If you have read South Carolina Sportsman very often over the past three years, you’ve probably noticed a bit of a change over recently.
The magazine looks different.
Our parent company ordered up a design consultant last year to help the family of Sportsman magazines (Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina) be better able to deliver to our readers the kind of news and feature stories that help make their hunting and fishing adventures more successful and memorable.
We undertook this change three months ago, and are fine-tuning it with each new issue.
The biggest change has been the way we are presenting the material. On the cover, there is a new flag, or logo. Inside, you will still find the same information that helps you find places to hunt and fish, as well as how to best utilize them. But we’ve dressed things up a good bit and hopefully, made it easier to read.
In our fast-food, no-minutes-to-spare society, it’s harder to find time to sit down and read long stories, so we’ve shortened the features that have made up the heart of our magazine. Our writers have looked at the subjects they’re presenting, trying to find unique and useful pieces of information as far as tactics, technique and equipment, with an occasional bit of history mixed in. You’ve probably noticed these little tidbits accompanying stories, usually illustrated with photographs or graphics, to try and make the information we’re presenting jump off the pages.
One thing we haven’t changed is our dedication to bringing you the most complete package that sportsmen in South Carolina have ever read — from how-to and where-to-go stories to monthly fishing reports to newsworthy items about rules, regulations, trends and people of interest.
At every fishing, hunting or boat show where we have a booth, we continue to hear the same compliments, over and over again. Sportsmen like and appreciate this magazine because it’s totally dedicated to what’s going on in the Palmetto State. And that’s our aim. You won’t find anything about Alaskan halibut fishing, or smallmouth bass fishing in the Great Lakes, or moose and caribou hunting in places where the snow gets hip deep. What we will continue to try and bring to the table — in this new, reader-friendly format — will be things like the blue catfish surge at Lake Wateree, how low water levels have affected fishing at Lake Hartwell, where the biggest bucks are coming from, how the tides affect redfish and speckled trout. You know, things that sportsmen can use when they hook a live shrimp under a popping cork or try to decide what to do with that turkey gobbler that’s hung up just out of range.
Speaking of turkeys, March marks the beginning of one of the most exciting seasons of the year for me and lots of other sportsmen. I start thinking about spring gobbler season shortly after the previous spring gobbler season closes. Like a pro bass fisherman going through his tackle box, I make a note of what I didn’t have but needed the previous year, with an eye toward having it in my vest when opening day arrives. This year’s list included a new box call, a couple of new mouth calls and a face mask that I can see through now that age has caught up to me and I’m wearing glasses. I’ve taken care of the first two and will take care of the third before I step in the woods that first morning, pull out my owl call and try to make that most wonderful of springtime connections. If you’re with me on this one, good luck.
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