Author: BMC

Aiken, SC — The South Carolina outdoor Press Association formally known as SCOPe held its business conference this past week in Aiken, SC. During the Saturday evenings award banquet, the Board of Directors announced the creation of a new award recognizing the Best Overall Hunting Story.

Incoming President Pete Rogers announced the creation of; The “Terry Madewell Award” This award beginning in 2022, will recognize the best overall hunting story in the Excellence in Craft competition among its members.

About Terry Madewell:

Terry Madewell earned his degree in Wildlife & Fisheries Management from Tennessee Tech University in 1972 and began a professional career in that field that totaled 30 years in Federal Service. Titles included Park Ranger, Outdoor Recreation Planner, Fish & Wildlife Specialist and Natural & Cultural Resources Supervisor.

In 2002 he was awarded Best Natural Resources Manager in the Air Force (Worldwide/Civilian) in a ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington DC.

His writing career encompasses the past 48 years and he’s still active in the field. He’s worked part-time and full-time as an outdoor communicator since he was 23 and wrote weekly newspaper columns, often two a week, for over 30 years. He was Editor of the Manning Times newspaper in Manning SC and he’s been published in dozens of state, regional and national magazines through the years. He has also self-published four books relating to the outdoor world.

One of his passions is outdoor photography and he’s had dozens of photos that appeared as magazine covers and his photography and writing has earned many awards in photography and literary competitions.

He enjoys woodworking and woodturning where he produces handmade turkey calls and many other wood products.

His great passion in the outdoors is sharing fishing and hunting experiences with youngster and introducing them to the outdoor world. He’s blessed to have six children, nine granddaughters and two great-grandsons.

Madewell has been President of the South Carolina Outdoor Press (SCOPe) on multiple occasions and is a past recipient of the Pat Robertson Award for service to the organization and was also presented the Lifetime Member of SCOPe Award.

Madewell lives in Ridgeway, SC and spends much of his time away from the keyboard chasing giant catfish.

About South Carolina Outdoor Press

The South Carolina Outdoor Press Association (SCOPe) has served the content creators of South Carolina for 34 years. Beginning in 1987 SCOPe has worked to help its members to grow in the craft of writing and photography and in recent years, in other fields of outdoor communication. Founded by some of the most well-known names in the industry, SCOPe is one of the few outdoor organizations that is growing. If you would like to find out more, please go to; www.scoutdoorpress.com for more information. Contact us at; sc.outdoorpress@gmail.com

Pat Robertson, left, presents the 2021 SCOPE Outstanding Taxidermy Award to Martin Bess, center, with SCAT President Chuck Mulkey, right.

A multimedia piece featuring a mounted cottontail rabbit in a running pose was selected as the winner of the 2021 SCOPE Award for Outstanding Taxidermy at the annual Show and Competition of the South Carolina Association of Taxidermy in Columbia.

Behind the mount created by Martin Bess of near Cherryville, N.C., was a painting of a beagle chasing the rabbit across a field.

“I selected the piece based on my own life experiences of rabbit hunting and participating in beagle field trials,” said SCOPE member Pat Robertson, who has represented SCOPE at the annual SCAT Show and Competition for more than 25 years.

Robertson told the group that he grew up with beagles and began rabbit hunting at an early age with his Dad and uncles. As an adult he began participating in beagle field trials and currently competes in field trials in the Carolinas and Georgia with his wife Jan.

He related a personal outdoor story that helps describe why he chose the taxidermy piece for the SCOPE Award that year. At this year’s awards luncheon he opened by saying”

“I’d like to tell you a story about my Uncle Earl. There were two things you could count on with Uncle Earl. If it was spring, summer and early fall he would be fishing on Clarks Hill Lake every Saturday. But from Thanksgiving tuntil after Valentine’s Day he would be in the woods with his beagles, rabbit hunting.”

Robertson said his Dad and Uncle Earl fostered that love of fishing and especially of rabbit hunting in him from an early age. As Uncle Earl neared the end of life he gave his old hunting gun to him – a Stevens 12 gauge his wife, Martha, had given him as a wedding present in the late 1940s.

“The next rabbit season after we laid Uncle Earl to rest, I went along with a group of friends on a rabbit hunt in the Lowcountry. As soon as the beagles bailed out of the back of the trucks they jumped a rabbit and carried it almost out of hearing. Most of the hunters went with them, but I sat on the tailgate and waited.”

He did not have to wait long.

“Sure enough, soon I could hear the clamor of the beagles in chase as the rabbit made a circle and came back towards where he was jumped. I loaded the old Stevens and waited. The cottontail bolted across the dirt road ahead of the hounds and I swing the old Stevens and squeezed the trigger.

“I picked up the rabbit to take home for dinner in honor of Uncle Earl, unloaded the old Stevens and put it back in the case. It has not been fired since.,” he said.

“By now, you all know I have selected the mount of the running rabbit with the painting of the beagle in chase behind it. It is interesting and certainly innovative to combine the two art forms – taxidermy and painting – to tell a story.”

Storytelling, he said, is a trait shared by taxidermy and the outdoors media.

“We both tell the stories of great outdoor experiences. We in the media tell it through the written word, pictures, videos and other means. Taxidermists actually recreate the experience through the beauty of their taxidermy.”

The story of his winning piece, Bess said, is a tribute to the best beagle he ever had, a dog named Frank.

“I’ve had beagles for as long as I can remember, at least 65 years. And Frank was the finest beagle I ever had,” he said.

“Frank lived to be 15 years old and there was no dog like him. He could jump a rabbit, circle it, work a check. He did not outrun his nose. If there was a loss, eight times out of ten he would pick up that check,” he said.

“I just wanted to pay respect to Frank for what he was.”\

When he was a youngster Bess saw a painting of a beagle chasing a rabbit on the cover of North Carolina Wildlife Magazine and he used that as inspiration for his multimedia display. A retired mechanic/engine builder, now a farmer by trade, he downplayed his artistic abilities.

“I just do one or two pieces a year for the taxidermy shows and I do it just to hang out with the taxidermists,” he said. “They are some of the finest people I have ever met.

Admittedly not a painter, he had a difficult time recreating Frank with acrylic paints, he said. While he does not consider his taxidermy talent to be on par with the taxidermists he enjoys talking the trade with and learning from, his pieces have received solid recognition at the shows.

The beagle and rabbit piece that won the SCOPE Award had been a winner at a previous show and Bess actually had won the SCOPE Award once before for an otter mount about 10 years ago.

Until this year SCAT had provided a plaque for the outdoor media award which had been termed the “Outdoor Writers Award” and even the “Pat Robertson Award” in the past. This year the SCOPE Board voted to provide a plaque for the annual award and to officially call it the “SCOPE Award.”

~ Pat Robertson

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!

Thank You ~ “Travis”

(  Photos by Brian Carroll,  www.theoutdoorimage.com  )

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.

Merry Christmas from SCOPE~ We hope that you enjoy a special holiday season as we step forward into our 30th year!

Brian Cope proves that writers aren’t just talk, as he connect with a clay target at the Palmetto Shooting Complex in Edgfield, SC

Dan Kibler shows off his shooting skills at the Palmetto Shooting Complex after the Shotgun 101 session during the SCOPE 2016 Conference.

This fawn needs some time to grow up, It was dropped just a little over a month away from deer season. GROW FAST LITTLE BUDDY !