The Cypress Creek Skinning Shed

Anthony with a huge SC hog

Guy and his cinnamon hog

After months of nothing but cold weather and rain, Spring has finally come to the lowcountry. The temperatures are now getting up into the 70s during the day, the saturated ground is drying up and the plants are ready to bud. But most importantly, the turkeys are gobbling and the hogs are moving.

And that was welcome news to everyone down this past week to hunt our lowcountry hogs, especially our group from NJ. Rocky started things off with when he knocked a nice 100 pounder down, then Anthony got in the game when he dropped a huge sow, and Guy rounded their hunt out with his beautiful cinnamon hog. Only their buddy Razo went home empty handed out of their group, but that is fair chase hunting Two other hunters in camp during the same time was Mike and Kurt, and Mike harvested a good 100 pound eater pig.

DC's Mike and NJ's Rocky with SC hogs

Our next group, down from Niagra Falls, NY, also saw quite a few hogs. And while darkness kept several of them from getting shots off, two of their members, both first-time hog hunters, put the smack down on hogs to ensure that everyone had some pork to take back up north. First Ken shot a 120 pound sow, then Todd hammered a good 160 pound sow.

However the first time hog hunters weren’t done. Patrice, down from Gaffney, SC with her husband Robbie also easily met the challenge and killed a beautiful 130 pound sow over on Boggy Creek. So a huge congratulations to all of our hog-hunting converts.

Patrice with her first hog!

NY's Ken with a 120lb sow

Todd with a 160lb sow

That left Ben, visiting from TN with our good friend and veteran Greg Stube, to close out the weekend by killing a big 190 pound hog over on Boggy Creek. So as you can see, a pretty good week of hog hunting in the lowcountry. Now we just have one more week until turkey season starts, and then we will be chasing those longbeards in the mornings and still hunting the big boars in the evening. Come join us if you can. We would love to show you a little slice of our lowcountry life.

Ben and his 190lb Boggy Creek hog

Gary with Aaron and his 120lb boar

Our lowcountry weather is finally starting to warm up during the day, so you know that Spring is just around the corner. However the mornings and evenings are still pretty cold, and that is keeping the hogs hungry and  hitting the corn fairly well.

And good hog movement is what any pig hunter wants. But young, new sportsmen on their first hog hunt really need lots of action to stoke the hunting fire in their belly. Fortunately, that is what Aaron, down from WV with his dad Gary, got during last week’s hunt when he shot a nice 120 pound boar. So congratulations to him on his first pig! But as real, fair chase hunting can go, fellow West Virginia huntress Jessica, who was hunting with her dad Robert, didn’t get one. However, kill or no kill, those new hunters all had a fantastic time in South Carolina, and we look forward to having them back again soon.

PA's Paul with one of his big sows

Our other weekend group, down from PA, also had a great time. And head hunter of the group, Paul, knocked 3 good sows down including two over 115 pounds. Readers may remember Paul since he has hunted with us for several years and was last on the Skinning Shed during deer season when he shot a nice buck over on our trophy land.

Pete with his 118lb boar

Pete, another PA group member, also shot a nice 118 lb boar. And he almost harvested multiple hogs too, but ended up going home with just his one after the pigs hung up under his stand at dark where he couldn’t get a shot on them. However Pete has vowed to get them when he and his dad return in April for a combo hunt. He said that since  he saw so many big gobblers and hogs during his hunt, he had to come right back for another shot at the pigs that escaped his gun as well as add some turkey breast to his freezer.

And speaking of our turkey/hog combo hunts, the spring season is now just 11 days away. And with all of the big gobblers sighted around the woods along with their booming gobbles at daybreak, we are chomping at the bit to get at them. We would love for you to join us, but we only have a few dates in April left, so if you want to add a giant lowcountry redhead to your collection, please give Becky a call ASAP.

And make sure and check back on Monday for more Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge news. Our hunters have been hard at it during the last few days and have already killed several hogs, so we are looking forward to sharing those kills and their stories with you all.

Ken with his 2009 Spring gobbler

We are now just 3 weeks away from the start of our South Carolina lowcountry turkey hunting season, and the big red-headed birds are starting to get fired up. The nice, warm weather has finally arrived after almost 3 months of nonstop rain and cold, and that has got the gobblers gobbling. And while we are still seeing the big winter flocks still holding together, we are already seeing many of the hen groups being joined by strutters, so you know that the breeding is about to begin. That means that it is almost time to pull out the vests, the snake boots and the thermacells and hit the woods in search of giant longbeards.

Hank with his 150lb Boggy Creek boarsearch of giant longbeards.

And whether you are an old hand or just a newcomer to the sport of turkey hunting, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to hit the South Carolina woods with us since turkey season provides our guests one of the most unique hunts South Carolina has to offer - the Spring gobbler/Hog combo. Because while you have the option of hunting turkeys all day, many of our hunters choose to chase the redheads in the morning and then switch gears and guns to pursue hogs from a stand in the afternoons. This really works out great since the mornings usually provide the most vocal time of day for gobblers, making for an exciting hunt that usually includes quite a bit of walking, while the PM hunt offers the best time of day for big hogs and is done from stationary tree stands where you can relax and recover from the AM hunt. So give Becky a call to see what dates we still have open, and come join us for some great South Carolina turkey hunting.

Hogs working to replenish what we kill :)

Lowcountry hogs enjoying our rare snowfall

As for this past weekend’s hog hunt, it set a new record: Most Fun During Most Disappointing Hunt :O  Our West Virginia group came in after our properties had sat mostly undisturbed all week only to find that the hogs were mostly holding tight to the cover during daylight hours. The hogs just weren’t moving well due to the bright  moon, and the VA boys only got three chances at hogs - which they all missed - and one shot at a coyote - which was grazed. Fortunately the VA posse has been to the South Carolina lowcountry many, many times and know exactly how the hog movement can be. They are also not a group that lets ANYTHING stand in the way of them having a fantastic time, and this trip was no exception. They truly had a great time, and we can’t wait to have them back again so that we can give them another shot at our porkers.

Fortunately right before our VA group rolled in, we had two hunters in camp from LA, and Hank managed to knock down a nice 150 pound pig over on Boggy Creek for our only hog kill of the week. We now have another couple of days without hunters, so we are giving the woods some more quiet time and us some more rest while we get things ready for our Spring gobbler season. Hope to see you here for it.

Just in case we haven’t had enough crazy weather affecting the hog hunting this Winter, we now have one more condition to add to the constant rain and windy conditions the lowcountry has experienced - SNOW!

That’s right. The South Carolina lowcountry was pummeled by about 4 inches of the white stuff on Friday night, leading to quite the sight on Saturday morning for our hog hunters. However while it was beautiful to look at, it did absolutely nothing to help get the hogs moving, and not an animal (deer, turkey, hog, squirrel, etc) was seen from the stands.

The VA Crew: Bruce, Stanley, Donnie and Bobby

Fortunately, after the snow melted off Saturday afternoon, the animals were hungry and started moving again. This allowed Chris, across the road from the lodge on the Bowers tract, to kill a nice 90 pound boar while his dad Robert, in the next stand down, to first miss a hog, then graze another. The warming afternoon conditions also enabled our hunters at Boggy Creek and the Lower End tract to see some hogs, but unfortunately no one was able to get a shot due to either sows with piglets or the lack of a clean shot.

Tyler with his sow from the River

However before the snow came, the weather was a little better for the couple of hunters we had during the week, and several of them were able to put some pork down. In our group from northern VA,  Bruce shot a nice 165 lb boar during a morning hunt at Sandy Run while his dad, Donnie, hammered a big 220 lb slow over off Boggy Creek during an afternoon sit. We also had Tyler, whose wife bought him his hunt, down from Ohio with his buddy Doyle, and Tyler shot a nice sow down on the River while Doyle missed a song dog at Boggy.

Robert and his son Chris with his Bowers tract boar

The lowcountry is supposed to get even more rain with windy conditions tonight, but in honor of President’s Day, the Cypress Creek crew is taking a few days off to get some rest, allow the woods to quiet down and give the weather another chance to straighten up. So we will be back and ready to go when our next big group rolls in to the lowcountry on Friday. See you then!

VA's Steven with his bow kill boar

Boar hunting in the South Carolina lowcountry during February is truly hard to beat. We generally have nice, cold temps to keep the big boars moving and not a lot of natural food left for them to eat, so that just creates great conditions for killing one around our feeders and food plots.

David with a big feral hog

And several of our guests this past week did just that. Steven, down from our nation’s capital, stuck a great 180 lb boar with an arrow. He was part of the group at the bow camp who all had to leave a little early to get home before the HUGE snowstorm that took over their DC area. However they all had a fantastic hunt, saw lots of hogs and several others had shot opportunities but were busted on the draw… Sounds like a great bowhunting trip to me!

While they were at the bow camp, we also had several hunters at the lodge. And they too had good success on the big hogs. David, down from Il, shot a nice 160 pound hog right behind the lodge during  a super windy afternoon. And that was AFTER missing two others first!!! We also had Eric over from Bray’s Island (about 30 minutes away from us) with friends Jim and Cyril, and they all saw hogs too. Eric ended up taking a 150 pound boar over on our Lower End tract while his buddy Jim missed a huge boar down on the river and Cyril held off on shooting due to the fading light during his hunt over on Boggy Creek.

Eric from Bray's Island with a Lower End pig

Steve from VA and his 120 boar

Then we had Allen from Columbus, GA who killed a nice hog down on the River despite the heavy rain and wind. And that left Steve, from Northern VA, to clean up after everyone else had left, and he took home two. First he killed a 120 lb boar behind the lodge, then missed another one before getting the crosshairs back on a 130 lb boar that was running with over 30 other hogs down on the River. His friend Robert also had an opportunity, but just didn’t close the deal.

So, another great week of boar hunting here in South Carolina despite more tough hunting conditions. And with the lowcountry about to get some more rain and high winds, it will probably be another tough week . But we expect to keep putting the hogs down, and as soon as some better weather shows up, we look forward to doing even better! Come join us if you can.

GA's Allen and his River boar

Robert with Steve and his 130lb boar

Thomas and his River boar

Here in the lowcountry, we are still dealing with freezing temperatures along with tons of rain. And the combination continues to keep the hogs from moving very well.

We had a group from NC at the lodge this past weekend, and while a few hogs were seen despite the horrible weather, no hogs were taken. So in addition to the always uncontrollable weather, the following reasons kept the cooler bare for our hunters: sows with very young piglets, a big running boar that wouldn’t stop for a clean shot and a HUGE hog that just didn’t get inside the magic 30 yard radius that our bowhunter needed for an ethical shot… These are all just things that happen when you are hunting fair chase, free range animals on their turf ….

However, while we only had a few hunters earlier in the week, the conditions were definitely better and so was the hog movement for them. That allowed Thomas, home locally during leave from the military, to harvest a nice boar over on the River during his one day hunt. The decent winter weather also helped Tony, down from Laurens, SC, to also take a nice 130 pound sow down on the River as well. So congratulations to both of them.

And since the guides had some extra time this week, they not only were able to get up a few new bow stands, they also had a chance to get the trailcams moved around a bit as well as check what was on there from last week. Sure enough, some more great pics of life in the lowcountry woods including quite a few shots of nice pigs hitting the corn during the mid afternoon and big gobblers teasing us with images of their dangling beards.

As for the week ahead, we have 4 hunters at the bow camp for 5 days. And since the hogs have really been hammering the place, we are just hoping that the hunters will get a few breaks in the bad weather that is forecast to plague the South Carolina lowcountry for the next week and allow the big boars to move for them.

As always, we look forward to sharing their adventures with you next week. And please note, we are only weeks away from our South Carolina turkey hunting season that starts on March 15 and runs through the end of April, so make sure and call Becky to check what dates are still available… Spring is not only beautiful in the lowcountry, but it is truly one of the best times to be in the woods pursuing our big longbeards and giant hogs.

PS: Included in this post is a great shot of Matthew, down from GA during the last week of deer season.  Check out the two nice bucks that he was able to take during his visit. So not only a huge congrats on his fine deer, but a big thank you for emailing us the shots for us to share here on the Cypress Creek Skinning Shed

Mathew and his two late December bucks

What a difference a few weeks and a lot of cold weather makes for hunting hogs in the South Carolina lowcountry. Because after a warm fall, our guests have continued to see good movement while taking out some great hogs since the first of the year.

Jeremy and his VA group

Members of the Ashe County Wildlife Club in NC joined us the weekend before last, and they kept the hog ball rolling with several great hog kills and tons of hogs sighted. They truly had a fantastic time, and as a matter of fact, the group went ahead and booked again for April, which is still a great time for hog hunting in South Carolina. Their return trip will also give us a chance to get some of the pictures they took of their kills IF they don’t go ahead and email them to us… HINT HINT

Dave and his nice Boggy pig

That same weekend, we also had the parents of our guide Justin down from PA. And his dad, Dave, took a nice pig over on Boggy Creek while his mom had some close calls with sows and piglets, but just couldn’t get the crosshairs on the big boar she wanted. Fortunately they are planning to return trip to South Carolina this Spring to take another shot at our hogs along with our Eastern turkey.

And we can’t forget another guest from that same weekend, Dave from DC. He used a traditional muzzleloader to take his great hog down over on Boggy Creek! That is quite a feat on such a tough animal, so congratulations to him.

During the week we only had a few hunters in camp, but several more nice hogs were taken as well. Jeremy, down from VA with three fellow plumbers and one electrician, knocked down a HUGE boar on the Lower End tract while his friend Mike shot a nice meat hog. Hopefully their cooler of pork holds them until March when they return again.

That brings us to this past weekend when we had our great friends Randy, Gene and Joe from NC join us for their monthly hunt along with several of their buddies. Unfortunately, while the rain managed to hold off, the weather was pretty weird, and only a bunch of sows with piglets were seen along with some great bucks… But isn’t that almost always how it goes - you see great deer when the season is out, and big hogs when you are deer hunting.

I am going to hold off on putting any more pics up or telling any more hunting stories, however I will go ahead and tell you that several more hogs have already been killed this week. So stay tuned for more hunting updates about those lucky souls that are here now as well as about the big group coming in this weekend… The temps are supposed to stay cold, but rain is forecast. So we will hope that it holds off for them and gives them some decent weather for their hunt. And if it does, they should see some of the good hogs that we have been seeing on the trailcams lately. Just check out the couple of tasty meat hogs getting a snack at 7am down on the River property.

Michelle with her first hog ever

Like I talked about in last week’s post, Cypress Creek cranked up our hog hunting for the new year with a visit from a Bass Pro Shops group last weekend. The six showed up and hunted hard in the sub-freezing weather, and they managed to leave with 3 nice porkers and a ton of great memories.

Professional BASS fisherman Michelle started the group off with a GIANT 275 pound boar off of the new Lower End tract just down the road from our Luray lodge. This was her first big game kill EVER, so congratulations to her!

Eric then followed up on Michelle’s success by shooting two great hogs during our first trip down to the River tract in the new year. And while the guides couldn’t find one that managed to get back into the water, they did locate and recover his great 175 pound boar complete with lots of Russian genes.

Eric and his GIANT River Boar

Dale, the head of the hunting department for the Charlotte, NC store also took home the bacon when he shot a beautiful 150 pound hog over on Boggy Creek. I was instructed to ask anyone visiting Dale’s store to make sure and stop by his department to speak to “Multi-Shot Dale” and hear his lowcountry hog hunting tale

The other three members of the Bass Pro Shops group, Barry, Trey and pro fisherman Jason Q., all saw lots of game but didn’t harvest any animals. However, like they all pointed out, when you see over 50 sows and piglets like Jason did or giant shooter bucks (if the season was still in) like Barry and Trey did, you can’t help but call the trip a success! So congratulations to everyone on a great trip, and we look forward to having everyone back again very soon.

The Bass Pro group with Dale's hog

Another group that we have been waiting to have back again, the Ashe County Wildlife Group, was here this past weekend for a quick one day hunt. I can’t wait to share the details of their hunt with everyone next week along with the exciting conclusions of all of this week’s hunts that include the family of our recently returned-to-work guide Justin. So see you then. And please don’t forget to give Becky a call if you are interested in getting in on some of our great Spring South Carolina hog hunting as well as our adrenaline-pumping South Carolina Spring turkey hunting.

I know that it is still colder than heck out there these days, but since we have turned the corner into 2010, I am going to call this Spring. And one of the great hunts we have here in the lowcountry is our Spring hog hunting.

The “Spring” hog hunts are great due to the fact that there is just no other food sources left in the woods by this time. Most of the acorns have either been eaten or have rotted under all of the water that we have had on the ground lately, the deer hunters have left the woods and taken their corn piles with them and the cold temps force the hogs to come out and eat if they want to survive. So our fortunate hunters are able to take a stand over corn on one of our tracts that is loaded with hogs and have some of the best hog hunting action anywhere.

And now that the crew has gotten everything set up, corned up and ready to go, I am just waiting on the final tally along with harvest pictures of the Bass Pro group that is in camp right now so that I can share it with you here . Then from here on out, until at least the end of turkey season, we will be hog hunting like crazy, so we look forward to bringing you lots of hog hunting success stories complete with pictures over the next few months. However don’t think that you are out of luck if you have been dragging your feet about setting a hunt up with Cypress Creek- just give Becky a call so that she can tell you what dates are still open.

To help you hold on until then, we have a great video of Bass Pro Shop’s Tracker Boat rep Rod B. hunting hogs with Danny while Bub Jackson of Outdoor Moments runs the camera…

77-year-old Bill R. with his first deer ever

We also wanted to share with you one of the pictures we were waiting on from our deer season’s last week. Check out 77-year-old Bill R. with his first deer EVER. Just goes to show it is NEVER to late to start and that hunting is for EVERYONE no matter what ones age, shape or physical ability.

Now pick up the phone and call us to set up a hunt. We truly look forward to helping you “pursue the experience” here in the South Carolina lowcountry.

Stan with his great Tiaun 10 point

Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge really rapped up 2009 on a high note when freezing weather made the deer and hogs move for those brave souls that came to the lowcountry for some late-season hunting.

One of our successful hunters was Stan, down from Fort Bragg and just back from Iraq, who shot a great 10 point right out behind the lodge. Another veteran and successful hunter was our friend Greg Stube, who was back with us to hunt some hogs before he left to go to Dallas for the SCI show. And sure enough, Greg’s luck held and he took another great hog, a 200 pound boar, this time with his rifle at Boggy Creek.

We also had several new hunters in camp that shot their first deer ever while here. One was Greg Stube’s father-in-law who shot his first deer - a big doe. Another was 14 year old Matt from GA, who was practically run over by bucks while he and his dad were down. Matt’s first deer was a great 8 point, and his second would have been an 8 if he hadn’t have been fighting and broken one side off. Our other “new” hunter was 77 year old Bill, down from Black Mountain, NC, who took a huge doe to break in his rifle. Both of these hunters are emailing pictures of their kills to us, so as soon as they do, we will share them with you.

SFC Greg Stube with his big boar

Now that deer season is over, Cypress Creek will be preparing for our Spring hog and turkey hunts. We have the 1000 acre tract right on the river back again (where we always kill a ton of great boars) along with another new hog hunting tract plus another 2000 acre tract just for turkeys, so we are really looking forward to getting some hunters at the lodge to use all of them. However until then, we will be working on getting these tracts set up and the roads worked on (a must after all of this rain), so hang in there for some great upcoming hunting action.

Happy New Year!