats/

3: Jim Mize “Almost a fly fishing story” https://riversandfeathers.com/almost-a-fly-fishing-story/

Those interested in learning more about primitive and survival skills might be interested in a two-day seminar in March that will cover fire starting with bow drill and ferrocerium rod, flint knapping, water purification, cordage making from natural fibers, archery, atlatl and more.

Other skills such as cast iron cooking, trapping, campsite selection and many other valuable outdoor skills will be covered. For more details such as cost and registration information, location, etc.,  contact L. Woodrow Ross at lross3871@charter.net or call 864-238-1944

“That Wild Country” by Mark Kenyon is excellent reading for SCOPe members and it contains a lot of historical information about the preservation of wilderness areas and some of the struggles of those who worked to preserve them. 

The sub-title says, “An epic journey through the past, present and future of America’s Public Lands”.
Mark Kenyon is an outdoor writer, has been published in Outdoor Life, Field and Stream and is a contributor to MeatEater, Inc. This is his first book. 
Kenyon traveled the U.S. to many of our most famous and beloved Parks and wilderness areas and detailed his personal adventures, but he went on to explain how these areas were set aside and protected. The text is a positive assessment of the needs for wild places, but it is also a warning of the need to continue to support the need for such places.

References are made to such groundbreaking and historical writings as Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac and Theodore Roosevelt’s “Hunting Trips of a Ranchman and the Wilderness Hunter.

You may not agree with all his statements, but it is a book that is well worth taking the time to read it. 

Best regards, Larry

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

RE: Pete Rogers Outdoors Launches New Podcast

Taylors, SCPete Rogers Outdoors announces the airing of Christian Outdoors Podcast

Christian Outdoors Podcast will be hosted by longtime award-winning outdoor writer photographer and speaker, Pete Rogers of Taylors, SC. Christian Outdoors is a Podcast that will merge two passions of host Pete Rogers. An ordained minister and longtime outdoor communicator, Pete Rogers saw a need in the industry to bring these two passions together into one place. For over twenty years Pete Rogers has dedicated his life to promoting the hunting, fishing and outdoor lifestyle. While simultaneously working to spread the gospel through a variety of avenues.

“The podcast gives me another avenue to reach an audience I may not have reached before.” Rogers says. “And it allows me to expand beyond the normal avenue for communication commonly found in the outdoor arena.” For decades the majority of the communication has been through written word. More and more people are turning to Podcasts to get their information. “As someone who loves God and loves the outdoors, I think I bring a unique perspective to the microphone. As a trained minister and longtime contributor to the hunting and fishing and outdoor arena, I believe I can offer a podcast that can merge these two passions together.”  

Christian Outdoors Podcast will cover a wide array of topics near and dear to the heart of host Pete Rogers. Rogers is dedicated to covering all areas of outdoor lifestyle. “I have long been entrenched in the hunting, fishing and trapping arena, and love it there. But there are dozens of other outdoor activities that we can reach with this podcast. I hope to include episodes on camping, backpacking, hiking, skiing, off-road riding, mountain biking, and anything else I can think of.” In addition, there will be interviews with well-known outdoor folk who are passionate about Christ and what he has done for them. When the opportunity presents itself, Rogers will also cover topics many Christians struggle with and seek to address those in a positive manner.

Christian Outdoors Podcast hopes to be a podcast that will enlighten, broaden and transform people in a variety of areas. “I want Christian Outdoors Podcast to be a place where we discuss all things outdoors and how we can enjoy God everyday” Rogers says.

Christian Outdoors Podcast will be available on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Play, Android and other podcast platforms beginning October 1, 2019. To find out more, go to, www.christianoutdoors.org and learn more about the podcast and host Pete Rogers. To contact Pete Rogers or to schedule him to speak at your next event, you can email him at; pete@christianoutdoors.org

About Pete Rogers Outdoors

Pete Rogers Outdoors is the brand behind outdoor writer and author, photographer, and seminar speaker and Podcaster Pete Rogers of Taylors, SC. Pete Rogers annually produces over 100 articles and more than 400 photographs for various outdoor outlets. An award-winning writer and photographer, he is the author of two books; Times Well Spent: Ramblings from a Sportsman’s Life, winner of 2012 Best Book from the South Carolina Outdoor Press Association and his latest book, released in spring of 2018, So, You Want to Hunt Turkeys. He is also the Host of “Ralph and Vicki’s OffGrid Podcast” with Outdoor Television legends, Ralph and Vicki Cianciarulo. For more information or to request him to speak at your next event contact him at; peterogersoutdoors@gmail.com. Or Pete@christianoutdoors.org

 www.petergoersoutdoors.com         www.christianoutdoors.org        

Contact: 864-275-6034

Check out the latest book by Larry Ross ~

You can get your copy on Amazon Kindle :

Skill with primitive weapons is something that is earned by repetition and hard work. It requires good hand/eye coordination and being physically fit for some skills. It would not be advisable for a person that is not dedicated to learning these skills to set out on that path. If one desires to hunt extremely successfully, it would be a good plan to use firearms. On the other hand, if one is seeking a challenge and a doorway to the most exciting way to hunt, primitive weapons are the way to go.

The key to using primitive weapons and tools is to practice diligently to hone your skill. When using atlatl or bow, developing good form and having good concentration is important. Use of primitive weapons is like shooting foul shots in basketball. There are no sights, it is a balance of hand-eye coordination and concentration on a tiny spot on the target or animal that you desire to strike. Repetition is the key. Practice, practice, practice!

When hunting with any weapon, especially primitive weapons such as atlatl or bow and arrow, it is vital that you not fall into the trap of looking at the entire animal when the moment of truth arrives. You must pick out that tiny spot on the animal that will result in a humane kill. We owe it to our quarry to be the best that we can be.

Not all who make and use primitive weapons choose to hunt. Many enjoy the opportunity to master skills that our forefathers practiced on a daily basis. Flint knapping, making bows and arrows, making atlatls, cordage making, fire starting and many other primitive skills are a way for us to experience how our forbears lived. We can establish a connection with the past in a very real sense. The satisfaction of developing skills that seem foreign to our modern world is very attractive to those of us who walk to the beat of a different drum.

It is our wish that this text will start you on a pathway that will be very rewarding. It will not always be easy, but it will open your eyes to the past in a very genuine way. Godspeed on your journey to knowledge that is as old as humanity.

Posted by Jim Mize on May 1, 2019

Outdoorsman Jim Mize shares his experience of buying rural land in three months, from narrowing down the ideal location in his search to visiting properties to choosing the perfect fit for his needs.

Month 1: Narrowing down the Search

When I first graduated from college, I lived in a rural area. I could turn my bird dog loose in my backyard and take off walking. During my working years, all that changed with a couple moves to mid-sized towns and a larger city. Now, I’m entering a new career and thinking rural living sounds like the way to go. The next question to answer is, “Where do I start?” You might be in the same mindset so my journey could be useful.

Realtors often use the quote, “Three things matter when you choose where to live: location, location, and location.” But for rural living, what does that mean?

After some thought, I decided to think about where I would go and how often, and then balance my location to give consideration to my travel. For instance, I will be writing full-time about the outdoors, so being in the outdoors matters. I fish several streams regularly, so access to public land is a plus.

Find the rest of the story and more from Jim at :

https://rethinkrural.raydientplaces.com/blog/shopping-for-a-rural-property?fbclid=IwAR3CYxXAmYXZpjG362-7VlrEuigDw4L2MPtUuUSKwgV7IMzInqzz0IsiNZs

Check out this over the slot Redfish caught in the upper Wando river. Angler ( Steve Healey ) The weather is heating up and the fish are on the bite both inshore & offshore. Mahi are hitting the docks hard and will soon be on the grill of every avid saltwater fisherman. Get outside, listen for a gobble, chunk a cricket, throw a fly or just enjoy our great outdoors. Looking forward to seeing you in, on or around the water soon.

Photo by : Brian Carroll / The Outdoor Image

TAG Boats offering plush, high performance fishing craft

As anglers head to the offshore fishing grounds this year, they’ll see a new player in the boating market. TAG Boats, based in Charleston, S.C. is set to shake up the offshore world with their world-class high-performance fishing catamarans.

TAG is currently producing 36-foot catamarans that have all the comforts and features important to today’s anglers. Their 43-footer is in the design concept phase.

David Johnson, Jr., a 43-year-old entrepreneur who grew up in South Carolina’s lowcountry, has spent over 25 years fishing offshore in a variety of boats ranging from 21-footers to 60+ footers, and everything in between.

See more of the story from SCOPE Member Brian Cope at :

New Charleston boat company producing offshore catamarans

The second novel in a series about a Native American fly fishing guide, Adam Running Wolf, tells of his move from West Yellowstone, Montana, to Talkeetna, Alaska. He makes the move to escape the bad memories of the death of a young man that he mentored.
The move has many positive aspects that include making new friends, starting a successful business venture and meeting an attractive woman who would become important in his life.
As usual, Running Wolf becomes involved in a series of dangerous events with the local criminal element, but navigates the perils in his normal stoic and efficient manner.

This novel and 22 other books by
L. Woodrow Ross are available on Amazon Kindle.

Some Images of the Super Blood Wolf Moon Jan 20 2019 captured by Brian Carroll / The Outdoor Image

See the gallery of images here 🙂