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!

As I talked about in a previous post, Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge put together a promotional video a few years ago. In it, there were a couple of hog hunts, two deer hunts and lots of great footage of the many great game animals that we have on our land as well as many of the harvests our hunters had made at the time.

Well, we have been working hard to get it edited in to short clips that we could put up here on The Cypress Creek Skinning Shed, and I am pleased to report that two more clips are ready to be viewed. First we have a 3 minute clip of our old marketing/media coordinator Ron Tabor shooting a big sow, and then we have one of the best hog hunts that I have ever seen showing Kerry Earnhardt watching two giant boars fight and then harvesting one of them. Check them out… I guaranteed that if you are thinking about hunting hogs here in the lowcountry, these videos will convince you that Cypress Creek is the place to be. And of course don’t forget that we also have the 2.5 minute intro to the video already up over on the Cypress Creek video page, and in it are lots of examples of what hunters come to us for…

I will keep working on getting some of the other clips from the promo video up over the next week or so, and then I will start uploading the tons of hunts that we have on film that have aired on the Outdoor Channel… We truly can’t wait to share them all with you!

Mike and his sow

As for this past weekend, we had two hunters at the lodge for 2.5 days and another two just for the afternoon on Saturday. The two from Indiana, Mike and Matt, each had an opportunity on a hog, and Mike shot a nice sow at Boggy Creek while Matt missed a HUGE boar over on our Sandy Run tract. However we will give Matt a pass since it was kind of a long shot with his open-sighted rifle, and he was a good enough sport to pose with Mike’s hog!

Matt is in the picture somewhere

Our two hunters over from Charleston for the afternoon, Jonas and Carl, also had a great time with us, and Jonas came close to harvesting a hog with his bow while his friend Tim filmed the hunt. However it didn’t happen when a deer eating on the corn got nervous and ran off taking the approaching pack of hogs with her… but that is REAL hunting.

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to check back to see more of the video clips that we will be showing off as well as tons of new trailcam pics from our new Cuddieback trailcam that we just put out over on the Bow Camp.

Update: Jonas came back Sunday afternoon and had a big boar come by his stand over on Boggy Creek. But it didn’t stop and give him a shot with his bow. He said that it then trotted away, passing right under the rifle stand down at the other end of the food plot… now that is bowhunting!

Jeff

Cypress Creek's new bow camp

That’s right. Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge now offers a bowhunting-only camp here in South Carolina for our stick and string shooters!

We have always had a lot of bow hunters that stayed with us, and they generally had great success while hunting our deer and hogs off of the same lands our gun-toting guests use. However, as any hunter can tell you, hunting pressure can have a huge affect on their success rate. And of course the loud report of a gun always does more damage to the tranquility of the woods than does the quiet release of an arrow from a bow. Couple this with the fact that it is just MUCH harder to get any animal within the magic 30 yard window most bowhunters are comfortable taking a shot in, and a hunter using a bow has really set him or herself up against some tough odds on any piece of hunting ground.

However as committed bow hunters know, removing all of the gun-hunting pressure from the woods can really aid in keeping deer and wild boar moving freely and a little easier to coax into that 30 yard window of opportunity. And we have now done that with our new bowhunting-only camp located on 400 acres of beautiful lowcountry woods that sits right off of the Savannah River and is loaded with big deer and hogs.

Up to 4 guests who come to hunt this pristine new area will have sole access to this tract as well as to the unique, quaint old cabin that not only sits on the property, but directly on a beautiful 22 acre pond. Hunters will also have the option of bringing/preparing their own food or joining us over at our Luray lodge just minutes down the road for their meals. And no vehicle traffic will be allowed either - just a quiet electric golf cart to navigate the property or the hunters’ feet. And when you combine these restrictions with the fact that this tract has not been hunted at all in the last 3 years and only hunted before that by special guests of the owner who also owns the 4000 acres next door, you have the makings of a bowhunters dream hunt in the South Carolina lowcountry.

Please call Becky at 1-877-520-2245 if you have any questions about our new bowhunting camp or to be first to book a hunt at it.

PS: While he didn’t get it on our new bow-only tract, check out our good friend Justin with his nice 100 lb boar that he shot Monday afternoon with his bow over on our River tract - his first wild hog kill with his archery tackle. Congratulations Justin!

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!