The Cypress Creek Skinning Shed

Most hunters know that the RUT is the best time to harvest a great buck. So when hunters call about booking a great fall hunt with us, we are usually asked about it and when it is.

Well, that is a question that has several answers depending on what you call the rut. The standard answer is that the rut in the lowcountry of South Carolina starts around October 15th and runs through Thanksgiving. So without a doubt, hunting anytime during this period should ensure that you have a successful hunt. However you really have to break the rut down to several smaller periods to truly understand it and hunt it properly. And the three main sub-periods of the rut and how they effect the deer movement are as follows:

The Pre-Rut: (usually runs from early October until about the 20th)  This is the time period when the does are normally not at all interested in breading, however the bucks are starting to feel the primal urge to reproduce. Therefore the bucks start to move a lot more through out their core areas leaving their calling cards, rubs and scrapes, to let the does know they are there and ready. And all of this traveling and increased movement means that they are out and about more during daylight than before, making them more accessible to harvest.

However please note that this increased activity does not just start on day one, but is a gradual build up, meaning that the end of the pre-rut usually sees more activity than the beginning.

Breeding: (This usually starts around October 20th and runs through November 15th)  This is the time when the majority of the does go into heat and cause bucks, who would normally be very skittish during shooting hours, to run willy nilly through the woods either looking for a hot doe or chasing her in an effort to breed her. This can be one of the most exciting times to be in the woods for a lowcountry hunter as well as one of the best times to harvest a real wall hanger since bucks are now on the move at all hours of the day and night; they are also much more prone to leaving their core areas and ranging out into new areas looking for hot does, making them even more accessible to hunters since they are not as familiar with these new areas. However this can also be a tough time too since the bucks are often running instead of walking, making it much tougher to get your crosshairs on them before they are out of your shooting lane or range. So hunters must pay close attention and be ready to shoot at a moments notice once they see a doe coming since you just never know what could be behind her.

The Post Rut: (usually runs from mid- November until the end of the season) While many bucks will have been taken during the pre-rut and the breeding period, the post-rut still offers plenty of great opportunities to harvest a good buck. That is because during this time, a few does will still be coming into heat - some because they were not breed the first time around and others because they are early-maturing fawns who are coming into their first heat - causing the remaining bucks to really have to move around looking for these late breeding opportunities. This keeps a lot of bucks on their feet during shooting hours, meaning that they are still really susceptible to harvest.

Note that the post rut will not usually have the rampant movement that the breeding period did, however it is still a great time to be in the woods. We also find that a lot of the post rut activity is dependent on the weather - the colder it is, the better.

So as you can see, answering the question, “When is the South Carolina lowcountry rut” does not lend itself to a short, easy answer. However by knowing the different periods, hunters can make better predictions about when and how to hunt during the rut. And that should help them take home the buck of their dreams!

So give Becky a call now to see what rut-hunting openings we have during the time you have off. We look forward to hunting with YOU!

The South Carolina deer hunting season finally came to a close on January 1st, and we couldn’t have asked for a better ending. The warm weather that had plagued us for much of December was replaced by a nice cold front for the last few days, and that helped get the deer and hogs up and moving. That allowed our guests to see lots of animals during the final week and kill quite a few of them.

Rod and Payton with his first deer

Payton S. was over from Charleston hunting with his dad, Rod, when he killed his first deer ever! And as you can see, dad welcomed him in to the hunting fraternity by “bloodying” him up.

We also had Jeremy Jenkins, the grand prize winner of the North Carolina Sportsman Magazine’s annual hunting contest, in camp for the last week of the season, and he killed a beautiful 8 point with a 17 inch spread over on Pleasant Hill Plantation. He was at the fuller field stand, and shot his buck during an afternoon hunt.

Grand Prize winner Jeremy and his 8 point

However the deer were not the only animals moving during the final week of the season. The hogs were still out too, and Jason L. from Stanfield, N.C., down with his son Little Zack and his good buddy Big Zack, killed a nice boar over off of Boggy Creek.

Jason, little Zack and Big Zack

Please note that we also had several other hunters with good kills, including Frank and Bobby with his does, that we didn’t get pictures of as well as a 12 year old young lady who killed her first deer during the last week. I am still waiting for those pictures, and I promise to get those up as soon as I receive them.

We have also been working on getting some new properties set up for hog hunting this Spring, and I will have more on that tomorrow!

Jeff

The West Virginia Group

I have been working like crazy to send out all of the pictures that I took of our guests during this past South Carolina deer season. And as I went through my shots, I realized that I hadn’t yet put up a post about our group of hunters from West Virginia. They came down during the first week of November and had a fantastic time with us. The weather was nice and cool, and the deer and hogs were moving good while they were here.

Mr. Lynnie and his Pleasant Hill Plantation Monster

Joel got on the board first by shooting a nice hog over on our Boggy Creek property with his bow. And during the same afternoon, Ron shot a good 8 point just around the corner from Joel. Then a day or so later, Ron continued on his successful way by killing another beautiful 8 point on our Old Harper tract.

Ron with his two 8 points

But the group from West Virginia wasn’t done. Dusty’s dad, Mr. Lynnie, decided it was time to show all of the younger guys how to hunt, and he put dropped the hammer on a MONSTER over on Pleasant Hill Plantation. The deer went around 130 inches, which is truly a great lowcountry deer; but what was even more amazing was the size of the deer - he weighed 215 pounds on the hoof.

Joel and his bow-killed boar

We had a great time hunting with the group from West Virginia, and we are already excited about their return this coming fall.

Jeff

A great 21 inch wide 6 point

I promised in my last post to get pictures up of some great early December kills, and here they are…

We had a bow hunter, Dave from Jamestown, NC, arrow a nice hog over on Boggy Creek last week as well as a rifle hunter, Jeff down from Rock Hill, SC, over on the Old Harper tract who killed an unbelievable 6 point (7 if you include the forked G2). And on that tract we allow guests to kill any legal buck, so it just shows that while the deer season is winding down, there are still some great opportunities left before it ends on January 1st.

Boggy Creek Bowhunter

As for the weather, the rain has finally stopped, but the temperature has gone WAY UP. And it is supposed to stay that way for the next week. So that will have the deer and hogs holding a little more tight to cover since they will not be as forced to move and eat, but I believe that if hunters stick to the thick stuff, there will be plenty of chances for a good kill. However that will only be true if the property you hunt has had VERY LOW hunting pressure over our long deer season here in South Carolina.

Danny and Two of his sons

And that crucial point is illustrated here in this great picture of Danny and two of his sons with Ryan’s great Pleasant Hill Plantation buck. He killed this one a few weeks ago, but well after the rut had run most of its course. I just seriously doubt that most hunters are killing mature bucks like this on most tracts after four months of hunting. But again, it just shows that big bucks will keep moving well into the season if you just keep the hunting pressure down as well as pass on all of the little ones!

Keep checking back, and I will keep working on posting some of our great harvests from earlier in the season now that The Skinning Shed is fully up and running! And while we are not taking any hunters until after Christmas, guides Bubba, Hampton and Henry will also keep putting out the corn in preparation for all of the hunters that will be here starting the 26th.

Jeff

Check out some of last week’s successes… Our friends Gene and Joe were down from North Carolina, and Joe shot a great boar over on Boggy Creek. His hog was the last of 22 to come out to the feeder!

Also, take a look at Allen’s nice 8 point. He was down from North Carolina with his son Craig for only one day and managed to kill himself one for the wall.

And I am almost scared to put up the pictures of Ryan with two of his great 8 pointers. He managed to kill three 8 points during his 5 day trip, and to say that his buddies were envious would be an understatement

Luckily they understand hunting, and they know that sometimes a hunter just can’t get a bad stand!

Ryan and Frank with 8 point