The Cypress Creek Skinning Shed

Ron, Clif, Tristan and Travis with the group's two-day take

Even though we didn’t get much rain last week and the weather stayed hot, our wild hogs kept moving for the lucky hunters we had in camp last week. Our group of four down from the upstate for two days started things off by killing 4 nice pigs. Clif knocked one down while Ron stacked up two more; their friend Tristan was covered up in hogs for most of their stay, but had some problems hitting the fast moving suckers. And unfortunately the one that he did kill, we didn’t find for a few days despite a huge search for it. That left their good buddy Travis the lone man out with no pigs sighted or shot at… but as I say, that is REAL hunting. And since they are already making plans to return, we have promised to tie one up for him for his next trip We also want to wish Tristan well and thank him for his service as he heads overseas to defend our great nation!

We then had a two day break before Jeb Jr. and Sr. showed up from Virginia to try and get the younger one his first boar. And despite having only one day to do it, Jeb saw quite a few pigs and then put a great shot on his 130 pounder which dropped right in his tracks over at the Bar Pit at Boggy Creek. They took some good pictures of it, and they have promised to email us a copy, so I will get it up as soon as I do.

Clif and his pig

Next our good friend Clay from N.C. came down for two days of hog hunting with his girlfriend Cayla. And I know that they saw several hogs but couldn’t get a shot at them before they got by on their first day out. However I am still waiting for information on their second day’s sits, and hopefully they managed to watch the woods and not each other so that Clay could take home some port. And of course if he did, the pictures will be up here next week too!

Ron and his two wild hogs

So that wraps up our week’s worth of hunting, which considering how hot it is and how few hunters we have in the woods right now is pretty good. Now, since most of our food plots are in, we have another week to work on our our stands before our next big group of 12 come in. And with two weeks of no pressure on the hogs, they should put some pork on the ground while they are here too.

I also promised some new trailcam pics this week, and our new cuddeback over on our bowhunting-only tract didn’t disappoint us. We had lots of deer and hogs on it as well as a gray fox, and they all seemed to come by at all hours of the day and night. Fortunately many of the visits were during shooting hours. You can see one nice boar was at the feeder right around 6am and the start of legal shooting time while another wandered by around 7:30pm. We also had a couple of good sows with their piglets that stopped by quite frequently too - and what was neat about getting them on camera was the fact that you could see the stripped young hogs. FYI: piglets that are mostly feral are a solid, single color while those with stripes have more Eurasion hog genes in them. So obviously some good hogs over there just waiting to be stuck

So there you have it… a recap of our week of hog hunting along with some new trailcam pics. Now to get back to working on getting some more video clips up on here! See you in a few days…

Jeff

Outdoor Moments with Bub and Kelly was a great TV show that covered lots of hunting in the South and was even produced right here in South Carolina. Unfortunately it is no longer on the air, however we have been working on getting some of their old clips up from their many visits to Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge up on our website. And now that they are ready, check out one of the hunts where Kelly shoots a big old boar and then has to track it down in the thick brush with the help of our old guide Mike Rayano. Then follow along as they let Mike have a chance in front of the camera to try his hand at shooting a big hog - with Kelly’s gun! It’s great stuff and should provide a few laughs in addition to reminding everyone why you NEVER hunt with a gun that you haven’t personally verified is ON TARGET.

And I posted last week about how we were going to have some hunters in camp this past weekend, so I guess I better report on how they did… Well, most of the hunters saw hogs - that was the good news. The bad news was that two of them had a monster boar run by without getting a shot over on our Sandy Run tract while Tim, who was down with Doug from Clover, SC, had a pack of 30 hogs show up at his stand on Boggy Creek only to miss a giant one. Fortunately our good buddy Joe, down from NC with Rick, Gene and Randy, managed to get his crosshairs on a good sized pig and drop him. The bad news on his good kill was that his shot almost cut the hog in half, so no pictures were taken for the blog…

We have this July 4th weekend off to celebrate the founding of our great country, then we get back to business with several groups coming in starting Sunday and running through the following weekend. So if the hog movement will continue to stay decent and our new hunters can sit still as well as shoot straight, we should have some new hunting stories and kill shots for the Skinning Shed next week - so stay tuned. I will also have some new trailcam shots as well as more updates on our preparations for the opening of deer season.

I am also still working on getting many, many more of the clips from the different hunting shows converted and uploaded here. Then I will begin transferring all of the unseen video footage that Danny has taken over the last few years so that we can get it up here as well. And since I have seen some of it, all I can say is that you better keep checking back - you don’t want to miss any of it because there is some unbelievable action on those tapes - and we truly look forward to sharing it with you.

Jeff