South Carolina Outdoor Press Association Sponsors Youth Writing Competition
The South Carolina Outdoor Press Association (SCOPE) is partnering with the Hampton Wildlife Fund and SC Wildlife Magazine to sponsor the second annual SC Youth Outdoor Writing Competition.
The competition is open to High School students in grades 9-12 statewide. The target audience will be entries from SC, but entries from any state will be eligible for the competition. The 2026 Youth Writing Contest is SCOPE’s initiative to raise awareness about natural resources and career and part-time opportunities in this field. The contest stories can focus on a wide range of outdoor adventures and activities, presented in a positive light. Outdoor subjects may include traditional outdoor sports such as boating, fishing, hunting, shooting, hiking, birding, camping, and paddling. Stories on gardening, golf, tennis, and similar activities will not be considered.
Entries will be 300- to 500-word essays or stories. Poetry will not be considered and please do not include photos with your entry. No generative artificial intelligence software such as ChatGPT may be used in any way for this entry. Please use Microsoft Word for all submissions. Only one entry is allowed per student. Entry Forms are available on the SCOPE website at
https://scoutdoorpress.com. Entries may be submitted by email to sc.outdoorpress@gmail.com or mailed via the US Postal Service to SCOPE, 550 Summer Lakes Drive, Aiken, SC 29805.
Winner of the Harry Hampton Young Outdoor Writer of the Year award (first place) will receive a $1000 cash prize, and the winning entry will be published in the prestigious South Carolina Wildlife Magazine. The second-place winner will receive $500, and the third-place winner will receive $250.
The three winners will be invited to the SCOPE’s annual conference to receive the awards. The students will also receive free SCOPE student memberships for one year, and the entries will be
published on the SCOPE website.
Many high school students are beginning to plan their college fields of study. This competition
provides a platform for them to test/develop their communication skills and learn about outdoor
communication careers, possibly earning a monetary prize. These rewards recognize their talent
and provide a platform to showcase their work and network with professionals in the field.
Competition entries will be accepted beginning April 1 and continue through June 16, 2026.
Questions may be emailed to Jim Mize at jimmize1@cs.com.
More than 6 1/2-years-old, 17 1/2-inch spread, 185 pounds and 7 points. These are the final numbers on a buck that has been keeping Whitney Phillips of Summerton, SC up at night.
“He was beat up and on his way down when we finally connected. But it’s not the size of the antlers on this deer. This is the first deer that I had an emotional attachment to. Please don’t tell my husband Trey,” she said, only half jokingly.
Phillips manages Clarendon Club, a sportsman’s paradise for deer and duck hunting that encompasses more than 3000 acres of prime hunting land on the shores of Lake Marion in Clarendon County.
“My Old Man,” as Phillips endearingly called him, has been the primary target for her Thompson Center Arms .25-06 for the past three seasons. At one point, he had larger antlers, but he and Phillips just couldn’t connect.
Numerous times, he walked past her stand with circumstances that would not allow for a shot. Too far. Too fast. And one time, too close, directly underneath her stand, seemingly taunting her. She dared not move for fear of spooking him. He walked away unharmed. So the chase continued.
“The Old Man and I met for a short visit last year when he came by my stand. Everything was perfect,” she said. “I slowly settled the crosshairs behind the shoulder and gently squeezed the trigger. NOTHING!”
But the problem, she soon realized, wasn’t the gun.
“I called Trey to tell him my gun was messed up, and he asked if I had loaded it,” she said.
Time to try again
After loading the gun, Phillips waited for another chance. This time, she got settled, gently squeezed the trigger. But again, NOTHING.
She looked at the back of the gun and noticed she had forgotten to pull back the hammer. So she pulled it back, anticipating that the deer would be moving on shortly. But there he stood, offering her a shot.
“She settled the crosshairs and once again squeezed the trigger. The bullet found its mark, spraying matter violently into the air. The matter in the air was sand, and the mark was the dirt in front of the deer. Her Old Man ran off without even a scratch.
“Immediately I regretted pulling the trigger. I waited all this time for this opportunity. And then I bombed it,” she said.
Luckily, the Old Man kept coming around, and was seen on other outings by every member of the Phillips family, including son Troy and daughter Clara, who often join Whitney and Trey in the stand, enjoying family time afield, which, along with big bucks, is a major part of the Clarendon Club story.
For the Phillips family, allowing bucks to mature to their full potential before harvesting them is their goal. Proof of their strategy is in the South Carolina state record book, where Trey’s name is written beside the 150 4/8-inch buck he killed on the property just a few short years ago.
On Oct. 13, the weather was just right. Mr. Gene (Eugene Phillips — the patriarch of the Phillips family) commented that someone always kills a good buck around the middle of October. Trey took the kids to school, allowing Whitney to get in her stand. Her buck had been moving around a lot, and had been spotted making visits on neighboring properties.
Phillips got in the stand before daylight, watching and listening to nature as the woods awakened. With the first hint of light, she could make out the silhouettes of deer in the bait pile, as well as other deer meandering about.
One look through her Zeiss scope confirmed the Old Man was there. The moment of truth was upon her.
She also noticed another buck that was considerably larger than her long-time target. But she didn’t consider shooting that one. Not even for a second.
Finally, success
“The Old Man was MY BUCK. He is old and I have hunted him hard. It was the one that I was after. And it was more about finishing what I had started than anything else,” she said.
Once it was light enough, the Old Man moved away from the other bucks, offering Phillips an opening. She gently touched off the shot. The Old Man ran away.
“Oh no. I rushed it again,” she thought.
The other bucks had not left the scene. So she had a good feeling the Old Man might come back if she hadn’t hit him.
After 4 long minutes, he came back. He stood broadside, 125 yards away. Phillips settled the crosshairs and gently squeezed the trigger. A hard hit with a visible reaction as the buck kicked out his back legs let her know the bullet hit its mark. The end of this multi-year craze engulfing the spirit of the entire family was finally coming to an end.
After a hurried wait, she began the search for blood. She saw right away that her aim was true. The ground was littered with blood. Turning in the direction of his travel, she saw in the distance the Old Man’s white belly.
The game was over. She finally had her guy.
She called Trey, then Matt Taylor of Woods ‘n Water Taxidermy in Manning, and then to her son’s school to ask Troy’s teacher to let him know the good news.
Once mounted, the Old Man will grace the wall of the Phillips’ home, and the stories of his adventures will be told for years to come. His legacy will always be remembered as another part of the Santee Cooper Life.
Today the SCOPe Board called a special online meeting to discuss rescheduling this fall’s conference in Aiken. Concerns about COVID-19 have led to discussions with the local tourism bureau and other partners, so our board has decided to delay the event until 2021. We appreciate your continued support as we plan for a great conference in the future.
A wise “young” fisherman once told me, there will be a trout where a trout belongs. ” I have fished this spot many times, and pulled many trout out from under those branches and behind that rock” The next morning I was drifting worms in that same stream under the same branches and behind that same rock. The results were….Seen Above!
Pete Rogers tests out the CROSMAN ~ Pioneer AIRBOW at the 2016 SCOPE Conference. The unit was sighted in in just 4 shots and turned heads as the crowd watched water balloons get smashed at 40 yards within minutes of sighting in.
South Carolina Outdoor Press Honors Casada, Excellence in Craft
The South Carolina Outdoor Press Association (SCOPe) presented special honors to Jim Casada and others at the organization’s 29th annual conference September 17th in Edgefield, S.C.
SCOPe is an organization of writers, editors, photographers, media producers and authors dedicated to a high standard of professionalism and ethics in communicating about the outdoors in South Carolina.
Well known author and charter member of SCOPe, Jim Casada was honored with the Pat Robertson Lifetime Achievement Award at its annual conference September 17th. President Brian Carroll presented the award to Casada who was recognized for his long-term commitment to the organization, and for a career spent documenting, reporting and exhorting about the lifestyle we all enjoy as sportsmen and women. Pat Robertson for whom the award is named, gave a well-deserved roast of Casada recounting many stories from his career that has spanned over fifty years.
In addition to the recognition of Casada for his lifetime achievement. SCOPe also presented their Excellence in Craft Awards to its membership. Once again dominating the awards was Jim Casada who took top honors in Best Newspaper Feature and Best Column and best Magazine Short Feature. Other awards were bestowed as follows:
Magazine Feature: 1st – Jon Wongrey, 2nd- Jim Mize, 3rd Jon Wongrey
Magazine Short Feature: 1st – Jim Casada, 2nd – Pete Rogers, 3rd – Jim Casada
Electronic Media: 1st – Pat Robertson, 2nd – Jim Mize, 3rd – Pete Rogers
Non Game Story: 1st – Jim Mize, 2nd – Jim Casada, 3rd – Jim Mize
Bob Glendy Award for Best Overall Fishing Story: Pete Rogers
Published Photography: 1st – Jim Mize, 2nd – Pete Rogers, 3rd – Pete Rogers
Open Photography: 1st – Pete Rogers, 2nd – Pete Rogers, 3rd – Jim Mize
SCOPe would like to thank the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Palmetto Shooting Complex for their hospitality in hosting this year’s conference. The 2017 conference will be held in Florence, SC and will mark the organization’s thirtieth year as a professional organization.
For more information on SCOPe or to join, please contact; Roger Metz at rmetz@bellsouth.net 864-414-8787
