The South Carolina Quail Project held their inaugural Three Rivers Turkey Invitational fundraiser on April 3. Two-man teams paid an entry fee to benefit the SCQP, and all property in the Santee, Black River and Pee Dee regions were eligible for the competition that decided annual bragging rights for the best gobbler harvested.
“This event helps to generate much-needed funds to answer questions in South Carolina concerning bobwhite quail habitat,” said Jerald Sholar, who runs SCQP out of Andrews. “One way the revenue will be spent is to purchase radio-transmitters so that we can track quail for landowners, and let the quail show us what they select as sufficient brood habitat.”
Sholar works at Tall Timbers research station in Tallahassee, Fla, and the quail recovery work completed in South Georgia and northern Florida is linked to Tall Timbers and its focus on bobwhite habitat dating back to the teachings of Herbert Stoddard, the “Father of Quail Management.”
During the shoot, 13 two-man teams met at Longlands Plantation in Williamsburg County for the rules and regulations meeting the night before the hunt. Teams hunted on their own properties, and were allowed to hunt together or spilt up for a “divide and conquer” technique.
Only one bird could be entered in the contest per team, and that bird would be scored by SCDNR small game biologist Billy Dukes using the National Wild Turkey Federation scoring method.
When the hunting was all over, the Three Rivers Perpetual Trophy was awarded to Alton McCullough and Winfield Sapp for McCullough’s 16.2-pound gobbler that sported an 11 1/4-inch beard and spurs measuring 1 1/4-inch on the left leg and 1 5/16 inch on the right leg.
The trophy tom fell to copper-plated No. 6 shot at 36 paces around 7:35 a.m. The winning kill came after partner Sapp missed a shot earlier.
“Winfield missed a HUGE turkey that would have easily outweighed mine,” McCullough said.
In addition to having his name engraved on the plaque of the perpetual trophy, McCullough’s first-place finish earned him free taxidermy service by Matthew Taylor in Manning for his longbeard. He also received custom box calls made by Dickie Champion of Acworth, Ga., in the Longest Spurs and Longest Beard categories.
Finishing in second place was the team of Lamar Comalander and Smythe McCrady, which managed to start the day by harvesting a gobbler right off the roost after which they had to wait until the scoring session at noon.
The bird weighed 19.3-pounds, had an 11-inch beard and the spurs both measured 1 1/16 inches.
McCrady shoots a Winchester 1300 12-guage, and he killed the boss tom about 7 a.m. when he pitched to within 30 yards of the team out of the roost tree he was using.
“That bird gobbled once in the dark and we slipped up close to him, and then my Winchester Supreme Elite No. 5s did the rest,” McCrady said.
Finishing in third place was Jim Henry and Charles Carson, who brought in a beast of a bird that weighed 20.2-pounds, wearing a 9-inch beard and spurs measuring 1 ¼ inches and 1 1/16 inches, respectively.
Henry took home the Champion Custom box call for the Heaviest Turkey category.
Hunters Douglas Cutting and Billy Nichols brought a bird to the scales that failed to win any prizes but they did get to take home a story.
“We hunted all morning with no luck; then when we got back to the truck a bird gobbled close. I shot him 45 yards from the truck at 11:45 a.m.,” Cutting said.
Sholar said the event proved his organization is committed to expanding it influence into South Carolina.
“I’d like for everybody to know that Tall Timbers is here in South Carolina now, and we are dedicated to answering questions about how wild quail hunting can be a part of the future,” he said.
For more information about how to help with the South Carolina Quail Project, contact Jerald Sholar at 229.343.4304.
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