The Cypress Creek Skinning Shed

I don’t know where the time has gone, but we are already at Thanksgiving and near the end of deer hunting for 2009. The warm weather has truly been the big story of the season, with the highs staying in the 80 degree range right up until now. And as a matter of fact, we still haven’t even had one night of freezing weather yet, and it doesn’t look like we will before December! Add the tons of acorns in the woods this season due to our wet Spring and a long, drawn out rut, and you have the makings of one of the strangest seasons in a while.

However even in the heat, as we wrapped up the rut over the last few days, our guests killed a few more deer. First we had a crew from the Orlando Bass Pro shop visit, and while they saw quite a few deer including a few good bucks, only Chuck ended up taking a couple of does. And as real hunting usually goes, he saw a giant buck as he walked up to check on the does he had shot. His son Cory missed a doe while coworkers Anthony and Fred both passed on deer.

We also had two members so of our Armed Forces, Tom and Brian, come down for a quick one day hunt. And after enduring a complete downpour on their afternoon sit, Brian killed a tasty, young doe while Tom missed a buck and saw tons of turkeys.

We still have about a month to go, so hopefully we will still get some cold temps before long, and that should help the late-season hunting. So give us a call if you are still looking to squeeze in a hunt this year. And don’t forget that the best time of the year (Jan-April) for hog hunting is just around the corner too, so make sure and to reserve those prime-time dates now.

Happy Thanksgiving from Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge. And as you celebrate with your family, please remember those that are serving our Country.

Barry and Jack with a morning's harvest

Man, it is the middle of November, isn’t it? I could be a little confused about what month and season it is because of the 85 degree days that we have been having lately. However the one thing that I am sure of is that our bucks should be rutting and running like crazy right now. But they aren’t due to the heat. And that hasn’t helped our hunters one bit.

The ones that we have had in camp since our last cold front left us with this summer weather have hunted hard and seen some bucks. However most of them have been small to medium, with only the monsters being seen in quick glimpses like the giant buck that chased a doe right past the van as we picked up our Pleasant Hill Plantation hunters down from PA on Sunday at 11:40am. Larry and Irene, Randy and Ilene, Bob and Paul all toughed it out while they were here, and each saw does and some bucks, just mostly not what they were down for. However they didn’t go home empty handed after Paul dropped two does back in the hardwoods, then shot a great buck on their last night here. So congratulations to Paul, and we now wait for his email with some pictures.

Jack and his buck

Also, before the cold weather left us, we did have a couple of nice bucks shot including a really nice 8 point by Jack and a beautiful 9 point by his fellow NC friend Barry early last week. Danny’s son Chris also joined us for some lowcountry hunting a few days back, and also shot himself a nice 7 point.

We now have a few days off with no one at the lodge, so we can all get caught up on some needed rest. This time off will also give the weather some time to get back onto the cold side of the dial since the weatherman is still calling for 80+ heat for the next 5 days at least. So hopefully a new cold front will have time to roll in to SC by the time the Orlando BassPro group comes in on Friday to get the deer back up and moving.

Chris and his lowcountry 7 point

Then, after they leave, we still have a little over a month to hunt. So if you are looking to put some meat in the freezer before the season runs out, give us a call. The hunting should get better again as we move into December since the warm weather can’t hold out for ever, and the deer find that they must move to eat to survive!

Frank with his Pleasant Hill 8 point

What a difference a few days and a few degrees makes during the rut!

Our lowcountry weather finally cooled off after weeks of hot weather and the bucks responded by chasing does like crazy, giving our hunters the opportunities that they needed to harvest some nice deer. First we our good friends Frank and Ryan, down from upstate NY, for their annual hunting trip and Frank’s 10th year with us. Frank took a great 8 point over on Pleasant Hill along with a big doe while Ryan shot a beautiful 10 point with forked G2s as well as a spike and doe over on our any-legal buck tract.

Ryan and his 10 point

Then we had Carl and his two sons, from the SC upstate, join us for a couple of days of family hunting. And they had a great, successful time too, with Carl showing his boys how to get it done by shooting a freak 2.5 year old forkhorn and a doe while  son Chuck shot a great 8 point and a small 6 point. That only left son Scott without a deer, and he has promised to come back and redeem himself

Carl, Scott and Chuck

I also have to report that I have been fortunate in my hunting pursuits over on a small piece of land that sits right next to our any legal buck tract. I not only was able to shoot a big doe with both of my young boys in the stand with me, but a monster 12 point - a mainframe 8pt with 4 kickers - too when he followed  a couple of does by my stand last Monday night.

However, please note that the rut is FAR from over and there are lots of bucks still out there, so if you are still looking to get in the woods for a few days and harvest some tasty venison, give us a call. We still have spots open and would love for you to join us!

Jeff

Matt with his heavy Pleasant Hill buck

After a few days of cool weather two weeks ago, our lowcountry temperatures have stayed in the mid 80’s since. And that has not helped the deer movement at all and honestly has really kept the bucks from leaving their dark sanctuaries to search for does like they should this time of year. Fortunately a cool front has finally showed up with the lows everyday this week forecast to stay in the 40s, so that should definitely help get the bucks up and going.

Larry with a great 8 point

However, despite the unbearable summer-like heat, we still managed to put some hunters in front of big bucks over the last week. Our friend Matt, down from Michigan, took a huge 5.5 year old 10 point with long beams and thick bases while Larry shot a beautiful 8 point.

And we can’t forget about Billy, down from NC with his dad for their 8th year of hunting with Cypress Creek, who missed a giant buck that was chasing a doe. Fortunately he and David, also from NC, both ended up with 7 pointers in addition to a couple of nice, fat does. That meant that only our friends “old Coot” and Art went home empty handed when they passed on their opportunities at deer.

Like I said, the weather is just now getting right for the rutting bucks to go crazy, so this week should offer a lot better hunting. But even in the heat, we had bucks like the 7 point in the trailcam picture moving during shooting hours, so you can just imagine what else is out there that was just waiting on the heat to break!

But until I can get back here with this week’s updates, we have a great video clip of Outdoor Moment’s Bub Jackson shooting a beautiful velvet buck here at Cypress Creek just a couple of years back. Enjoy!