The Cypress Creek Skinning Shed

Brett with his monster Lowcountry boar

All of us here at Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge have had an amazing time showing our guests the best of our Lowcountry this Spring during our hog and turkey hunts. So it is with mixed emotions that we wrap up our Spring turkey season and throttle back on our hog hunting.

We still have some groups booked for hog hunting adventures this summer. However not only do we have less hardcore hunters looking to sit in the 100 degree heat with mosquitoes the size of crows, but we use the summer months to prepare our lands for the fall. There is just so much to do before August’s opening of deer season including building and repairing stands, planting food plots and servicing all of our vehicles including our vans, 4 wheeler, 6 wheeler, golf cart and tractor; they just all take such a beating during most of the year that there is not one of them that isn’t ready for some TLC!

However while we will be working getting ready for this fall, we would still love to have anyone down that would like a good hog hunt. Like I said, it will be hot and a bit buggy, but with so few hunters in the woods during this time, it makes for a great opportunity to get after hogs with little pressure. We are also booking right up for our velvet buck hunts, so make sure and reserve your spot ASAP if you are planning on joining us… And remember that we have deer hunts where you can shoot any legal buck, trophy lands where we have lots of monsters and our bow hunting-only camp where NO guns are allowed - so we have no shortage of great early-season hunts for our guests.

The PA group: Peter, Joe, Brent and Scott

And like I talked about before, those guests will then become friends like Scott who just emailed us and included a few pictures of his friend Brett…

Danny and Becky –

Our group had a wonderful time with you last week.  You run a first class organization, and your assistance with our fallen cousin was truly appreciated.  Hunting in the south is different — very good different.  You are an organization of gentlemen.

We look forward to coming back and hunting with you.  It was a blast.

--
Scott M. Amori, Esq

Cal and Harrison (left) with their friends and Boggy Creek hogs from a March hunt

PS: We have been so busy this Spring, and with guests leaving at all hours, we haven’t gotten pictures of every hog that we have harvested. So if you have any pictures of your group’s kills, please email it to us along with any of the details of the hunt. We would love to include everyone on here!

Thanks,  Jeff

Ken with a lowcountry double

We are fortunate to have lots of friends who hunt with us every year here at Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge. We even have some friends who hunt with us several times a year, and one of them is our buddy Ken from Florida.

You should recognize Ken because he has been featured several times here at the Cypress Creek Skinning Shed in just the last few months, once for his great velvet buck from this past August and once from late October when he shot a good buck in rut. Well, he has just been back to the lowcountry where he first shot a monster boar over on Boggy Creek, then killed a giant longbeard with Bubba at Roebuck Plantation. Congratulations to him on another great trip, and we are already looking forward to his next visit.

And that brings me to the point of this post. We truly enjoy each and every guest that we get to hunt with here in the lowcountry, and most of those guests we now consider friends, just like Ken. Friends that we look forward to sharing our woods with whenever they can get away for a few days and join us for some great South Carolina hunting.

Lem with his good boar off the River

That is also why we love to get emails like the one we received a while back from Scott out of Virginia talking about how much he and his friend Lem loved their visit, and how they would be back. Again, visited as a guest and will now be returning as a friend.

Danny,

Just thought I would share that. And a big thank you to everyone that comes back time and time again to “pursue the experience”.

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

Hank and his 130 incher

Believe it or not, we only have 6 months until the South Carolina deer hunting season starts again for the lowcountry. So if you are thinking of finally putting a great buck in velvet on the wall, you had better call and book your hunt now. Opening day is August 15th, and we only take a limited number of hunters during this time. And many of our spots are already filled with returning guests.

The first two weeks of the deer hunting season in South Carolina is usually the best bet for such a hunt since bucks start losing their velvet around the first of September. Also, the bucks are usually in bachelor groups for those first few weeks of the season, so if you see one buck, you usually see a bunch together. And while it is unbelievably hot here in August, the bucks are in their summer coat which helps keep them cool, allowing them to move earlier in the afternoon. As a matter of fact, it is not uncommon to see 4 to 8 good bucks standing in a field as early as 4 or 5pm, and it doesn’t get dark until after 9pm!

Ken with his beautiful 8 point

And in case you need some encouragement to come join us for some of these early South Carolina deer hunts, take a look at three of the great bucks our hunters harvested last year. Ken from Florida shot a very nice 8 point that grossed over 110 inches, Hank from NC killed a monster 130 inch 8 point and Monster Plot TV cameraman Craig harvested a good 100 inch 8 point. All three of these deer were taken over on Pleasant Hill Plantation where we only kill bucks with at least 8 points and a minimum of 16 inches of antler spread. We also only hunt that tract the first two weeks of the South Carolina deer hunting season; we then don’t allow any more hunts on that piece until October 15th when the pre-rut starts up. This allows us to really keep the pressure off of those deer so that we have great rut hunting for our trophy bucks, but it also means that we don’t have a lot of time or spots for hunters looking for that trophy velvet buck. So like I said, call NOW if you want to get in.

Craig, Monster Plots TV cameraman, with his nice 8 point

We are also running out of spots during the early season on our other tracts that we hunt as well, so call about those hunts too. We offer great velvet buck hunting on land where you can shoot any legal buck (2 inches above their hairline) as well as on land where the bucks must have 4 points on a side. Hunting on tracts with these rules is only $400 a day, so it is quite a good value for a sportsman looking to get a jump on the deer season and put some fresh venison in the freezer.

We look forward to sharing camp with you!

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 North Carolina Group with their two-day take

This past weekend, we had 10 hunters down from North Carolina looking for a shot at some wild hogs. I think 5 kills, 6 misses and an untold number of sightings and close calls proves that they got what they were looking for!

And what is funny is that this group would have had a great time even if they hadn’t have seen a thing - they were just a fun bunch of guys to be around and guide! But like I said, most of them were covered up in hogs during their stay, and that always makes it easier to enjoy your trip. Thursday afternoon alone, the group that went down to the River property’s lower half killed four hogs and had several misses while Friday produced even more sightings and misses along with one more kill

Mike with his two meat hogs

Mike with his nice boar

on the upper half of that tract. We also alternated a couple of them over on Boggy Creek, but unfortunately that tract only produced some sightings and misses - but that is hunting.

Now for a story to illustrate what it is like to hunt with these guys… Check out Mike in his picture with his two great meat hogs. If you look closely, you will see a “Sow in Heat” bomb sitting on the head of one of them. They brought several cans of that stuff with them and put it out at every chance they got. And it may have helped bring in the swine, but I know for a fact that it will also empty a vehicle in a hurry.

James snuggling his hog

Allen with his good boar

The weather was freezing all weekend, and that definitely helped get the hogs up and moving. However it also froze up one of their “empty” cans, so that when one of them (Trent I think) got in the van Friday morning, it warmed up in the heat and then started to shoot out of the top everywhere… Let me just tell you how fast everyone was looking for a way out of that van! James and I bailed out the front and started running, but unfortunately the back doors only open from the outside on that one, so the rest were trapped in the back, and I truly believe that if the can had not run out when it did, they would have shot the windows out for some fresh air

Man, I can’t wait for this group to come back!

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