Fairfield County is another excellent late-season hotspot. This county finished the 2003 season with a very respectable 8 percent increase and was third overall in the state in 2003 in terms of deer harvested per unit area. The two counties with higher per unit area harvest were Chester and Allendale counties. While both certainly had good seasons, their overall harvest was down 7.3 percent and 7 percent, respectively, from the 2002 harvest. Certainly, they are good counties to hunt late season, or anytime obviously, but Fairfield gets the nod as a top late-season hotspot because of the increasing harvest in a tough year.

The rolling topography of Fairfield is similar to that found in Laurens County and many similarities in terms of hunting styles will exist.

Adjacent to Fairfield County is Kershaw County and we get a double whammy of good news here. Kershaw not only had a 2 percent harvest increase, it was also the No. 1 ranked trophy-producing county in the state in 2003 in terms of qualifying bucks for the state record book.

This entire sector of the state obviously produces outstanding deer hunting and is certainly a broad area to consider for late-season hunting. Lancaster County, with similar terrain was also a top trophy-producing county, No. 2 behind Kershaw County, and was also ranked as No. 9 in the state in terms of total harvest per unit area. These three counties - Fairfield, Kershaw and Lancaster - form an outstanding block of hunting land for late-season hunting in the Piedmont.

Moving into the Lowcountry area, the top late-season picks are many. This entire area will have outstanding localized hotspots because of intense management by landowners or hunt clubs. But on a more broad scale, we'll look at some of the leaders. One of the best, in my opinion, is Orangeburg County. Despite a modest drop in harvest in 2003 from 2002, the county improved in ranking from No. 17 to No. 15 on a statewide basis in terms of harvest.

Plus, as usual, Orangeburg County is among the leaders in the state in terms of producing trophy deer. I've hunted the Orangeburg area enough to know there are scads of late-season hotspots in and around the many swamps coursing through this huge county. After months of hunting pressure, many of the deer have retreated to these thick swampy areas. If you can get yourself and your climbing stand back in the boonies, you can still see and harvest plenty of deer, including trophy bucks.

The biggest change for most hunters here is that the late-evening field hunting has slowed. In these areas, my experience has been that the deer usually become more nocturnal. Many hunters find it difficult to stop using hunting tactics that were so successful in the pre-rut and rut stages, partly because there are so many deer in these areas that you will still see some animals.

However, the swamps offer the refuge and protection deer require to move about during the day. You don't necessarily have to go deep in the swamps; often the edge lines will be fine. But get off the beaten path to areas where the deer feel less pressured and you will still enjoy some excellent late-season hunting.

Charleston County is a good late-season pick and is often overlooked by hunters, especially those not from that area. This county showed a huge increase in harvest in 2003 over 2002 (38.6 percent). There are large expanses of land that offer quality hunting and a number of these areas are not hunted hard late in the season. With the deer season open for months, many hunters have quit for the season. Some hunters have switched to small game or quail, leaving the deer to those willing to hunt a bit deeper in the woods.

There are huge expanses of the Francis Marion National Forest here that offer quality late-season hunting. You may be surprised to discover the hunting pressure, especially in the slightly out-of-the-way areas, is very low. This usually means the deer population will often be higher in those areas.

Hampton County did have a decline in harvest from 2003 from 2002; however, it still remained in the top 10 counties in the state in terms of harvest per unit area. Hampton County is another personal favorite that has all the ingredients for late-season success and is an area that needs to be looked at if you hunt in this part of the state.

There are several hunting lodges in this county that offer great hunting throughout the season and are managed for that specific purpose. Much of the land is private, so you'll need to make advance plans to hunt in most cases. There are two outstanding public areas, the Webb Center and the Palachucola WMAs; however, you need to check SCDNR regulations for specific hunt dates and drawings for these areas. But these are always excellent late-season areas and it's not too early to begin to plan strategy for next year, if you're interested in hunting these WMAs.

If you've haven't given up on the 2004 season quite yet, there's still some outstanding hunting to be enjoyed and some good hunting is likely close to all of us. The key is to understand you'll likely have to change your hunting strategy to fit the late-season patterns. Consider these areas to put yourself in the right place and you can enjoy great late-season hunting in South Carolina.