The Cypress Creek Skinning Shed

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

One of the best parts of working for Cypress Creek is introducing new people, especially young ones, to hunting.

Heidi, Addy and their grandfather with their first deer

While we certainly have lots of experienced hunters who stay with us, we are also very fortunate to have a great deal of new hunters who visit looking to break in to the sport. And everyone at the lodge always enjoys these new hunters because it gives us a chance to share our years of experience with them, teach them some of the most productive methods of hunting here in the lowcountry and hopefully encourage them to become life-long hunters who will then introduce their children to our great past time.

During this past deer season, we had quite a few young, new hunters stay with us, and two of them were Heidi and her older sister Addy. They were down in late September with their grandfather and uncle to try and kill their very first deer. I am proud to report that both girls were successful over on our “any legal deer” tract called Sandy Run. Heidi killed a very big doe while Addy harvested a great 6 point. And as any hunter would be, they were both very proud of their accomplishment and even took their “bloodying” like champs! - although I believe they did use up all of the hot water in the lodge trying to get it off

Bo and I with our first deer

Another young hunter that we introduced to hunting was my own 4-year-old son, Bo. We squeezed in a few hunts right at the end of the season to help meet our doe harvest quota over at Pleasant Hill, and we were able to kill two nice does together. It was truly an amazing experience to sit with him, answer all of his questions about the outdoors and then shoot two deer with him next to me - And I know that I will never forget those hunts!

I also know that not all hunting lodges are family friendly, but we are! And we take great pride in being able to provide a great hunt for everyone from our very experienced guests to those who are brand new to the sport. So if you are a new hunter or have a new hunter, we encourage you to come and “pursue the experience” here first at Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge.

Jeff

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

Keith and his nice 8 point

Since we didn’t get the Skinning Shed up and running until just a few weeks ago, I am working on going back and posting some of the great kills our guests had during this South Carolina deer season. In this post I would like to highlight a few of the harvests we had during the rut that ran from mid October until mid November.

Keith was down from New York right at the beginning of the rut, and he managed to kill his two does and one buck in one day over at Pleasant Hill Plantation! Check him out here with his nice 8 point that he killed during a morning hunt.

Walt and his 8 point

Walt was also down from New York, along with his buddy Crazy, and he also took a nice 8 point.

Tony and his young 7 point

We also hosted a couple of hunters that had yet to take their first deer, and we managed to get one of them a beautiful buck. Tony, down from West Virginia along with his father-in-law from Columbia, is pictured here with his young 7 point.

And I also want to spotlight Mel and his good 8 point that he killed right behind the lodge. He

Mel and his father with a good 8 point from behind the lodge

was down with his dad, and they had a fantastic time with us too…

I still have plenty of deer to go to catch up on all of the great deer we killed and the friends that hunted with us this past season. However I wasn’t always there when the deer were brought in, so if you have a picture of a deer or hog that you killed that we haven’t put up, please email it to me!

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

A Good Buck at Cypress Creek

Deer Hunting during the late season in South Carolina is still VERY good at Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge right now. Cold temperatures and a lack of natural food on the woods have combined to keep the deer and hogs moving, and our guests killed some nice deer as well as a couple of good hogs this past week. I will have the pictures up in the next day or two, so make sure and check back.

This great late-season hunting will continue through the end of deer season on January 1st since it is not supposed to warm up for a while. And the hog hunting, which is already good, will just keep getting better since January through May is one of their best movement periods. In addition, we have even more tracts to hog hunt on after January 1st, so that will help us keep the hunting pressure down and the hogs moving for our guests.

And to keep an eye on the deer and hogs for our guests, I have just put a few more trailcams out. Check out this nice buck hitting the corn just after dark as well as a couple of fat does feeding at sunset. However don’t make the mistake of thinking this buck isn’t killable since he is on the corn after dark. I sat in this spot last week with the video camera and saw him eating acorns and checking does long before the sun went down; he just had not made it to the feeder before dark for his portrait on this day, but he is definitely still out early enough to be shot by a lucky hunter.

Like I said, I will have some great kill shots from this past week up in the next day or two, so stop back by The Skinning Shed!

Jeff

Kerry Earnhardt and his giant freak of a buck

Like I talked about on Tuesday, we had a big group of employees from Bass Pro Shops at the lodge to deer and hog hunt the South Carolina lowcountry this week. And Bass Pro hunting team member Kerry Earnhardt was with them.

The weather was perfect for their hunts, and everyone saw lots of game. Just about everyone had shooter bucks come by their stands, and those hog hunting also saw quite a few. The only problem with the hogs was that many showed up right at dark, so they only killed one nice boar.

However everyone was covered up with great deer. Several hunters passed on some good shooters hoping for a real monster while a few others had monsters come by, but couldn’t get a shot. But that is hunting. Fortunately Kerry had a great 5.5 year old buck with a giant, freak of a rack follow a doe by his stand on the final morning of his hunt while

Cypress Creek owner Danny Harrell filmed his last hunt. Craig Pond of Wolf Creek Productions was down to film as well but had to leave to catch his flight back to Michigan early Wednesday morning so Danny stepped in.

Wolf Creek films lots of hunts with us, and they are responsible for providing the footage that you see on several shows on the Outdoor Channel as well as Versus such as Trijicon Outdoor America, The Wingshooter and American Archerer. So make sure and look for this great hunt on one of these shows in the very near future.

We truly had a great time with all of the Bass Pro guys in camp, and they are already planning their next hunt with us.

I also would like to take this opportunity to talk about the hunts we film with special guests like Kerry… They hunt the same stands that every other guest gets to hunt - Period! Every hunter that visits Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge is the same as far as we are concerned, and EVERYONE gets special treatment; that is what makes us different.

And we don’t have stands that we save just for them. For instance, the stand that Kerry saw hogs at Monday night but couldn’t get a shot due to darkness was the exact same stand that an Sargeant Major in the Army, up from Fort Stewart with his daughter, missed a hog from last week. It is a great stand that gets constant traffic from hogs, and that is the type of spot we want to put all of our guests in!

We hope that you will come join us to see for yourself.

Over the weekend, we received four inches of rain, and that along with some warm weather just shut all of the game movement down. But fortunately a nice dry cold front moved in yesterday, and the weather is now perfect for hunting. It should also stay that way over the next few days for our big group of Bass Pro employees who are in for two days along with Kerry Earnhardt and cameraman Craig Pond. Craig is filming Kerry’s hunts for one of Wolf Creek’s shows on the Outdoor Channel.

This morning the temperature is in the high 30s with no wind, so all of our hunters should continue to see lots of game. That is following a great afternoon yesterday when most of our hunters saw plenty of deer and hogs, and one killed a nice boar. I will have pictures and the full story tomorrow afternoon!

NWTF Women in the Outdoors group at Cypress Creek

Since it is always a little slow the week of Thanksgiving, I am going to work backwards over the next few days and post some pictures of successful guests from late October and early November. And we had plenty of them!

One group that really had a good time with us was the 12 women from the National Wild Turkey Federation’s Women In The Outdoors. They came and took over the lodge the weekend of Halloween, and most of them saw deer, and a few had hogs come by their stands. Dana ended up showing them all how it was done when she knocked down a great 8 point, but they all agreed that they had a wonderful time and couldn’t wait to come back… Just check out some of the emails I received after they got home.

“We all can’t thank you and the staff enough for a wonderful hunting experience! I am sure this trip will be discussed for months! Nearly everyone can’t wait to come back and do it again. Henry and Bubba really made the trip enjoyable and were very generous with information on the blinds, rules and the areas we were hunting. Becky and Danny were a joy to work with and hats off to the chef! I think we all gained 5 lbs,” emailed Jeanene, who also wrote up her experience with us on her website www.notaclueadventures.com. Please make sure and check it out.

“We all had a great time. I like going here for the weekend instead of going to the spa. It is relaxing and everyone is there to have a good time and hunt. I would like to thank the staff for being so wonderful: Becky, Danny, Henry, Bubba, and Jeff and the chef’s, Nita and Val. Can’t wait to return next year,” wrote Mari.

“Thank you so much for the story and pictures. I enjoyed meeting you and hope we see you up there next year. You can not beat the hospitality of the staff at the Cypress Creek

If you are interested in joining this group with us next year, you can find out more information on the NWTF’s Women in the Outdoors website www.womenintheoutdoors.org. Thanks to all of the women that came and hunted with us here at Cypress Creek. We truly enjoyed having you all here in the lowcountry, and we can’t wait for everyone to return next year!