The No. 1 county in terms of harvest by unit area has been the same for the last two years running: Bamberg County. Bamberg County had a very impressive harvest rate of 20.0 deer per square mile. This actually represents a 4.6 percent decline from last year, but is the same as the state-leading harvest rate from 2006. This is perfect example of the ebb and flow of a good deer population. There's no doubt with three straight years of leading the state harvest rate by unit area that Bamberg County is a deer hotspot right now. There were 3,098 bucks and 3,046 does harvested for a total of 6,144 deer taken in this county during the 2008 season.

Union County was the No. 2 county for 2008. It was also the No. 2 county in 2007. Union County had a 19.5 deer per square mile harvest rate in 2008, up 8.0 percent from the 2007 harvest. There were 3,976 bucks and 3,895 does taken here in 2008, for a total harvest of 7,871.

The county with the third highest harvest rate by unit area in 2008 was Allendale County. Allendale, which had the fourth highest harvest rate in the 2007 season, had a 16.3 percent harvest increase in the 2008 harvest over 2007 and had an 18.7 deer per square mile harvest rate. There were 3,052 bucks and 3,256 does harvested in 2008 in this county, for a total harvest of 6,308 deer.

Hampton County fills the No. 4 spot and had a banner year, with a huge 28.7 percent harvest increase over 2007. There were 18.2 deer per square mile harvested in this county, of which 5,180 were bucks and 4,065 were does. The total harvest for 2008 was 9,245 deer.

Finishing fifth in 2008 was Abbeville County, another county with a very big "up" harvest year. Abbeville County posted a 19.5 percent increase in harvest over 2007. The harvest rate per square mile was 16.2 in 2008, well above the state average. There were 3,002 bucks and 2,639 does harvested in 2008 for a total harvest of 5,641 deer.

The sixth spot belongs to Spartanburg County; in 2007, Spartanburg was ranked third statewide. Spartanburg County had a slight 5.3 percent harvest decline in 2008 compared with 2007, but as Ruth noted, a few percentage points one way or the other is not significant in terms of reading anything into the deer herd status; Spartanburg was a good place to kill deer in the past and it's still a good place now.

For 2008, Spartanburg County recorded a 16.1 deer per square mile harvest rate. There were 3,226 bucks and 3,472 does harvested in 2008 for a total harvest of 6,697.