Jim, Bud and myself had a chance to experience a Whitetail hunt that none of us will ever forget. It all started when we met Karlos Stone, owner of Carolina Decoy Mats, at Bass Pro Shops Fall Classic in Charlotte N.C. Karlos and his partner Joe Newell opened Midway Hunting Club located in Williamsburg Co in South Carolina, which is about 40 miles from Myrtle Beach earlier in 2004. They offer a variety of hunts including turkey, whitetail deer, dove, duck, quail, chukkar, and pheasant hunts at more than reasonable prices. They do ask that you only harvest a whitetail buck with 8 or more points and does are harvested on doe days unless you have special doe tags. Midway Hunt Club is part of the QDM (Quailty Deer Management program) and has the quality bucks to prove it. Jim and I are always looking for new places to hunt and talking to Karlos was such a pleasure we knew we would have to book a hunt with him.
One of the things that impressed us most is they will not take 20 or 30 hunters at a time. They like small parties of 4 or less, this way they do not over hunt their areas that total around 1100 acres and they are able to provide you with a more personal hunt. Their hunting areas are comprised of farms, pine, hardwoods, flooded timber, agriculture and green fields on several different parcels of land in different areas. Some of these farms and parcels have been in Karlos belated wife’s family for over 100 years and they are all in prime locations where the wildlife is abundant.
Karlos had given us directions to his house so we could meet his wonderful wife Rhonda, his daughter Kelly, his 9-month-old son Drake and Miss Amber Owens. After spending time with his family Karlos took us to the lodge to meet Joe and to settle in. When we arrived we were met by Joe Newell, Benji, one of the local wildlife officer and his son and several people from the community, they were discussing the upcoming duck season and several of there past hunts.
Our first impression of Midway Hunting Club was more than we anticipated, we were welcomed to stay at Joe’s home as are all guest until the new lodge is built. Joe’s home is immaculate and the hospitality is more like visiting with family than being at a hunting camp. This trip would be special for more than one reason, we would be starting a new relationship with people who care about hunting and it’s future. It would be the first time our daughter, Bud, has got to hunt with us in over two years due to school and other activities and it was also our 11th wedding anniversary. We always go hunting for our special occasions, it adds very special memories to our memory bank and our photo albums look a little different than most.
After settling in Joe offered to take us and show us some of the fields that he had just flooded for the upcoming duck season. They hunt over 100 acres, which have been flooded with existing surface water. The areas are beautiful and they are hunted by standing in flooded timber or in blinds in soybean or sunflower fields. Joe and Karlos both have a great sense of humor and we enjoyed hearing each one tell tall tales of the other ones misadventures while duck hunting. They both make sure you will leave with your sides spiting and your jaws sore from laughing. They believe that hunting should be as much about the friendship and good time as the harvest, we feel the same way. Jim and I feel that to much emphasis is put on harvesting only trophy animals instead of hunting to keep herds in check and spending time with friend and family.
After our tour of the duck hunting areas we headed back to Joe’s to change clothes and head to the stand for a evening deer hunt. This would be a short hunt with us only being able to sit on stand this evening and the following morning. Because of our short stay Jim and I were both hunting with Weatherby Vanguard Rifles, his a 30-06 and I had my new .308 which has the stainless and a composite stock. We were dressed in Real Tree Hardwoods Camo with Sneaky Leaf pinned to our jackets and pants to help break up our form. We both wear Danner Boots, they are the most comfortable boots we have ever wore. Jim and I always make sure we are scent free with Wildlife Research Products and never go to our stands without our Quaker Boy Ridge Runner Buck Grunt and our Doe in Heat bleat can. Bud was also well equipped with her Real Tree Hardwoods Green Camo and her trusty Sony 8mm camcorder.
Bud was excited to be back in the woods with us and as usual she went with Jim to film his hunt that evening. She has long proclaimed that she is Jim’s good luck charm, every time she sits with him he harvest a deer. "This time will be no different," she said as Joe took them to an area he felt sure they would see deer this evening.
I had the special privilege of hunting with a young lady that has been hunting since she was 12 years old. She is a neighbor of Joe’s and a friend to Karlos’ daughter Kelly, her name is Amber Owens, she is 17 years old and a junior in High School. Karlos and Joe have been putting her on stand this season is hopes of her harvesting a big buck. It took her a while to warm up to us, she is very shy but she was excited to meet two more lady hunters. Our hats off the Karlos and Joe for not only ensuring the future of our sport but by seeing the important role women play in hunting and the outdoors. There are plenty of women who hunt and we need to make sure we keep our numbers growing.
Karlos’ daughter who is 12 years old also hunts, she started going with her Dad several years ago but had lost interest, with Amber going this season it has rekindled her fire to go more often. It was great for Bud as well, she had a great time with the girls and they all enjoyed being around each other since they had so much in common. No clicks here, just a group of young hunters having a great time on the farm.
Karlos took Amber and I to a hay field and we climbed into our stands 500 yards from each other, she was hunting the wood line on the edge of a field while I was in the wood line facing the hay field at the opposite end. Every effort has been made with stand placement to make sure all hunters are shooting in a safe direction and not at each other, safety is first and foremost. Karlos and Kelly headed for a little piece of property with a green field nestled back in the woods. We were all eager to get set up in our stands to see what would unfold on the first evening of our hunt.
When I climbed in my stand I opened my Crooked Horn Master Guide Pack that goes on every adventure I embark on. It holds everything I need for a short hunt or an extended one, from my calls and flashlight to my camera equipment and treestand umbrella. I quickly got in position and put on my Quaker Boy Long Paws gloves and Real Tree facemask and then loaded my Weatherby Vanguard .308. My Weatherby is topped with a Nikon Monarch scope and I already had my Nikon Monarch bino’s on, they are attached to the Crooked Horn bino system, which I highly recommend if you are going to do any glassing at all. I then ignited my Thermacell Mosquito Repellant unit and got ready for an action packed evening.
The first afternoon the temperature was around 58 degrees and the slight breeze was perfect for my location. As the afternoon wore on there was plenty of activity but no whitetail would find itself in my crosshairs today. The ducks were all flying in and landing in a flooded field behind me and that was a real treat to see. The hoot owls were out in full force and the deer seemed to stay behind me just out of sight. I can’t say enough about Wildlife Research Center scent killer products. I never have trouble with deer winding me no matter what the wind direction. I kept my ears on alert hoping to hear Amber shoot but this evening would bring nothing but a great memory of an afternoon well spent in the solitude of my treestand.
I was unloading my rifle right as Karlos came to pick me up at dark. Before I climbed out of my 20’ ladder stand he ask what I had saw that afternoon, I had to tell him we would not be loading a deer for me this evening. He just smiled and said I have good news, "I talked to Joe just a second ago and your honey shot about 15 minutes ago". Needless to say I was excited, I also couldn’t wait to hear what Amber had seen and maybe had got a shot that was out of earshot from me. When we picked up Amber she had not seen a deer either but was excited to get back to see what Jim and Bud had harvested.
When we got back to the lodge Joe was standing there with Jim and Bud, they were all smiling from ear to ear and their clothes looked odd, by now it was full dark. When I got closer to them all three were covered in mud, but in the back of Joe’s Kawasaki Mule was the main frame 8 with a kicker that Jim and Bud had harvested. What a day!! Not only was it our anniversary but Bud had delivered her magic, she was right about being her Dad’s good luck charm. She was a little disappointed because it was to dark to get it on camera. No one cared, you should have seen her face she was still shaking from buck fever and as she put it " I had buck fever so bad I almost shook us out of the treestand and I wasn’t the one looking through the scope". We were all thrilled that Bud had been able to spend some hunting time with Jim, it had been a long time coming.
Now, let’s get back to the mud, seems they got stuck on the way out and Joe decided that he and Jim could push the Kawasaki Mule out of the ditch they were in. Bud was to stay in the Mule and get on the gas and out they would come. Well, it almost worked that way, Joe told Bud to "give it gas" which she did. She was trying to be easy because she was holding Jim’s rifle, but Joe hollered up at her "No, I mean really give it some gas". Now Joe doesn’t know Bud very well, she is quiet and shy but has a dark side, she is my child and looks for every opportunity to give anything gas. Being the obedient young lady that she is …..she matted it. Jim said she shot dark brown rooster tails over their heads, all he could do was watch in amazement as the mud slowly crept up Joe’s body from his feet to his chest. Joe told her "Whoa!" and she thought he was saying "Go!" so the shower of mud continued. They were laughing so hard when they told the story they had to tell it three times so we could piece together the whole story. Bud’s only rebuttal was " Well, it came out of the ditch," which sent everyone into fits of laughter again.
Jim and I have hunted many places, but it was our pleasure to hunt with Joe and Karlos at Midway Hunt Club. They have paid attention to every detail and make you feel like family instead of guest. We are looking forward to hunting with them twice more this year, we are going to whitetail and duck hunt with them at Thanksgiving and then doing an All Women’s Hunt with them in December.
With the various hunts they offer, the hospitality they showed us and for the never ending great time we can’t wait to go back. Jim and I can see that this will be the place that we will return to year after year and be thrilled to book their lodge with our family and friends. If you are looking for a hunt with quality people, abundant wildlife and having a great time you need to book a hunt with Midway Hunt Club. The rates are more than reasonable and they will do all they can to provide a hunt that will give you every opportunity to harvest the wildlife you are hunting. I know there are ladies that are looking for a place to hunt where they will feel comfortable and know they are being put in quality areas and not being put on cold stands, this is the place where you want to book a hunt as well. Midway Hunt Club is a great place for hunters of all ages to hunt, Jim and I highly recommend it and Bud is looking forward to giving Joe his next mud bath.
